TOP-DRESSING WITH SUPER.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 246, 17 October 1928, Page 21

TOP-DRESSING WITH SUPER.

WHY IT UUAU.Y PATS WELL. •STILL Mok]® NISElfciJ. ", : - The agricultural statistics show that during recent year* the sales <of superphosphate have enormously increased, and there is as yet no indication that this upward sales tendency is reaching an end. Mora super, is used in the Dominion than all other manures combined—and rightly "so,'for there ia, nothing Which gives Bach an immediate return, or such large dividends when properly,-s--.

So much has recently been written about nitrogenous manures, now being tried Out in New Zealand lor the first time, ~ that farmers are wondering whether it is sound practice to apply such heavy top-dressings of 6uper, as are common in many of bur dairying districts, or whether they would be better advised to spend their money on the concentrated manures containing large quantities of nitrogen. Practical results secured from*, one end of New Zealand to the other are in favour of superphosphate.-

Trials in Otago. During the last two seasons extensive manuring trials have been carried out in various parts of Otago under the auspices of the Agricultural Department, and in the great majority of these, super gave the greatest response. In many cases it was the only manure that gave a significant response—or, m other words, paid for the eost of application, and gave the farmer some profit as well, and in some cases it gave a return of seven times as much as uumanured grassland. In a letter to the writer a practical dairy fanner recently said: "Last year I spent nearly <50 on super, arid put it on nearly-.2cwt to the acre. 2 reckon on comparing returns with those about me that I made about £25 profit em that £50, that is. 50 per cent profit in six months, besides not starting feed' ing out until July. I believe in topdressing but teckon you want to do it twice a year. If jM di yon will not have any long rough waste grass, and there Will be no need to ma the mower over your paddock- in the summer." That is the experience of a kew practical farmer who has made a striking success of a dairy farm, and who takes nearly twice as nuA butlei fat from his farm than when he first took it up eight or nine years, ago. His experience can be multiplied by thou- . -j.

The Health Viewpoint.

' Apart altogether from increased production, however, there i<? another very important aspect of top-dressing, a viewpoint which is coming into greater prominence each year. This is connected with the health of Stock. Scientists have long known that a lack of certain minerals in pastures causes deficiency diseases in stock, but more recent knowledge seems to indicate that the part played by minerals is very mudi greater than hitherto suspected.

Eecent research work at Wisconsin! (U.S.A.) leads to. the belief that a deficiency of lime and phosphorus is responsible for much serious trouble in connection with abortion and other 'dairy diseases. Eveary faimer knows tife difference between stock on well topdressed pastures, and those on poor grassland, and it should be. a simple matter for him to realise that tha eiock oil the unmanured land will ba more susceptible to disease. The study of animal nutrition is yet in its infancy ■It is being studied in every Country of the World, and scientists in Now Zealand are engaged in a careful survey of factors responsible for health and growth. It "will be years yet, in all probability, before these suspicions are definitely confirmed, but meantime every fanner who top-dresses can tent assured that he is taking out an. insurance policy on the health of his stock. The Dairy Cow'i Needs. ' j

It has Often been proved that a dairy cow fed on insnfll cien irationa will withdraw from her skeleton the necessary milk ingredients that she cannot'obtain from her >food, of- which phosphorus is one of the most important. Careful tests have shown that, .although topdressing Will not appreciably affect the constituents in the milk it will greatly increase the quantities given. If a cow 6n unraanured pastures is not getting Sufficient nutriment, she is damaging herself in producing milk. The cow which falls off rapidly during the season and is more or less of a wreck when turned .out, comes Within this' category, and there are far too many of them on our dairy farms.

0!u either good dairy land or - poor dairy land, top-dressing Is essential, and although distribution difficulties of tea make it economically ..impossible to top-dress hill sheep country, there is little doubt that it is a payable proposition on the whole. There are cases on record—the writer knows of one farmer in Poverty Bay who comes within this category—where men have made i good profits on sheep oountry after topdressing with superb cost Over £10 a ton by the time it was distri- i buted over the paddocks. V; ' Frequent Sarrewiag, Agricultural authorities who have • yiated: New Zealand, have often been astonished' to find, how little harrowing

of our pasture lands is lor! the practice in older cOuntritt % almost universal. That harrowing is absolutely sound Is shown by the statements made by Sir John Russell during his recent visit, for he pointed out that iarni manure has an affeet apart altogether from its mannriil value, in improving the texture of the soil. Soil texture is m<)st important, especially in dry dlatricts. for by- careful conservation ,of the available water the pastures can be successfully tided over the dry spells. . . ' Cow manure left-lying in heaps in tha paddocks is, bad for tha grass, but the same manure thoroughly distributed over the paddocks is excellent. In addition to distributing this manure evenly Over tha paddocks, harrowing aerated tha soil. r . »

If the new system of -grassland management with its applications of nitrogenous manures comes into vogue '-n New Zealand harrowing will occupy a much more important place in the farm programme, for management, under this system, is of even greater importance than the actual top-dree 'rg. Without frequent harrowing, this new system will not give returns commensurate with the cost of the manures. Rotational Grazing. The most successful dairy .farmers to-day are the men who have subdivided their farms into small paddocks and who are farming intensively. They eat out a paddock completely before ttirning the cattle into the next paddock, and as often as not follow their cows "With sheep, which the pastures even more closely. Unless the droppings are harrowed in under this system, a great deal of the paddock wottid be given over to rough growth which is unpalatable. v

£ In many cases they find that the plentiful use of the harrows saves expenditure on fertilisers, and allow* them to make as good 'use of a 2cwt dressing of super as the average farinov Who does not harrow makes of a 4cwt dressing. Harrowing is a very important farm operation and is neglected mainly because its importance has been stressed to a much lesser extent than the need for fertilisers. The farmer who pins his faith to super for grassland, harrows regularly, and applies liberal applications of manure, is building up a sound business for* the future: