PALESTINE STRAWBERRY CLOVER PROMISING

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29401, 31 December 1960, Page 8

PALESTINE STRAWBERRY CLOVER PROMISING

[By D. J. G. DAVIES] STRAWBERRY clover ha? built up a reputation as a useful perennial clover species for conditions of slight to moderate soil salinity, of high soil water tables and for areas subject to periodic flooding. It is, present in many pastures in the Tai Tapu, Greenpark and Motukarara districts where one or other of these soil conditions occurs.

Reports from South Australia indicated that the Palestine strain of strawberry clover was proving superior to other lines of this species, and a series of pasture trials were put down in the autumn of 1957 to see how Palestines would perform under our conditions.

Sufficient seed to sow one acre was distributed to 30 farmers in Paparoa, Halswell, Springston and Waimairi counties, covering six main soil types for which it was thought strawberry clover might be a valuable plant. In mosf cases visual comparisons were made between the acre sown with grasses and Palestine strawberry clover and the rest of the paddock which was sown with the same grasses, but with white clover as the legume. However, in 10 of these comparisons yield data was obtained by regular mowing over three seasons. Between early spring and April-May, plots were cut four or five times, the total yield recorded and the contribution of the clovers assessed. At this stage, information was wanted on the establishment, persistency and palatability of this new strain, together with some measure of its productivity in comparison with that of white clover.

(1) Establishment: Palestine strawberry clover is rather slow

to establish, and in these trial it was not until the second oi even the third season that it madf its full contribution. For example at Greenpark, on a Kaiapoi sandj loam soil, it gave only half tht dry matter yield of white clovei in the first season, but by the third year Palestine was producing nearly 30001 b of dry matter per acre as compared wit! 18001 b from white. Because oi this slow establishment. Palestine strawberry clover is likely to be severely suppressed if sown with heavy rates of such vigorous grasses as ryegrass, and this condition was observed in several oi these 1957 trials. (2) Persistency: Some of the trials were grazed by dairy cows and the remainder by sheep. In both cases, the strawberry clover has shown no sign of going out—if anything, it seems to be more vigorous and more plentiful year by year. Over the range of seasonal weather conditions between 1957-58 and 1959-60, Palestine strawberry clover has persisted at least as well as white clover, while in one trial, on a weakly saline Motukarara sandy loam, the Palestine survived the dry conditions of 1958-59 when the white clover disappeared. (3) Palatability: The farmers .reported that the animals grazed the Palestine strawberry clover in all cases, frequently eating it down before grazing the area sown with white clover. (4) Production: For the soil conditions for which it is suited, the information from the mowing trials suggests that Palestine clover, once well established, can outyield white clover. What promises to be a particularly uset

Is ful attribute of this strain is its )r good late-autumn growth, at a ' e time when other pasture legumes ly are becoming dormant. In addile tion, it was noticed that Pales;r tine does not give the same flush ie of late spring growth as does ?" white, and it was thought by ? some dairy” farmers that this " might be a valuable feature as 51 far as bloat control is concerned, e h <5) Compatibility: These trials .. compared grasses sown with Palestine clover with the - ' same grass » mixture plus wliite clover, and no measure of Palestine-white clover compatibility was possible. However, observation of farmers’ e sowings in which these clovers ’S were combined suggests that a n mixture of the two may be ■r superior to either alone. Under - reasonable management, a good e balance between them can be r maintained, and their differences i- in time of growth may help to n even out the seasonal production, e d (6) Conclusions: These trials r ’ provided a first look at the suits' ability of Palestine strawberry e clover for certain difficult soils. * The results so far have been ene coin-aging, and it is hoped to carry out more detailed rate of growth and clover mixture trials ® next season. d In the meantime, it is suggested a that farmers with soils suitable t for strawberry clover may find it a worth-while to include 1 to 21b of this Palestine strain in their pasture mixtures. It must be 1 emphasised that Palestine clover I, responds to increased soil ferg tiliiy in much the same way as e does white clover, and one cannot a expect good results until the plant t nutrient status of the soil is raised - to a satisfactory level.