REJUVENATING SUB. CLOVER

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25935, 15 October 1949, Page 5

REJUVENATING SUB. CLOVER

Most gratifying results have attended a system used on a Mid-Canterbury farm for rejuvenating old subterranean clover stands. The property, which has been in the hands of the present owner for about four years, is medium to light soil, and* includes a big area of sub., most of which had become sodbound, principally from lack of fertiliser. The present owner began at once a policy of putting a hustler through the old stands when growth had dried off in the early summer. He left it rough, and then in February rolled it, and drilled a bushel of H. 1., and sometimes oats. Even in the first year the response has been excellent. The sub. has staged a recovery estimated by the farmer at 50 per cent., and the ryegrass has given great feed. Where the process has been repeated for a second year, the sub. has shown a most remarkable recovery. One six-acre paddock given the treatment, which of course includes a dressing of a hundredweight of super and lime where required, carried 12 assorted cattle and 30 sheep for the greater part of the winter.