FARM EXTENSION SERVICE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 11383, 8 December 1930, Page 3

FARM EXTENSION SERVICE

(Contributed by the Fields Division and Plant Research Station). ....

CURRENT FI ELD WORK.

MEANS TO GOOD PASTURE MANAGEMENT IN SUMMER

[AUItING the next few weeks, farmers will be faced with : two y main tasks. If these are not attended to efficiently the returns not only of the latter part of the current season but also of the whole of the following season will be affected adversely.. One of these tasks is the proper control of the growth of. pastures during summer. The other is the adequate provision of res-erves of feed for use by the stock during both late summer and next winter and early spring. In many parts, where ensilage is rightly given prominence, the requirem© nts of the two tasks so interweave that the farmer in giving proper attention to .the one,, is, at the same time i attending to the other, at least partly it not completely. In other words, ensilage lias a valuable double function It assists in the control of pastures. It assists in the provision of reserves of feed. Let us first consider,Deposition as to pasture control. .Frequently towards the .end of November or durum- the early part of Decern bee the excessive amount of herbage "on the fields under grazing constitutes definite, evidence that the o-rowtli of the pastures has been , more than sufficient'to meet the of the stock. When-this -condition of the pasture becomes noticeable, extensive loss of control of growth is imminent, and unless suitable means of bringing about proper control are adopted, poor quality will, soon develop in the herbage and there will be a falling off, which could be avoided, m the production of fresh growth in the autumn.

When at this stage the fields under grazing are producing in excess of the requirements of - the stock it is often advisable - to drop from the grazing programme a field, of fields, in addition to those which have already been closed for hay or ensilage. Even when an additional field is closed up at such a late stage it may produce a light cutting for hay or ensilage, but even if the growth on it cannot suitably be so used and hence has to be more or .less wasted, this is preferable to. the general poor control of the pastures which would _ have resulted from keeping- the field in the grazing programme when the growth from it was not required by the stock. The essence of good pasture, management during midsummer is to have some at .least of the paddocks producing short, fresh, highly digestible growth—it is much better to have some fields well controlled and some really, badly controlled than to have all renllv badly controlled. The latter condition is the result often obtained by trying to graze, an area giving growth in excess of the current requirements of the stock. Attunes, and particularly when a farm is somewhat poorly subdivided, it may be impossible to drop a paddock from tbo grazing 'programme without reducing too 'greatly the area being stocked.-• Under such circumstances “topping'’ of the . pastures with the mower wlien" portions tend towards rank growth.and flower-head production is a measure which gives good results. “Topping” of pastures in this manner is .not recommended as it. practice which should be generally followed iii an extensive way; it is to be considered ■ rather as an emergency measure which may he adopted with advantage when the utilisation of pastures has not turned out according to expectations; as a means of dealing with-surplus summer growth it 'is' an alternative or second choice to ensilage or haymaking- but it is definitely a second choicer The ideal -method is to conserve' all surplus summer growth as hav or silage for use during periods of'shortage. If for some reason such surplus cannot be conserved, it should at least be removed aiuV this may be done by “topping;. Often ’’topping” is done at a later stage than is desirable an endeavor should be made to “top” pastures early enough to allow of the development of a fresh growth to provide valuable feed from Christmas onwards. Topping’ has at times been objected to on the grounds that it would leave the pasture so short as to result in undue drying out during, the dry period that often occurs in the late summer. This objection is really not to the point, because the mower can be set to give a comparatively high cut and thereby any danger of clrj-in-T out avoided even if dry weathei were t-o set in immediately after the “topping”—a happening which is quite unlikely unless the ‘topping is being carried out unusually late. Circumstances which specially tend to make “topping” advisable _ occur firstly when there are few or no dry stock to follow wet stock to remove rough growth left bv .the latter, and again when harrowing of pastures ]jas been previously neglected. Often during late November or early .December it is advantageous to harrow pastures which have been 5 stocked earlier in the season. Frequently some of the grassland on “S .nay, with advantage be dressed with superphosphate m the early summer. Such a dressing not only will stimulate the production cf fresh growth during the latter part of theTseason, but also will make .its influence felt during the follo\\m o season. If other pastures not topdressed in the summer are top-dress-ed hi the autumn, the two lots of top-dressing will materially r? o"miy ffijSS Sg in effectiveness as the Decern eei T‘inuarv rftinf2l.ll d6cr6ftS6&. Grassland from which hay or ensilage has been saved usually responds profitable to a December dressing of suoerphosphate which favors a vigorous aftermath yielding fresh feed at a. period when it is apt to be m scant' supply.

the need for it varies with climatic conditions. The milder the climatic conditions the greater the winter and spring growth from grassland, and consequently the smaller'is the adjustment needed summer and winter feed production from pastures. Hence farmers ' should particularly study the needs of their own districts .when considering the adoption of types of management that have proved. suitable for other districts. To illustrate the point.-' it may prove expedient in a mild coastal district to dispense with the growing of special fodder crops ; but it might be inexpedient to do so in a colder inland district. To sum up, the special fodder crop question is one which requires study with due consideration to local conditions and to. the circumstances on individual farms. What one farmer finds advisable may be very inadvisable for another fanner even in the same district.

There is much important special crop, work to be done during the next few weeks. Cultivation specially deserves attention. Fanners’ C-rop Competitions, have been of considerable instructional value in demonstrating. in_ a concrete manner that money spent on good land, good manure, and good seed, is at least partially wasted if not linked with good cultivation. The cultivation which precedes seed sowing is of basic importance, if it is deficient nothing can bo done later to remedy.the position fully. But thorough preparatory cultivation while valuable is far from sufficient. Intertillage, when oracticable. should' be carried out as son ,as possible after seed solving with such crops as mangels, potatoes and carrots. AH these and similar crons thrive on ample working of the soil around the plants because such working not only kills weeds but it also conserves the supply of soil, moisture and otherwise increases the soil fertility. Apart from intertillage, root crops which were sown on ridges during October or November usually require thinning in December In thinning mangels the soil should bo drawn awav from the seedlings rather than held up to them. The space between mangels may range from 9 to 15 inches according to the conditions;: on the average it should be about 12- inches, but Yellow Globes on really good soil may be spaced 15 inches apart. Tf at thinning time mangels are pale and seem to be faring poorly, they pull often respond profitably to a top-dressing of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia sprinkled along the vows at'the rate of lewt an aero in such a manner that the fertiliser is not deposited on the. seedlings. These manures should if possible be applied during moist weather. Based upon experience it has become the practice over wide areas to sow swedes in December at the rate of 10 to 14ozs of seed an acre through every second coulter of an ordinary grain drill. Information regarding turnip manuring in Canterbury is given in a separate article m the November issue of the Journal of Agriculture. If it does not suit to use lime in the manner suggested in this article n mixture of super and one of the slower-acting phosphates in equal proportions may be used. The slower-acting phosphates include basic slag and the Island and African phosphates. In many parts with reasonable rainfall a mixture of superphosphate and bonedust gives excellent results with swedes. A fine firm seed bed favors a good “strike” with swedes.

Maize and millet to provide green fodder may often he sown successfullv in December. Much valuable weed control work can be done in midsummer either by destroying seedlings or by attacking perennial weeds when they are in the early flowering stage well before seeds have advanced towards maturity.

AN IMPORTANT TASK—-BUILD-ING UP RESERVES OF FEED.

Now as to the second task—that of specially providing feed for use durirm periods,of scant pasture growth It'has already been mentioned abo Hvit ensilage may at least partly meet the requirements, of the case. But after allowing fully for what can bo done by the adoption of ensilage, one is forced to the conclusion that the growing of speem l crops Q+nok feeding could often Witii au vantage be made to occupy a much more prominent place than it is mn desfred to'HiMmm^ainmportaneeot ? n rLnv but it is desired to stress that the ’value of special crops such i f roots and lucerne should not be paJe“ over » !i<SUt-ly « some seem to believe. ' , ‘ In the first place it is well to beai in mind that the.ro are certam ar cumstances. which . definitely call the "rowing of special crops foi stool For ■ instance . when pastures are' below the .desired .standee nr, A bon Id > most economically ..be . unproved permanently by ploughing and f social S XS crep ITaftt'to prove a profitable, intermeilote step Keen the breaking up ot on' which /this WrestaWishmrat From’ good utilisation measures and fatai SSffiy A. aSs MfsH? For instance if the labor regularly prevS to attend to, nmti.no. work could attend to the growing of an area of mangels 'or. swedes then these - latter crops should he grown espe<w.% if most of the equipment needed wop hand. Another point that seffms .at times to be overlooked in connection with special fodder wv produetiw that