DOMINION'S RICH GRASSLANDS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21285, 3 October 1934, Page 7

DOMINION'S RICH GRASSLANDS

11. - Table showing Average Yearly Prices 1925-1934

CHIEF SOURCE OF WEALTH NEED FOR SCIENTIFIC (CLTIVATION (THE -t'KESS Special Service.! PALMERSTON N., October 2. Stating that grassland products l'orm 84 per cent, of the total exports of New Zealand, compared with 60 per cent, in the case of Australia, 55 per cent, in that of the Irish Free State, 41 per cent, jn that of South Africa, and 17 per eent. in that of Canada, and that 70 per cent, of the Dominion's exports cannot at present be marketed elsewhere than in Great Britain, the Gov-ernor-General, Lord Bledisloe, in his address at the opening .of the third conference of the New Zealand Grassland Association, emphasised the importance of utilising the grasslands of New Zealand to the greatest advantage. ■While New Zealand depended on Great Britain for a market for 70 per cent, of its exports the same was true of Australia only fo the extent of 19 per cent., in the case of Canada o per cent., and that, of South Africa only 5 per cent. Tt was also worthy of recollection at a time when Great, Britain was seeking to protect her own 'farmers from impoverishment through excessive imports of land produce from overseas, that 64 per cent, of the agricultural products of England and Wales were derived from grassland, and that of the total area of 47,000.000 acres of cultivated land in the British Isles approximately 34,000,000, or 70 per cent., were under permanent or temporary grass leys. "The herbage of our pastures js a crop, like that of our arable fields, and needs to be cultivated and managed as such. Tt not only needs to be sown in a good seed bed on welldrained land, but its plants require careful selection according to their suitability for soil, climate, and animal requirements, and to be supplied with the most appropriate plant food or medicine,'' said Lord Bledisloe. The soil environment also required to be treated scientifically and to be kept tree from worthless weeds.

Improvement of Stock Wanted "While the average carrying capacity oi the most suitable and well-managed pastures in New Zealand is materially greater than that of similar pastures in England, the capacity of your average farm stock to utilise it to the full is materially lower," he continued, remarking that the improvement of live stock had not proceeded in New Zealand pari passu with that of their pastures. The introduction of fresh blood and, in the case of dairy cattle, the extension of herd testing, were the obvious remedies. "The general standard of quality of the sown pastures of New Zealand will bear comparison with that of the grasslands of her oversea rivals. New Zealanders must not blame I heir pasture? if their pastoral products, initially 01 high intrinsic value, become by dint of subsequent handling or environmental conditions on farm, factorypremises, or shipboard, of relatively lower value in oversea markets than those of their comnetitors. There is, for example, no sufficient reason to be found in long distance transoort to the markets of Britain for a differencethere of 19s per cwt in favour of Scandinavian butter or of 10s in favour of Canadian cheese, and less than none in the climate, soil, or herbage of this Dominion.

Natural Advantages "Yoiu- sunny, equable climate furnishes an improved vitamin content and avoids the long autumn and winter housing of cattle which that o£ your competitors necessitates. Your soil and herbage are, on the- average, incomparably better than those of the dairying areas of Denmark and Canada, without reckoning the fact that the fresh natural food of their grasslands enters far less into their animal rations than if, does into those of the fortunate stock owners of this sunkissed land. When we are tempted to find in alleged, but unprovable, natural advantages in competitive countries, reasons for the adverse price disparity of our produce, let us modestly, but perseveringly and hopefully, say with Shakespeare's Cassius: 'The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves.'

"The value of the seeds of herbage plants raised in this Dominion for the formation of good pastures in Great Britain and other European countries is becoming increasingly recognised, and if strict attention be paid to certification, there is no reason why the production for export of the seed of ■grasses and clovers of exceptionally high quality should not become a remunerative and much more extensive industry here, particularly in those areas where the rainfall is not excessive. Akaroa cocksfoot and Hawke's Bay ryegrass continue to enjoy a high and well-merited reputation which competitive experiments in Great Britain have not appreciably shaken. It is true that on the poorer British soils New Zealand strains of ryegrass are found to be somewhat inferior to well-authenticated strains from old Kentish pastures, but Hawke's Bay strains are admittedly superior to British commercial ryegrass for long leys. Their markedly perennial character constitutes their great daim to distinctive favour. New Zealand cocksfoot is establishing the valuable refutation of being (unlike most cocksfoots) remarkably wintergreen and therefore relatively palatable to stock in the late autumn and Winter.

Research and Management In urging that research, experience, and good management should go hand in hand with the commercial exploitation of grassland, as in other spheres of agricultural enterprise. Lord Bledisloe said that it was probable that from the standpoint of commercial advantage to the pastoralist the work achieve:! in many research stations and on innumerable experimental and demonstration areas during the last 20 years had exceeded in commercial value that of the 2000 years which preceded it. In no sphere of scientific investigation and experiment was there at present, more vitality of effort, and in none was there greater promise "." successful achievement—achievement which was calculated to revolutionise husbandry beneficially in all those countries of the world where natural conditions were conducive to the rapid growth of healthy herbage, and to handicap relatively by competitive contrast those not so richly endowed. In none were these natural conditions more favourable than in the Dominion. "But we are as yet only on the first rung of the ladder of knowledge regarding grassland, and a caveat should be uttered against drawing too hasty conclusions from results of experiments on small plots which have been treated more or less mech•nlcallv since they were sown down With occasional grazings at frequent Intervals," said the Governor-General. T» actual farm practice management

plays an important—often dominantpart, in which, among other things, the effects of treading and manuring by animals and of harrowing have to be reckoned." Controlled Grazing Experiments illustrated the desirability of including in seed mixtures the minimum number of species, carefully chosen with due regard to the prospective competition of one against the other and in anticipation of the grazing being controlled, so as to encourage respectively the maximum growth at critical periods of the year of the particular plants selected. "Pasture plants have in the past been usually classified according to their suitability to a particular soil and climate. In future it seems likely that the process will be reversed and a systematic effort will be made to And out which particular species of plant is most suitable and valuable for any given economic purpose on a farm, and then to subject the newly - sown sward to such organised control as will cause that useful plant to survive and nominate the sward. There is undoubtedly a serious danger, under the conditions prevailing in this country, for the intensive grassland farmer to cause abnormalities in plant growth by one-sided manuriiii; and the cortseouent destruction of a proper balance of soil and Dlant food such as complete manuring can alone ensure. "There has been a notable improvement in the health of Jive-stock in bush-sick areas through adopting T\ir B. C. Aston's suggestion regarding the use of Wlumgarei Jimonitc licks, This result has been particularly marked in the ftotorua, Tauranga, and Putarurn districts. A similar beneficial result has been obtained on the granite soils at Glenhope, in the Nelson province, by using soil as a drench for stock. Research work both at Nelson and in Western Australia is tending (o indicate that other factors in addition to iron are influencing the curative properties both of limonite and of the soil drench. Conclusions from Kcswirch "Apart from the innumerable grassland research problems, which are still in process of solution or have not yet been embarked upon, there are certain

definite conclusions derived from past investigations which Professor R. G. Stapleton describes as axiomatic (at least so far as Great Britain is concerned), and which should be available to every grassland farmer in this Dominion. They are as follows: Q) The leaf of a herbage plant is more nutritious than the stem. (2) Leaf is nutritious in proportion as it is voung and growing fast. (3) "The grasses have a higher concentration of dry matter than (no clovers. . , , , . <4) The clovers are richer In pio-em and calcium than the grasses. (5) Pastures with a reasonable amount of white clover arc of higher feeding value than those from which white clover is totally absent or in which it is present only m smalt amount. . „.„-,;,mv (6) The species vary in the rapidity with which they deteriorate iii nutritive value with the ageing of the tealage Burned leafage is of very low %f more rapidly th ?R) Serf* more palatable than stem, and palSabiSy diminishes with mis pronounced in proportion as plants have a high capacity for the production of tillers and offshoots.

[ (10) Persistency is diminished by excessive defoliation—such treatment I greatly reducing the root system of the ; plants. 1 (11) Erect-growing ,and early nlants are at a disadvantage compared to spreading and late piants in uic matte* of punishment by the grazing animal. (12) Plants suffer in direct proporI tion as they are heavy yielding, that ■ is to say, as they throw up much leafage quickly after each punishment. (13) Early and late plants in one and the same sward are not compatible. Clever management must be ! based on this fact. J (11) The management and the I weather conditions at one period inI Jiuence the productivity at subsequent i periods. i <l3) Usually a heavy hay crop is followed by a relatively light aftermath crop and vice versa. Heavy growth in the seeding year tends to be followed by light growth in the first harvest year. The taking of two crops of hay in one year usually means poor hay the following year; excessive grazing in one year makes for reduced grass the following season. (16) More early spring grass will follow a hay crop than will be forthccniing after a year of grazing. 1 !.17t Milrcgcn added to a foundation 1 of nhosphatic manures gives its greatI test increase in the hay crop, and f gives greater relative increases under . ' ,i lenient system of grazing than under . a drastic system. . J i'lß'd Nitrogen has the effect of re- ,: during clover? when applied to a ; j mixed sward. This is largely a result ,': of M-iciT.isfd overtopping by the | ; gras-.e>. !," il'j.i T'ne indigenous strains of. ■ I grasses are more leafy and more persistent and have a greater tillering '. | capacity than the ordinary non-in-i' digenous strains of commerce. . j 720) The indigenous strains are, , I however, later to start growth in the - j spring the non-indigenous. Wild 11 white clover is d c dediy late to start i growth in the spring. ! (21) The indige.u.us strains are more winter-green than the non-indigenous. . i (22) The indigenous strains respond I ; more sumptuously to nitrogen than ! j do the non-indigenous. i; (23) The commercial strains are ' more erect growing than the indi-

genous, and are, therefore, more sensitive to punishment by the grazing animal. . j„.„„ (2*) Herbs like the common daisy an particular), plantains cat's ear, and some others are decidedly wintergreen, and are grazed to a very appreciable extent in the winter. Many such herbs are richer m lime than the grasses. Kules of Management '■rrom ihesu axioms follow certain rule--, of g'-assland management which Professor Stapledon details as fol(1> Early and late species and strains can be turned to advantage in one and the same sward only if the sward is grazed early in the season and then rested. (2) Every sward needs at least one good rest period during the growing season. Heavy grazing must, however, follow such a rest and especially if the rest has been prolonged. (3) When grazing has been started early in the spring the field should be given increasingy long rest periods later in the season. (4) When pastures are allowed to grow into miniature hay crops with excess of flowering stems they should be run over with the mowing machine before the hay harvest is begun.

(5) If hay crops are continuously taken or the produce from mowovers removed, it is absolutely essential to make good the loss by adequate manuring. ((>> The same is true if animals are only permitted short grazing periods a day on any particular sward. H> Manures should always be applied when the root systems of the j plants are active and when they are not restricted. Do not, therefore, apply manures very early in the spring or when pastures are being grazed to excess. The early autumn is an admirable time to apply manures. (8) The grass: clover ratio is influenced to a marked degree by the intensity of the grazing. To allow pastures to pass into the autumn period with excess of tall and burned herbage handicaps clover development—to graze on a too long rotation is also to handicap wild white clover. If the treatment in one year has tended greatly to handicap white clover, the grazing in the next year should be designed to favour the clover at the expense of grass, that is to say, the grazing should be more heavy. „ ... <9) Poor tieHs, the herbage of which consists chiefly of the less palatable species and those which soon cease to be palatable with growth (as, for example, bent and Yorkshire fog), should be grazed very hard. This will encourage white clover and maintain the sward in a condition of high palatability and high nutritive value, although of low productivity. (10) It is better to graze fields with a poor vegetation (such, for example, as are overrun with bent or rushes) as hard as possible on an intermittent basis than to run only a few head of stock over the field incessantly. ~ , . (11) It is only an exceedingly good held that will stand being managed on precisely the same basis year after year and for an indefinite number of years. Even "good management" long continued on the same plan will tend to give an unsatisfactory bias to the constituents of the sward in some particular respect or another. (12) Rotational grazing should be considered from two points of view, first, to maintain the grasslands of the farm as a whole in as high a state of productivity as possible, and, second, to provide the animal with an appropriate ration throughout as long a grazing season as can possibly be maintained. The first need is the more important, and is to be met by a rotation thought out in terms of the several fields and over a great number of years. The second need is a matter of fields and paddocks considered as grazing units during a particular year.