A VALUABLE FERTILISER

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LX, Issue 79, 6 October 1939, Page 7

A VALUABLE FERTILISER

USE OF ANIMAL DROPPINGS

INSUFFICIENT HARROWING CAUSES WASTE

In an article in £Ec current issue of the Journal of Agriculture, Mr C. R. Taylor, fields instructor, Whakatane, discusses the value of animal droppings as fertiliser and the waste which occurs through insufficient harrowing.

Although the general practice of regular and efficient pasture harrowing for the principal purpose of distributing" animal droppings as they accumulate is important, it is especially necessary that this essential work be undertaken in a thorough manner in fields which are mainly used during the winter months for the feeding out of hay and ensilage to stock, he writes- Neglect in this direction not only involves much waste of valuable "stock" nitrogen, but also results in an intensely patchy sward in the spring, and much of the growth is not relished by stock because of its rankness and consequent lack of palatabiiity.

Thus, at a period when feed is naturally scarce and the early calves require the very best attention that can be given to them, it is obviously not a wise plan to have fields in such a state that less than half the herbage produced by quite good pastures is insufficiently appetising to maintain these animals in the thriving condition that is so necessary at this stage to both man and beast. Value of Nitrogen Nitrogen ranks as one of the important and essential plant foods, and without it the economic plants could not survive, for it is this element that is mainly responsible for the vegetative growth of plants, that is, formation of leaf, stem and roots. A plentiful supply of available nitrogen, provided that all other necessary elements are also present in the soil in an available form, is indicated by good growth and a deep green colour; a low nitrogen level results in stunted growth which is a sickly yellow-green in appearance. Iff is very largely due to the realisation of the importance of nitrogen that every endeavour is made to secure adequate clover representation in permanent pastures, for the clovers are equipped by Nature with means of storing nitrogen in their root nodules per medium of the nitrifying bacteria present in most soils. This nitrogen, which is always available to other pasture species living in close association with the clovers, results in good, healthy grass growth, high carrying capacity, and satisfactory animal performance. During the winter months, however, with their attendant low soil

temperatures, the nitrifying bacteria are least active, and in some districts entirely inactive. Thus, for a time the manufacture of suitable nitrogen compounds almost ceases, resulting in a condition of temporary nitrogen starvation or, what is imore apparent to the farmer, lack of growth. Use of Droppings Animal droppings contain an appreciable amount of nitrogen suitable for assimilation by plants, and it is for this reason that the proper harrowing of pastures is so inces[santly advocated by agricultural authorities. If harrowing is not undertaken just when required the droppings become too hard to be spread efficiently at a later date. They tend to kill out the patches of pasture over which they lie, and most of the vital nitrogen is wasted in that only relatively small areas of pasture benefit from it. I deliberately use the word "wasted," because the patches that apparently benefit produce such a luxuriant growth of rank, unpalatable feed that stock have literally to be forced to eat it, and force, particularly applied to milch cows, spells waste. It is far better to distribute this valuable source of nitrogen thoroughly and allow the whole pasture to benefit. Inefficient Harrowing An enormous waste takes place when farm management fails to take advantage of the valuable plant food contained in animal droppings. It has been estimated that a mature cattle beast will void up to 12 tons of manure each year. Therefore, reckoning on one beast to two acres, there are six tons available per acre each year.

It is a trait of human nature that what comes too easily is not valued. Earn a sum of money as the reward of a week's hard toil and, generally speaking, every penny of it has a very real value. On the other hand I come by a similar sum of money, say' at the races, and not infrequently a very different conception of value is at once evident. J Similarly, when fertilisers are purchased the utmost return is expected for the expenditure; otherwise, keen disappointment is the result. If, however, an abundant supply of a valuable plant food is provided for by Nature what is the result?—ln a large measure, simply indifference to the gift. | Today, as never before in the his- | tory of farming throughout the ■world, "every post must be made a winning post" if the gap between costs and prices is not to become overpowering, and every advantage offered from time to time must be fully exploited to this end. Remember that, in "animal" nitrogen, farmers have a very real opportunity to benefit themselves in no small way. Therefore, exploit it for all it's worth!