THE GRASS PADDOCKS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 214, 6 September 1912, Page 9

THE GRASS PADDOCKS.

USE THE CHAIN HARROW. ; "Grazier" writes:—"The grass pad- j docks deserve a great deal more coneideration from the average grazier than ' they receive, and a very great deal , could be done to improve the pasture as w-ell a s to make it more lasting if some ordinary precautions were taken. In these times of such extreme prices, the most should be taken out of tine grass and Still keep a good sole, and perhaps a fe-w hinU might not be out of place. In the first place, on the majority of grass farms the paddocks are too big. Forty-acre paddocks should be twentyacre paddocks, eighty acres should foe forty acres, and so on, according to the size of the plaoe, and assuming of course that the land id-good. How often. has it struck 'the farmer that die wished 'he was able to give his cows (assuming he s dairying) a change of pasture, forget;ul that some posts and wire would give his -cows the change, .besides adding to the carrying capacity of the place. How often has .the dairyman's eye wandered over the paddocks and noted those tufte of rank grass that stock wil no,t touch. How often has he noticed his paddocks and seen the droppings on the surface that would be such a boon to the grass if Uie manure were distributed with a chain barrow. Now, if the paddocks were smaller, the frequent changes that could be made would keep the stock better, the grass 'being sweeter by reason of a frequent epell, and if the harrows were set going once in a while, either just preceding or during shower}' weather, tihere wotrld be far less talk of the grass running out than there is, and nxircn less reaeon for the application of artificial manures. A few sheep could be kept on a dairy farm, and their presence would do good to the pasture, and their grass would never be missed. "As to the best means of improving worn pastures, top-dressing should be appHed, basic alag giving the best returns. It should be remembered that tihe .best of our New Zealand soil is on tlhe surface, and once break the surface cropping (particularly for Tvhite crops) the land is never so good for grass grow-' ing for auy length of time, and aifter frequent grain crops have -been taken off the land, the grass ■will not hold for more than ifour or five years, or even a les9 period. "In laying down bush land to grass, the clearings shonld be sown, irrespective of whether it be a good burn or not, in tlhe autumn following the felling. Bosh land that is allowed to lie unsown because the burn was a bad one does not ■bake, the grass well after the. bush has been down for a year. The delay in sowing is often caused by the desire to' obtain a good burn in the following summer, but by this time *he ground is so covered with green stuff that tnc prospects of a decent burn aro remote. "As to the provision of 'winter feed, the dairy farmer on open land will find the mowrr a greater friend than the plough. Save plenty of hay or a stack of ensilage. There are many famnera who do not care about cutting the grass, ■being under tihe impression that their paddocks will carry plenty of rough for winter. Tliey get the rough feed right enough, so rough that the stock trample it under foot in their vain effort to get a bite of succulent -feed.