ELLESMERE LAND RECLAMATION

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28542, 22 March 1958, Page 7

ELLESMERE LAND RECLAMATION

Trial Work Shown To Farmers

Trial work on reclaiming the Lake Ellesmere salt flats for farmland was shown at a field d'ay held by the Extension Division of the Department of Agriculture at trial plots near Greenpark yesterday. Nearly 100 farmers attended what the department hopes will be the first of a series of field days to be held to demonstrate methods of salt removal and the determination of the soil’s ultimate farm potential. Many of the farmers were impressed by the sight of lush clover growing as little as six feet away from bare salt pans, with an occasional stunted weed.

Control over water above and belo'w the ground has been the secret of this success. The ground water table has to be lowered by drainage, and the salt remaining in the soil must then be flushed away by fresh water. Some success has also been achieved by drainage alone, and a healthy stand of maize was shown with a strip of barley alongside. A demonstration of irrigation of the plots was also given. The phases of developing the land were described by Mr D. Davies, fields instructor of the Department of Agriculture, at Christchurch. Desalting could be carried out by irrigation of the drained land or by method# using gypsum, he said. At the same time, it was necessary to get some plant coverhing to prevent summer evaporation drawing up the salt ground water and leaving the salt in the topsoil. The establishment of suitable and highly productive clovers and grasses as a covering prevented this, and began to enrich the nitrogen-deficient soil.

The third and final stage of the trials was to measure the pasture production and find the most suitable species for the particular type of soil, he said The work is being carried out in conjunction with the Geological Survey and Mr L. E. Oborn, a geologist of the Department of Scientific * Industrial Research, spoke of the problems associated with ground water control. The ground water level near Lake Ellesmere was not produced by the lake level, but was affected by it. The weight of the lake water as it rose higher had a damming effect on the free drainage of water, he «aid. It was emphasised that the plots showfi were the results of only one year’s work, as the trial area was inundated by the lake on several occasions last year.