LUCERNE IN MALVERN

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26261, 4 November 1950, Page 5

LUCERNE IN MALVERN

Splendid Crops In Competition

ALL TYPES OF SOIL REPRESENTED

An unusually large crowd turned out on Thursday and Friday of last week to watch the judging in the Malvern pasture and lucerne competition. The spectators had two days of perfect weather, and the county has never looked better than it did on those two days. There was a huge bulk of feed everywhere, and many of the pastures had got well beyond the control of the stock on them.

What was most striking was that of the 39 entries in the competition 15 were lucerne crops. These crops were found on all sorts of land, had been sown after a variety of treatments, and were in districts with rainfalls from 23 inches to above 40 inches. All Dut one were grazed, and all were good to excellent crops. Not many years ago it would have been impossible to find as much good lucerne in any part of Canterbury.

the first lucerne stand was on light land near Aylesbury. It is now six years old, and was sown after lupins, turnips and potatoes, after a fallow through a winter and spring. The rate of sowing was Blb, which was the lowest rate of seeding among the crops inspected. The crop is a magnificent, thick, and clean stand which has produced about a ton of hay every year besides giving grazing when a green bite has been needed. The topdressing programme has been three-quarters of a ton of lime and a bag and a half of super each year, and the owner reckons that he has had about a ton of hay for each ton of lime. Production from the stand was understandably rather small last summer, and not impressive the summer before, but the crop to-day is robust and healthy, and should give a good deal more than a ton for the first cut.

Among the best of the very fine crops seen during the competition was a two-year-old stand on very light land between Aylesbury and Burnham whicn not many years ago was derelict. The crop was sown at the rate of 121 b to the acre on ground ploughed out of browntop and fallowed, then sown to lupins in May, ploughed in again in August, then harrowed and rolled until the lucerne was sown. The paddock had two tons of lime before sowing, and 2cwt of super, and the seed went in with lewt of lime and super mixed. Since sowing it has had a ton of lime and 2Jcwt of super. It has given a lot of grazing besides good hay crops, and for a month this spring the 22 acres carried 400 ewes. When the judges went through the crop, the sheep had been off it for less than a month, but it was knee high, thick, and a splendid colour. The oldest stand seen was one near Kirwee now nearly eight years old. Seeding was at 121 b to the acre, and the crop was limed regularly, and up till last year had had five tons. No super was used, because the owner had been told by an old farmer that super was bad for lucerne, and two years ago the cron began to dry off and became thin and unthrifty. More or less in desperation the owner tried super last year at the rate of 2)cwt to the acre, and the response was immediate and spectacular. Another ton of lime and 2cwt of super were given the paddock this year, and the stand is now very good indeed. Some bare patches appear in it, probably where phosphate starvation had killed out a few plants, but the rest of the crop is thick and vigorous, and gives no indication of its age. The crop was grazed heavily in the autumn. Heavy Grating As might have been expected, lucerne plays an important part in the economy of a magnificently handled farm alongside the main road at Kirwee. The judges were taken through a stand sown with 141 b of seed in 1945 which is full of vigour, clean, and healthy. It has consistently been grazed heavily in the early spring. Over toward the Waimakariri river from Kirwee was a stand, now four years old, which was sown at the rate of 161 b, the heaviest seeding among the competition crops. It was put in after a fallow which followed turnips, wheat, rape, and lupins, and a 56-bushel crop of wheat. It had 4cwt of super in its first two years, but has had nothing since. This winter: it was very badly attacked by grub, but at present it show’s no signs whatever of ever having been anything but a very fine stand. It has been grazed well down every spring and autumn. The first crop of other than ordinary Marlborough lucerne was seen near Racecourse Hill. It was Government stock seed, sown four years ago at the rate of 81b. 41b drilled each way. The drilling was incidentally most satisfactory. and the owner said that when the crop struck, it was impossible to tell which way drilling had been done first. Cross drilling is not always as successful. As this Government stock stand was in the same paddock as a stand of commercial Marlborough, a good comparison between the improved and unimproved strains was possible. The stock crop was slightly shorter than its neighbour, but it was at once apparent on walking through them that the stock crop was more bulky. The owner's experience has been that in normal years the stock crop has been four to six inches shorter than the other, but that it produces just as much hay. The advantage lies most decidedly with the stock strain hay. It is a much more attractive feeding proposition, as it is leafier, and finer in the stalk. The growing crop shows this. Leaf is carried more thickly down the stalk, and the stalk is softer and finer. Both stands were grazed in the autumn and spring, one side of the paddock heavily. The stock stand would not appear to a man looking over the fence as anything but another good paddock of lucerne, but a walk tnrou h it told the story. On the river-bank behind Annat, the farms lie at about 1200 feet above sea level, and the winters are cold and long. As compensation, the district has good soils, and a rainfall of 33 inches or more, well distributed. On one of these farms there was a splendid stand of lucerne. It was sown at 141 b to the acre in 1946. It has usually been grazed in the autumn in short spells with heavy concentrations of sheep. Last year it gave 1400 bales of hay from 15 acres in the first cut. On a piece of rich alluvial silt on the bank of the Hawkins river, the judges saw the only disappointing crop of the competition. It was sown two years ago at the rate of 121 b. but was rather badly infested with weeds. It was nevertheless throwing a great deal of feed, and was inferior only by comparison with the really magnificent crops that had teen inspected up to that point. The crop underlined the need for extreme care in preparation of the ground on strong land. Weed competition is of far more serious concern on good land than on light. One of the difficulties fargiers on the flats under the downs encounter is variation in the quality of the soil within very short distances. This was well shown in a crop at Homebush on a paddock which varied a great deal in its soil. One end is a very good alluvial sandy loam, and the other end is lighter, though there are minor variations within each broad type. Lucerne was first sown on the paddock in 1935, but the crop was ploughed down in 1942. The paddock was then | put through potatoes, a grain crop, and ■ chou moellier before being resown with 121 b of seed, 61b drilled each way, | in March, 1945. The cro- varies a good deal in height. On some patches, it is rather light, but on the best of the ground it is a very heavy crop,! and is improving. Some of the patches seem to be thinner than one would I expect even on very light ground, and I possibly they are an indication of ( where the top-dresser has missed. j Clover in Crop J

Subterranean clover which has come strongly into part of a stand on light, stony land near Homebush has given the owner rather a headache, but no crop in the competition was throwing more .feed. This crop was sown in November, 1948, at the rate of 141 b, and had a ton of lime before sowing,

a ton last year, and a ton again this winter, each time with a hundredweight of super. The owner tried to work the sub. out, but as it was an old stand the more he worked the ground the better the sub. liked it. At present the part of the paddock without sub. is higher by two or three inches, and is a really good stand. The lucerne is shorter where the sub. is thick, but the amount of feed there is much greater. Sub. was found last year to cause great difficulty at haymaking. While the lucerne cured quickly after mowing, the sub. hung on to its moisture, and this, with the exceedingly thick swathe, did not in the least appeal to the baling contractor. In the end it was necessary to bale the hay with the sub. still too green, but it made wonderful hay, some of which was a first cousin to silage. The 15-acre stand was subjected to heavy but profitless grazing by rabbits, of which 750 were killed on the paddock this winter.

There is wide interest in grazing strains of lucerne, and snectators were keen to see a paddock of Grimm lucerne and cocksfoot entered by a farmer at Hawkins. The paddock was sown on an old sub. stand in December, 1947, at the rate of 101 b of Grimm and six of cocksfoot. It was intended as a reserve supply of feed. In good springs it could be hayed, and in times of shortage fed off. At present the paddock carries an excellent bulk of cocksfoot and a very strong bottom of sub. Perhaps this competition has kept the lucerne rather unimpressive. It is a bulky bit of feed, but most of the bulk comes from the sub. and cocksfoot. It would be an interesting oaddock to see in the summer when the sub. would have retired and left Lhe cocksfoot and lucerne to carry on. n this crop Grimm lucerne seemed io lave no advantages over Marlborough, which has been shown from the experience of very many farmers to stand grazing perfectly satisfactorily. The only stand cf lucerne in the competition not regularly used for grazing was one on a farm on light land above Greendale where a young farmer is making a magnificent job of bringing back land completely cropped out with wheat and barley. The stand was among the best in the competition. Il was sown in March, 1944. after a two-year fallow. The ground had two tons of lime before sowing, and seeding was at the rate of 131 b with a bag of lime and a bag of super mixed. It has been given regular dressings of 2cwt of super since, and has had plenty of lime. The soil is far from good, and is only about six inches of a lightish loam over stones. In its second year, the crop gave three cuts which returned five tons of hay. That was its best year, but it still looks like a championship paddock and is producing heavily. The owner has no objection to grazing, but his stand is hayed for the very good reason that he has worked up a sound market for his hay. fo r wh’ch last year he got £l4 a ton on the paddock. It is doubtful if he could have done anything like as well by grazing it. Strong Soils On some of the strong land at Greendale was one of the most interesting crops in the competition. It was a stand of an Australian strain known as Westernport, developed for both hay and grazing. In habit it is exactly like the familiar Marlborough, but has the soft and bulky handle of Government stock. The strain was introduced by a Hakataramea farmer many years ago, and has performed very well there. At Greendale it has done just as well. It was sown in January, 1945, on an old clover paddock at the rate of 101 b to the acre. It has given some great crops of hay, beside a lot of grazing. One year tne seven acres gave 800 bales. The good land may have had something to do with it, but it was a most impressive paddock. The last paddock to be inspected was in some w?ys the most satisfactory: it was on light land near Greendale, with an unimproved vane of £7 an acre, and was sown in February, 1946. with 121 b of Hunter River seed. It was an excellent crop, thick, clean, and full of growth. One cut has usually been taken for hay, and thereafter it has been grazed heavily, specially in the summer, when, as its owner said, it was about the only preen thing on the farm. Its value on th’s light land would be hard to calculate. It will be seen that these Malvern crons, all of which were giving excellent production, and most of which were of a very high standard, were established with rates of seeding varying from 81b to 161 b, on all classes of land, and after a variety of crops. Good stands were established after wheat, and on ground which had no special build-up of fertility before the lucerne was sown. All the competition crops, except one. were grazed as an ordinary part of the farm routine. Among the farmers present a few admitted that they had had failures in establishing lucerne, but in every case inadeauate consolidation, sowing too late, failure to innoculate. or some other reason was the cause of the failure, and not any inherent difficulty in establishing the crop. Malvern farmers are finding out. in fact, that there is no mystery about lucerne. It is not a difficult crop to establish or manage, and- a good stand of lucerne is of almost incalculable value in the uncertain Canterbury climate. In any case, most of these Malvern competitors are increasing their areas.