THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 65, 18 March 1925, Page 12

THE LAND.

FARMING IN THE KING COUNTRY. SEASONABLE OPERATIONS. AUTUMN PASTURES. (By "ANCHORITE.") On low-lying lands, March is probably one of the best months for sowing down grasses for permanent —or even temporary pastures, although spring sowing would be more suitable for higher country, such as the hinterlands of this 'territory. The particular point to be aimed at, is to seed in time to give the clovers and more delicate grasses ample time to become established before the rigours and frosts of winter are apparent. Many farmers sow a cereal with the ordinary grass mixture, in order to afford shelter to the growing grasses, but there is a diversity of opinion regarding , the value of this procedure. With the single exception of the bush burn, the writer is of the opinion that in the great majority of cases the grass is best sown by itself. Most cereal crops are very keen competitors and usually cause the grass take to weaken, through overshading it durin" the growth. In exposed localities, however, a little barley or oats per acre —say 201b, may be used for shelter with advantage. The Grass Mixture. Grasses which are known to be suitable to the district and land should be selected, and a correct balance between the various clovers and grasses employed he observed. For first-class lands the following mixture for permanent pastures would he a suitable basis to work on: Perennial rye-grass, 141b; cocksfoot, 101b; Italian rye, 41b; red clover, 31b; white, clover, 21b; timothy, 31b; crested dogstail, 21b; cowgrass, 31b; and alsyke, 21b —a total sowing of 431b per acreManures. If one considers the soil to be weak in plant food, heavy dressings of suitable manures are desirable. Two ewt per acre of basic slag, or basic super, and a mixture of super and carbonate of lime —in equal quantities, of say 3cwt per acre would counteract the want in the soil. The '. growing pasture could be top-dressed early next spring, with very great advantage, using superphosphates alone. Fine, Firm Tilth Required. The success of establishing pastures : almost entirely depends \ipon the preparation the land has received for the reception of the grasses. Care must be taken to provide a fine, but firm tilth, for if the soil is not perfectly consolidated much of the seed would be buried too deep in the soil to germinate. The seeds should not be buried more than Jin deep. If the surface has been perfectly consolidated, light tine harrows may bo used, otherwise brush or chain harrows should be employed. No hard and fast rule can be laid down.on the subject of rolling, as this may well be left to the farmer's own judgment. It is, however, better not to roll damp soils, whilst dry land of a fine soil is greatly benefited by*.a thorough rolling after the seed is sown. The Lucerne Plot. Crops of this valuable fodder plant which have been sown in the early spring should be read;.- for a second cutting towards the end of March, and as this is usually a dry month in the King Country it is an opportune time to cultivate the stand after the crop has been removed. The tine harrows are the most suitable implements for this work.. The idea of the cultivation of lucerne plots is to destroy any weeds or grasses that .are establishing themselves on the stand and in order to leave the surface of the soil in free condition that the frosts of winter may sweeten the land. It is a mistake to graze young stands of this plant during the earlier stages of its growth, in fact it should not be grazed for a full year after being sown. Five or six cuttings may be obtained from a well-established stand during the year. Old stands that are getting thin can have their usefulness revived by sowing a little rye-grass on them after the autumn cultivation. The rye-grass ■will grow on the bare patches, and thus provide a heavy all-round cutting in the spring. Early Spring Forage CropsSurplus crops of Japanese millet maize, etc., should now be converted into ensilage, to which may be added any roughage left over from the hay paddocks. The stack method will be found quite satisfactory for this purpose especially if there is a large quantity of material available. The sowing of winter and early spring forage crops should .be completed this month. If the crop is to be grazed during the winter months, or in the early spring, and the land again ploughed, Algerian oats at the rate of 3J bushels to the acre, would be a useful crop for general purposes. Some successful farmers here sow Western Wolths rye-grass with the Algerian oats, at the rate of one bushel of Western AVolths to two bushels of oats, and the results are generally highly satisfactory. If the crop is to be fed to stock during , late winter, or carried on for hay on ensilage in the spring, a mixture of one bushel of tares and three bushels of Algerian oats is a good mixture that will he more valuable for ensilage than just the bare oats. This type of crop should be generously manured with super or basic super—say Scwt to the acre. Surplus Pastures. Owing to the splendid season for growth there is now on many properties here a surplus of rough feed that could be employed usefully as ensilage. In auy rase this . rough pasture should be mowed, and the benefit derived from the clearing up of the rank, unpalatable top grasses would be very considerable. The paddocks should then receive, a good harrowing to spread the stock iiia llur e, and let th( , aif into the (former) i mn i surface of the ground. s l ™ nit , U,lS , the rain to wash in. growthto ? alloWß the y° u »g "«<lerKufeT BUrt -d freshen