MANAGEMENT OF PASTURES.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20920, 29 July 1933, Page 16

MANAGEMENT OF PASTURES.

HANDLING FERN COUNTRY. [ liy K. I'ATT' I'j, Ri':inr,mid, ,(>n. ! Men there be who love the plain". With gulden cornlauds dressed. While others love the sleepy vales. Where lazy eat tie rest : Cut some men love the grand old hills. ;\i!(i they have chosen best. With an apology to the auihur of these lines for having slightly alteied them t<> tit in better with what I v:ish to write. There are herd,; of ealtie and flock;; of sheep on a thousand green hills throughout New Zcalnnd, but, the greenest of the green hills each succeeding spring for ovrr sixty years have been the grand old hills of Banks Peninsula. It, is with keen regret that many 011 the land in this D< minion will hear that the renowned cocksfoot, grass which lias nourished for so many years 011 the hills of Banks Peninsula is now deteriorating mid being replaced by inferior grasses. This is another case of Nature's infallible law of "cause and effect." [Jo the Hanks Peninsula fanners realise how wonderfully fertile their hills were in their original condition'.' On no other hills in New Zealand has English grass lived and thrived for tiO years, or for more than half of CO years. Every farmer knows that if his food supply for his stock is exhausted and he cannot find a fresh supply for them they will die. This is what is taking place with the cocksfoot grass 011 Banks Peninsula. Grass must, be fed on exactly similar lines as the stock it feeds. I am inclined to think that the Banks Peninsula people have been guilty of the same failing which afflicted a great many of the first generation born in New Zealand 1 1 plead guilty myself >. We cut down the bush, often with ruthless vandalism, burnt it off, sowed grass seed, erected some fencing and stocked our clearings. The grass throve amazingly on the virgin soil. So did the stock on the luscious grass. We sold fine clips of wool, big drafts of fat sheep, lambs and cattle, also butter-fat. While it lasted we had "one jolly good time," and never imagined that we were killing the goose that laid the " go'.den eggs." The grass gradually used up its stock of food—lime, phosphates, nitrogen and potash. When the grass had exhausted the supply of plant-food it bewail to weaken and eventually died on the same lines as the stock weaken and die when they exhaust their food supply. Plainly, " cause and effect." The Peninsula farmers have two roads open for them to follow. Yes, they have three. They can look on, as many on the land have already done, and see their land being gradually over-run with weeds and fern without making any tangible effort to check or exterminate these weeds. What would be the result if a farmer on the plains ploughed over and sowed a hundred acres of his farm with grass seed, put stock on it, and never expended further labour or money on it for 50 years? Many hill farmers have been guilty of something approaching this treatment of their hill pastures. The South Island farmers are certainly using more fertilisers now than hitherto, but they still exclaim, " We can't afford to topdress." The North Island farmer says, "We can't afford not to topdress." The North Island farmer is right. No

and others I have hnd under observation, where the carrying capacity of worn-out pastures lias been very greatly increased without cultivation by the use of lime and super. I have been away from the North Island for nine years, but for some ' vears previous to my leaving the North, the farmers were regularly topdressing hills similar to those of Banks Peninsula. The Banks Peninsula fanners, now their pastures are deteriorating, must adopt one of two methods of dealing with the fern menace, which has taken possession of siji.v thousands of acres of what was, two decades ago. hill pastures in both j the North and South Islands of New i I may -say that lopdressiir.; witli half a ton of lime and liewt to 3e«-t j of 41- IK super per acre, if put on fori two years in succession, and from then | every other year, will restore pasture.-' I to lh<m- original fertility, and will also , eradicate the fern with the help of \ suitable management. The size of the j paddocks are suitable to handle stock j the property. For a 500 acre property L' 3 acre paddocks are about the right size, for a 1000 acre property 40 acre padocks are suitable to handle stock on in clearing out fern. Take two of the worst affected paddocks to b.'gin with, ff the fern will not our:i. i cut it and burn it oil' in February. , Put on the lime and super at once, j With the first rain give the fern I affected area a good seeding with | cocksfoot and rye. ' ft saves handling -a consideration , when liming and topdressing hill | pastures -if the finely crushed raw lime and super are mixed before ! being packed or sledded up on to the lulls. Mix half a ton of lime and iiewl of oupcr together, milking what is known as basir super. Sow this amount to the acre on the fern affected portions of the paddock. On what is fairly clear of fern lialf a ton of lime , and '2cwt of super will be a suitable : dressing. t Adequate Stocking. ! When the amount of wealth the ; Ranks Peninsula lulls have produced ', is taken into consideration, it is not ; out of place to suggest to the land- ■ holders that lliey restore this amount , of plant food to their pastures. Keep : (lie paddocks fairly well stocked ! dining the winter and spring. When ■ the fern shows above the ground in the curl in October crowd in all the dry stock available, both sheep and cattle. Keep them enclosed till they eat off everything, including the fern. [ Then put them on good feed. As soon j as the fern shows up put the stock in : again, and repeat this till the end of j the year, when the fern growth for i that season will be practically over. I He who refuses to crowd his stock 1 into fern-infested paddocks, giving the ' latter drastic treatment for intervals ' of three months of the year, will never i suppress fern, and he who refuses to i pay for lime and super will never re- j clothe his hills with English grass. ; A man with a knapsack sower can sow ten or more acres per day on hill j country, always sowing round the face ; of the" hill--practically level walking, i Packers must be engaged Ailing the I knapsacks for Ihe sowers. Should any landholder find it impossible to face ', the expense of topdressing there is ' another method of getting rid of fern, ; but he must give up all idea of fat- i toning stock and be content with producing stores to be fattened elsewhere. He can get his run well covered . with native and other inferior grasses ( bv judicious burning, and sowing such ' grasses as the danthonias, Waipu brown : top (one of the fiorin family), Chewing's fescue, and crested dogstail. ; In this case he must cut or burroff the fern, sow the seed mentioned and continually overstock till the fern is beaten, using both sheep and cattle. Where the rainfall is less than 30 inches per year and the soil is firm, the danthonias will become established and thrive. If the rainfall is over 30 inches and the soil is loose, it is difficult to get danthonias to take hold and dispute possession with fern.