BANKS PENINSULA LANDS

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23086, 31 July 1940, Page 3

BANKS PENINSULA LANDS

——* LOSS OF FERTILITY DISCUSSED NEED FOR INCREASING PRODUCTION A deterioration in the fertility of the lands of Banks Peninsula was ascribed to a lack of appreciation of the danger among farmers by Mr E. A. Madden, of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, at a meeting of farmers at Duyauchelle yesterday. Mr Madden was in charge of a pasture survey of part of the peninsula, which was recently made. At the conclusion of a debate on the report, which lasted all day, resolutions were passed by the meeting which will set in motion investigations of the eradication of weeds, the improvement of peninsula pastures and cocksfoot crops, and the increased production of the district. Mr Madden said that it appeared that the problems on the peninsula were similar to those of many other parts of the Dominion. The peninsula had a wide variety of local climates, but in general the rainfall was adequate. The range of grasses and plants found was wide, but not many were doing well, which in some cases was probably an advantage. Burnmg was often carried out without adequate provision being made for replacing the tussock witl ’ good grasses, and bare patches or danthoma resulted. Danthonia was not always a bad grass, said Mr Madden. One Hawke s Sk Um Kfesa* ganthoni*

dominant fattened from 20,000 to 25,000 lambs a year off 4000 acres. “Apparently the initial fertility of the soil was moderately high and good pastures of the sown species were easily maintained,” said Mr Madden. “That their productivity was good is reflected in the vast quantities of cocksfoot seed produced and in the high stock-carrying capacity in former years. The pastures as a whole are now reverting from a dominance of high-producing species to a dominance of low-producing ones which invariably are found on low-fertility soils. Yorkshire fog, sweet vernal, browntop, flat weeds, and on the drier parts danthonia also, now replace the sown species to varying degrees. “The fertility of the soil Is now somewhat severely deplc'ed on many areas, and the pastures have deteriorated accordingly. These facts, however, may be attributed in some degree to natural agencies, but there is .every indication that in the main it has resulted from a'failure on the part of the farmer to appreciate and put into effect such treatments and methods of management as are necessary for the maintenance of high-producing pastures. While the initial soil-fertility was high it became the custom of settlers to expect high returns an acre whether in the form of cocksfoot seed or from sheep and cattle. By pursuing the adopted system of farming and continuing to take all that the country would produce, the farmers inflicted a heavy drain on the natural resources of the soil. No serious attempt was made to improve the soil and pasture, and in fact it appears that small endeavour was made to maintain the former level of productivity except by straining the resources to their limit. The decline in productivity was undoubtedly slow, and therefore farmers would be either reluctant to recognise and face up to the facts or they would attribute such decline to seasonal and climatic factors. “No matter in what way the position is viewed, however, it can be stated with confidence that further deterioration in general can be expected jiales* measure? to insure against tbis.

are applied in the near future. The maintenance of a high degree of fertility in the soil enables the better strains of high producing species to be kept in a,vigorous condition for a long period of the year, and this on Banks Peninsula is an essential to higher stock-carrying capacity. Greater stock numbers and better utilisation of the feed produced will improve the pastures by the extra animal manure falling thereon, and by the better consolidation of the soil through tramping, Weeds and inferior grasses cannot compete for long with stronggrowing high-producing species of grasses and clovers.” Mr Madden suggested that control of weeds on the roads was a point which would well repay attention. Give-and-take boundaries might be tried with profit as they made for better utilisation of land and cheaper upkeep of fences. Farmers should combine to select areas pn which experiments could be carried out with the aid of the department. It would possibly be of advantage to give wider powers to inspectors to see that noxious weeds were kept down. It might be advisable to have legislation giving local bodies power to rate for weeds eradication over the whole area. At present it was necessary to produce the largest possible amount of cocksfoot seed for the English market, and treatment of areas with nitrogenous manures would probably be beneficial. Oversowing would in time replace the good grasses that were at present weak, provided the pasture was well treated after the oversowing.