The Rural Voice, 1980-09, Page 34ADVICE ON FARMING
Canada's farm /and far from limitless
Many nations envy Canada's
wealth of agricultural land, but
Agriculture Canada's land resource
scientists stress that this wealth is far
from limitless.
Only about 4.3 per cent of Canada's
billion hectares of land is improved,
productive farmland. And less than one
per cent more is marginally useful to
agriculture.
The conversion of some prime farm-
land to urban, transportation and
industrial uses is continually limiting
the land resource available for agricul-
ture.
Agriculture Canada's Land Resource
Research Institute in Ottawa has recent-
ly completed the computerization of all
current soil inventory data into a
program called CanSIS, the Canada Soil
Information System. The project is
aimed at providing information to help
in evaluating land use.
CanSIS provides data on potential
land uses and potential crop yields to
those who make decisions and set
policies regarding land use. It is
integrated with climatic and economic
data to enable a good evaluation of
present and future land uses.
Land evaluation specialist Dr. Bruce
MacDonald says the maps and other
data provided by CanSIS are a tremen-
dous new resource for farmers,
engineers, urban planners, forestry
specialists, parks and wildlife people,
northern developers and a host of
others.
CanSIS can produce simplified maps
showing characteristics of the soil and
terrain, either singly or in combination
The choice of characteristics may
include soil texture, acid balance, depth
and drainage. slope of the land,
vegetation types, best adapted crops,
and distribution of wildlife.
The CanSIS maps can be laid over
standard maps drawn to the same scale
to show residential areas, roads and
railroads.
Of course, the most extensive use of
this information is for agricultural
evaluations and recommending to
farmers which crops and fertilizers are
most suited to their own areas.
Federal and provincial governments,
and the agriculture faculties of Canad-
ian universities are cooperating to
collect and enter data into CanSIS.
Homemade traps can control earwigs
The European earwig, although a
recent import to Ontario, is becoming a
serious nuisance to homeowners across
the province. Attempts to control the
pest with chemicals are only marginally
successful, hut there ire other alter-
natives, says Rick Wukasch, of the Pest
Advisory and Diagnostic Clinic at the
University of Guelph.
This reddish -brown insect, about
19mm long (3/.in.), is easily recognized
by the pincers at the end of the
abdomen. Earwigs prefer moist, dark,
cool places, so they spend most of the
daylight hours hiding under things,
coming out at night to forage for food.
Tender leaves, flower petals and
pollen are favorite foods of these
insects, but they also thrive on decaying
material, such as compost and mulch.
Turning compost piles regularly will
help reduce this breeding ground.
"Diazinon and carbaryl are two
insecticides used for earwig control in
home gardens, but they produce very
limited results,"says Mr. Wukasch.
"The insects travel easily from one
garden to a neighboring one, so you
can't expect miraculous results for
sprays."
Traps that appeal to the insects' need
for shelter provide the most effective
control. Homemade traps can be
constructed using two 7.6 cm boards.
Make four grooves 6mm (3/8 in.) deep
and 6 mm wide along the length of the
board. Place the two boards together,
grooved sides facing in, and secure with
a rubber band. Stand the traps on end in
shrubs, hedges and other earwig -in-
fested areas. Use about 20 traps on the
average city lot. Shake the traps into a
pail of soapy water at least twice a
week.
Tin cans and plastic containers
baited with fish oil can be dug into the
soil to trap a Targe number of earwigs.
Empty these traps into a pail of water
every morning. Although earwigs live
and breed outdoors, th ey ocasionally
turn up indoors, usually because they
have been brought in by people.
However, they are capable of wander-
ing indoors through cracks and other
access points by themselves. If you do
find them indoors, don't panic. They
don't eat clothing and won't damage
furniture or carpets.
The latest on milking speed
With the steady increase in size of the
average dairy herd, and in the
popularity of milking parlour systems,
the time it takes a cow to milk out is a
significant economic concern to dairy-
men. Milking Speed is a heritable trait
and so it can be improved through
selection.
The Holstein Association has recently
begun a sire proving program for
Milking Speed. It is currently underway
in Quebec and Ontario where approx-
imately 600 herds which contain daugh-
ters of selected young A.I. sires will be
tested. These herds should be complet-
ed by late fall, at which time the
program will be extended to the Eastern
and Western provinces.
Milking Speed Is measured by total
stopwatch time and the testers are
attempting to visit herds at the same
time as the milk recording inspector, or
within two days following, in order that
the test yield can also be recorded.
Once the nation-wide testing es
completed, the program will be evalu-
ated to determine whether a permanent
system should be established. If
successful, the program will enable
herd owners, through careful selective
breeding, to develop a more profitable
herd with uniform Milking Speed.
THE RURAL VOICE/ SEPTEMBER 1980 Pe. 33