Page 28 Advertisements Column 1

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21246, 18 August 1934, Page 28

AUCTIONS. f H. MATSON AND CO. t MANGOLDS. j mangolds. ' Mangolds that have been properly •pitted have now matured, and should contain their full sugar content, niaking a balanced ration if used with Hay for all classes of stock. We note in another part of this issue ■tha. they are being retailed on trucks at 10s per ton, and >Bs ex pit, and this seems to us to be an excellent opportunity for farmers to make use of them. Considering the low prices of foodstuff generally, mentioning that many , hundreds of tons of Hay have been sold this winter in the vicinity of JOs to £2 per ton, it is surprising to. us the very low condition of the majority of the dairy herds in Canterbury. Farmers would be well advised, therefore, to start feeding up their herds before they calve. As we have said ■before, where a good-conditioned cow should be at her full production about five days after calving, a great number of the cows in Canterbury do not leach that point until two months aftei, owing to the fact that they have to commence by building themselves up tin condition. ENTRUST TO MATSON'S YOUR FERTILISER ORDER. I THEY ARE IN ATTENDANCE I AT EVERY SALK, EEbiDEb BEING EASILY GOT IN TOUCH WITH DAY OR NIGHT B\ ■ TELEPHONE. I IF YOU WANT YOUR ORDER , FOR MANURES SENT OUT | PROMPTLY AND TO DATE, j ORDER FROM THE PRIVATE , FIRM: , _ _ . H. MAT SO N an d CO. ! MAKING GRASS PAY DIVIDENDS. Is not this the problem facing nearly every farmer in New Zealand? Just consider this fact: 33,000,000 acres o. the occupied land in this country are under grass, and less than 2.000»uu0 acres under all other crops combined. Grass, therefore, is by a long way the most important "crop" in this country. There are comparatively few farms on -which grass does not occupy the greatest acreage. Probably grass is the farmer's most important capital equipment on which he has to pay dividends. How much value has land that is bare of plant cover? (unless it has valuable minerals underneath). Not only in New Zealand, but in the Empire, grass is the most important of all crops: it has been estimated that the grasslands of the Empire carry five hundred million head of live stock, lit would not be hard to prove also that graw is the most important "crop" in the woi'd. in fact, it has been said that "whilst, grass does not produce any fruit in earth or air, still, should the harvest perish for a single year, famine would depopulate the world.' The present writer will never cease to wonder why it was that grass up until comparatively recent years, was so long neglected: in fact, we rather looked upon grass, did we not, as something which occupied the ground between one crop and another—it was too common to be appreciated, something like the air we breathe. However, this would make the theme for a philosophic study and the main concern of every farmer to-day is to make his grass pay dividends. i"V/HAT DO WE MEAN BY "GRASS"? It means, does it not, many types of grasses, the useful and the useless, the permanent and the temporary, and so on. It also includes the important family of clovers. Of recent years farmers will have read much of the .importance not only of the various species of grass, ryegrass, cocksfoot, dogstail, brown-top, etc., and of clovers, ■white and red, but also of the strains •within the species; the true and false perennial ryegrasses, for instance. Space forbids any discussion of these, but it may here be stated that the main object the farmer must keep in mind is to secure over his farm the greatest percentage of what may be termed "good" grasses and clovers. We know also that good grasses are the ones requiring the best treatment from the point of view of fertilisers. The question of the types of grasses, clovers, and of strains of these, will be a matter for each farmer to decide for himself, since it is a question of suitjng them to the particular environment and of treating them according to it, and to the particular class of animals grazed upon it. It is extremely fortunate that New Zealand possesses some of the most superior strains of grass and clover in the world, and the excellent work done by the officials of the New Zealand Plant Research Station, in isolating these strains, of certifying to them, and of making them available for farmers, cannot be too highly praised. Credit must also be given to the progressive farmers who have so readily taken up the: question of sowing down what are known to be superior types of pasture plants. To make grass pay dividends then, the farmer must pay attention to the type of pasturage from which the dividend to be secured. In many cases, the question of altering the type of pasturage on any particular farm is a matter of slow evolution. However, science has placed in the hands of the farmer a means by which he can .quite readily make his present pasturage pay good dividends, namely, by with fertiliser. TOP-DRESSING PAYS DIVIDENDS. It has been stated that New Zealand farmers lead the world in regard to the top-dressing of their pastures v/ith phosphate. Phosphate is the plant food most needed by New Zealand pastures, and throughout the length and breadth of the Dominion farmers have found that it pays and pays handsomely to apply phosphatic fertiliser to their grasslands. Experience and experiment has taught most of them & good type of phosphatic fertiliser to use, a suitable quantity to apply, and the time to apply it. Much more has still to be learned in this connexion; nevertheless, investigations have shown that a large number of farmers are getting most handsome returns from their top-dressing practices. We also know to-day that due attention must be paid to lime application on many areas if full vaiue us to be secured from the use of phosphates. Potassic manures also must not be neglected. So much has been written, and so much advice given on the.,t points, that it would be superfluous to enlarge upon it here. MANAGEMENT OF PASTURES Possibly the greatest advance mada in regard to pastures paying dividends lies along Hie tines of improved management of land Research work in England showed that jrrasa kept short has almost the equivalent feeding value of linseed oil cake. The value of rotational grazing has been demonstrated, although a great deal mora needs to bo done by many New Zealand farmers to get the fullest value from this system of grannieTlie management of grassland to get inaxi mum results is a very difficult matter, but it is one which New Zealand farmers are tackling earnestly, particularly from the need for greatest production at the lowest uuii cost. We are coming to tho conclusion tn.it for maximum returns grassland wants to ; he grazod hard when the pasture la producing at its maximum, and that it is not ad- , finable to grazo too closely when the pasture 1 begins to fall off in growth; namely, early : winter, nor in winter or early sprmg, and not in tho dry ninths of summer. Ihe Pellicular typo of management to suit any ileld will depend largely on the typo of land, on tho pasturage, and on the typo of sti ok strfiT-infS on it, Me tecnnifji r • only bo worked out in detail by the individual farmer. SAVING SUKPLU3 GRASS The sr»vin? of surplus pasturage is w. standard practice on many farms in >!ew Zealand, particularly on dairy farms, the making of ensilage, and particularly of cutting it in tho short stage of growth, nnu tit saving hny, Bra practices which aro becoming moro appreciated eacli year, particularly by dairy farmers. Tho truth that farmers aro realising is •ttiat grass is the cheapest and most nutrition# food for stock, and that tho savin? of surplus growth secured in the periods of maximum growth for feeding out in period* of pasture scarcity is a must economical moans of ensuring high stock-carrying •sajjacity throughout the year. On it large Jmmber of farms in Now Zealand, nothing other than grass is used for stock feeding, although there i« a case In many regions for the u»» of supplementary crops along with «r*M and grass-products to ensure marl- . ftnnrn • TP