GISBORNE FARMERS OPPOSE GRASSLANDS’ OFFICERS ON CRITICISM OF AIRSPREAD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23201, 13 March 1950, Page 4

GISBORNE FARMERS OPPOSE GRASSLANDS’ OFFICERS ON CRITICISM OF AIRSPREAD

STEEP FACES COVERED

(QISBORXE farmers who have had their land top-dressed by light aircraft are satisfied that aerial sowing is the answer to their problem, particularly on steep country difficult of access.

They do not hold with the views of officers of the Grasslands Division of the Department of Agriculture, Messrs. E. A. Madden and F. 12. Suckling, Palmerston North, that fertiliser and seed rained down tend to bounce off steep faces and lodge mainly on the already over-fertilised stock paths. Thev alleged that would be the ease with pelleted superphosphate and seeds. Mr. Madden said: “What we have done is to explain that the aerial method of distributing fertiliser is not perfect in getting a 'uniform spread over thq total land surface area That uniform spread is our aim.” "I had 35 tons spread by air last year and the station owner ana 1 were so satisfied that the aircraft has just finished spreading a further 100 tons, and we have placed an order for 100 tons next year, 1 ' said tire manager of Wnikohu station, Mr. H. A. Hardy, when asked his views concerning air spreading of fertiliser. “What Do They Call Steep Faces?" “[ would like to know what they call steep faces," he added. “Maybe it is land that is right up on end lwe the country in the Waioeka Valley. “We had an odd bag of pelleted super put on quite close to us on a steep face recently to sec if its spread was any better than the ordinary straight powdered super we have used mostly.” Mr. Hardy said. “Although it was a steep face there was a good distribution. It doesn't bounce very much if there is any grass covering at all. That holds it.” . , ,

He explained that many people had been advocating tiie use of pelleted superphosphate, but he did not see any great advantage apart from the fact that it was cleaner to handle. Unable to get pelleted super readily, Mr. Hardy said, most of their spreading had been done with powdered super. With the last order some few bags of pelleted had been forwarded and he had taken particular note of its effectiveness.

“If aircraft is not the answer, what is?" he asked. “Much of the cost of spreading by other means is built up in getting the fertiliser out on to the ground in the first place. We have country too steep to ride on and rolling countrv over which you could drive a ieep or light truck and we have seen the results fot ourselves They are quite satisfactory, “I do believe the Tiger Moth is not quite the answer. What is needed Is a slightly bigger aircraft with an increased pay-load, but with the manoeuvrability of the Moth,” he conconcluded Practical Experience. “Theoretically, there may be some justification for the statement made by Messrs Suckling and Madden, but from practical experience 1 would say there is nothing in it whatsoever,” said Mr. A H. Russell, Mongatoitoi station, Ngatapa. "On steep faces the fertiliser may bounce down a couple of inches, if at ail. “I had 25 tons of granulated super put on before Christmas and it was a beautiful spread,” Mr. Russel! said. “It is a fact that there was slightly more on sheep tracks, but the spread was much better than when put on by hand.” . , Mr. Russell considered aerial sowing 100 per cent, more satisfactory than hand spreading. Looking at a steep face in the spring, he said it was possible to see by the colour of the grass where the man had been wonting when sowing by hand. lie had yet to view his land in spring time to see the full effects of the airspread, but from what he had seen of the actual distribution, lie felt that the results would be fully up to expectations. His main application was of serpentine super and subterranean clover. Still another satisfied farmer in the Gisborne district is Mr. H. C. Newman. Fairfield station, Waipaoa. While lie had not inspected his steepest faces, Mr. Newman said, the paddocks he had been over had been very effectively covered by the spread from the aircraft.