The Match Farm

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30803, 15 July 1965, Page 19

The Match Farm

The scene of this week’s New Zealand ploughing final is a, 46-acre paddock about a mile north of Chertsey on a 490-acre block of country owned by Mr W. A. Hood and farmed as part of 1034 acres by a partnership consisting of Mr Hood and his brother, Mr R. E. Hood.

On the match field Mr W. A. Hood says that there is about eight inches of soil on top of about 10 inches of clay. It has been down in grass for six years and after the match will be going into Hilgendorf 61 wheat.

The farm is a mixed cropping and sheep enterprise. The flock totalling about 4000 includes 2600 ewes (both Romneys and Corriedales), 500 ewe hoggets, 700 wether lambs for fattening for the Addington market and 200 two-tooth wethers also for fattening. Until recently another 270 ewes

for the fat market were also being carried. On the stock side there is also a handful of cattle.

This year’s cropping programme includes 40 acres of partridge peas, 50 acres of Winter Grey oats both for feeding and a crop and 110 acres of wheat—all Hilgendorf 61. Mr W. A. Hood says that this is good Hilgendorf wheat country and he likes this variety for a first crop. Last year when all the wheat was second crop it was all in Aotea. The wheat usually yields from 40 to 50 bushels to the acre. Somewhere about 150 acre of perennial ryegrass are also saved for seed and last season the ryegrass averaged not less than 30 bushels of machine dressed seed to the acre. The amount of white clover harvested depends on the sea-

son but there is usually some and the average yield is about a sack to the acre. Mr Hood said that they hoped to go from grass into peas, to wheat, to greenfeed oats and then back to grass in one rotation, or from grass into oats, then to peas and back to grass.