N.Z. GRASSLANDS

Grey River Argus, 4 October 1934, Page 2

N.Z. GRASSLANDS

BETTER CULTURE An Important Address BY LORD BLEDLSLOE. (Pei* Press Association.) PALMERSTON NORTH, October 3. The New Zealand Grasslands Association Conference opened with a large aittendance of seient Jests, research workers, and others concerned in grassland managemen’t. Problems from all parts of the Dominion, numerous scientific papers, also contributions on practical farming experience are being read and discussed. Members will visit the. Massey College, plant research station, a,nd Marton experimental plots the sessions concluding ou Friday.

In his presidential address (to the conference, Dr A. IF. Cockayne, reviewing the general outlook of New Zealand’s primary produce exports, referred to the changes in the British policy, and the viewpoint ‘in relation'to the duties on meat and dairy products, as against restriction of quantities. He said that to him duties did not spell Stagnation in grasland development, but the severe restriet’k'n of exports, if really the only suggested alternative to hisi mind assuredly did. IP duties were final, the outcome of such action may not be disastrous, if it be in any way true —as he believed it was—that New Zealand could by capacity production produce grassland products cheaper than any other competitive country. “Whether the future holds restriction- or duties in store for us. I. am emphatic that it is a long road of cost reduction per unit of production that we must travel, and there must he such reduction brought about by efficiency rendered possible by scientific exact knowledge, in which the farmer must play his part, equally with the research worker, rather 'than a reduction costs' brought about by transfer of .the burden to some one else’s shoulders, such as the reduction in interest, writing off of borrowed capital, local price fixation and the like,” Dr C .’o cka y n e concluded. “The heritage of our pastures is a crop, like that of our arable fields, and needs to be cultivated and managed as such,’’ said His Excellency the Gov-ernor-General, Lord Bledisloe, in opening the conference. If only (true herbage jilants of leafy character and nutrient composition clothed our pastures and were grazed at that stage of ma turity which ensured their maximum protein and Other essential animal food output, the fields and paddocks carrying bovine stock in the Dominion might, with financial advantage to their owners, be less than half the area that they were to-day and involve in i.heir management less physical and mechanical- energy and lower overhead costs. In making a pasture of the commercial value consistent with its soil and climate, the preparaticn of the ground, the choice of seeds and the subsequent management of the sward were alike osiseutial factors in success. The use of the right strains of herbage seeds was no doubt important. Tmdeed, grade and pedigree in paii<ures was just as important as grade and pedigree in live-stock. But the best seed in 'the world might prove unprofitable if sown in a mixture which did not give it a. fair chance. The I'ive-stock which the pastures carry must be capable of earning their keep. To Feed with the choicest, well-ba lam ced ration a cow yielding annually no more 'than 400 gallons of milk of iGOlbs of butterfat, a. sow wiith an average weaned litter of five piglets or a hen which lays 100 eggs only 'in the year did violence to the term “ husbandry ’ ’ ami was as imprudent as putting a new and highly efficient engine into an unsoawoVthy ship. It was .highly important that padlures did not suffer from recidivism or progressive loss of fertility during periods of economic stress through not unnatural but most unwise abstention from essential top-dressings. In the use of such dressings there was need for a wider spread of fundamental information among Ithe least experienced farmers of this country. Farmers should also 1)e constantly reminded that if herbage he 'their crop the more of any particular mineral that the'ir live-stock took out of (their land in yielding the product for which they were kept the more would, that mine)al need to be replaced. This was especially the ease in regard to Time requirements of dairy cattle, pigs, rabbits and poultry. They could not take out of grassland minerals which it not contain. If pigs were kefft in due proportion to cattle, an extra lid to 2d per pounds of bulttertat might be confidently looked for, and th'is, hi days when i.'utterfat was of low commercial value, might mean al’- ‘the difference between profit and loss to the grassland farmer.

The production of meat and milk on the sown grassland of this Dominion could in bis judgment be put conservaitively—making due allowance for climate and quality of land—at an average per acre of 60 per cent, c.bovc that of Great Britain, and this percentage s’hould, if the live-stock were of equal value for their required purpose (which they were not to-day except in Hie case of some breeds of sheep) outweigh the cost involved in long distance marine transport to British markets. The falsest economies that New Zealand dairy farmers could practice were (the cessation or abatement of appropriate artificial fertilisation in face of soil deficiencies and the unchecked infestation of their holdings with ragwort, gorse and other noxious weeds. There was no evidence, in spite of current low values of dairy products in Great Britain, that milk was being produced in excess of the world’s true reqUiremen'ts based upon normal demand and physical well-being. Britain became the dumping ground of the surplus land products of several foreign countries when their normal customers raised an unclimbable tariff wall against them. The result was that, whereas their price was low in l Britain, it was XJ eh

Jin many thickly populated European countries. It would, be interesting to know how much public mouey was expended in Great. Britain and New Zealand in making good by hospital treatment and otherwise, those physical disabilities of their respective populations which are traceable to infantile or juvenile malnutrition arising out of inadequate milk consumption. Anxiety as to milk-borne disease was often- an unjustifiable deterrent to its full dietetic utilisation. Apart altogether from the absolute safeguard derived from efficient pasteurisation, the bogey of tuberculosis in the milk pail must never be allowed (to diminish its consumption. Bovine tuberculosis was of trifling prevalence in 'this Dornin-j ion and, although capable of producing' certain serious gland disorders in children, 'it was not identical with, or productive of. human phthisis. Indeed, its ingestion might immunise human ' beings againslt it.

Tie suggested that however important might, be the imp’rovoment in the quality, and above all. the uniformity of New Zealand’s butter, an improvement in these respedts of her choose wa oven more essential from the standnn'int of her continued economic stah■lity. If this wore so. the suitability of her grasslands and of her typos of /’nft l o for producing the IhighesH quality cheese meri'ted the most serious consideration of th'is Association and its dairying experts. The general ftfandard of qualifr- of 'he sown pastures of New Zealand wonl bear comparison with that of the grasslands of her overseas rivals. New Zealanders must not blame ‘their pastures if their pastoral products, initially (f high intrinsic value, become by dint of subsequent handling on farm, factory premises, or shipboard of relativelv lower value in oversea markets' than those of it.heir competitors. There is. for example, no sufficient reason to be found in long distance transport for a difference of 19s per cwt. in favour of Scandinavian blitter of 10s per cwt. in favour of Canadian cheese and less than none in the climate, soil or herbage of 'this Dominion. “When we arc tempted to find in alleged, but improvable, natural advantages, reasons for adverse disparity of prices, let us modestly, but perseveringly and hop'efullv, say with Shakespeare’s Cassius ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. Bull in ourselves.’ ” The value of 'the seeds of herbage plants raised in the Dominion for the formation of good pastures in Great Britain and other European countries was becoming increasingly recognised, and if strict :l |'.tenlion were paid to cerification, there was no reason why herbage seed production should not become a remunerative and much more 'xtensive industry here, particularly in 'hos'e areas where the rainfall war not xcossive. Research, experience and good m: n gement must go hand in hand with ■ommercial exploitation of grass and, as in other spheres of l agricultural enterprise, if as.ured success in a highly competitive and suientifically alert world was to be achieved. Ln spite of the fact that natural herbage, if not as old as the hills which it covered, was at leas't as old as the animals which for centuries had grazed upon 'them, it was extraordinary but none the less true that until this century there had been no marked advance in systematised knowledge regarding it. llis Excellency wen't on to refer in detail Ito sume illuminating experiments illustrating the desirability of including in seed mixtures the minimum number of species carefully selected with due regard to the prospective competition of one against the t i.hei and in anticipation of the grazing being controlled so as to encourage the growth of those particular plants at critical times of i'.he year. Pasture plants had in the past been usually classified according to their suitability to a particular sail and climate. In future a systematic effort should be made to find oult which particular species of plant was most suitable and valuable for any given economic purpose on a farm, aud 'then to subject the newly-sown sward to such organised control as would cause that useful plant to survive and dominate th< sward.

From his own observation and enquiry in many differeui: parts of th< Dominion, lie was convinced that lime was insufficiently applied to grassland. The fact that no obvious result was optically discernible was no criterion whatever of the necessity for its use. Few farmers in New Zealand r.oulo afford to neglect ilt.s application with out risk of some appreciable redii'->i‘ in the quantity or quality of th • grassland produces. It had yet to be determined with some degree of accuracy what, amount of phosphatic dressing g::v? the gre:est economic return. One : ;erest iny result of experiments; wi.h phospha ticmanures was the discovery that they seldom penetrated beyond (the 'top 3-inch layer of soil. Apart from the innumerable grassland research problems, which were still in process of solution or had not yet been embarked upon, there were certain definite conclusions derived from past investigations which Pro fessor Ru G. Stapledon described as axiomatic (a’t leaslt so far as Great Britain is concerned) and which should be available to every grassland farmer in this Dominion, They were as follows: — 1. —The leaf of a herbage plant is more nutritious than the stem. 2. —Leaf is nutritious 1 in proportion as 'it is young and growing fast. 3. —The grasses have a higher concentration of dry matter than the clovers. 4. —The clovers are richer in protein and calcium than the grasses. 5. —Pastures with a reasonable amount of white clover are of lighter feeding value than those from which wlhite clover is totally absent or in which i/t is present only in small amount. 6. —T'he species vary in the activity with which they deteriorate in nutritive value w*ith the aging of the leafage. Burned leafage is of very low nutritive value.

7. —Grasses deteriorate more rapidly 8. — Leaf is more palatable ‘-han stem and palatability diminishes with increasing age. 9. Persistency is pronounced in proportion as plants have a high capacity lor the production of tillers and ofTshoots. 10. — Persistency is diminished by excessive defoliation —such treatment greatly reducing the root system of the plants. 11. —Erect-growing and early plants are at a disadvantage compared to spreading the late plants in the ma.tter of punishment by the grazing anima'. 12. Plants suffer in direct proportion as 'they are heavy yielding, that is to say. as they throw up much leafage quickly after each punishment. 13. —Early ami latte plants in one and the same sward are not compatible. Clever management must be based on this fact. 14. —The management and the weather conditions at one period influence the productivity at subsequent periods. 15. —Usually a heavy hay crop is followed bv a. relatively light aftermath crop and vice versa. Heavy growth in the seeding year itonds to be followed by light growth in the first harvest year. The taking of two crop’s of Iray in one year usually means poor hay the following year: excessive grazing in one' year makes for reduced grass the following season. 16. —More early spring grass will follow a hap crop than will be forthcoming after a year of grazing. 17. —Nitrogen added to a foundation of phosphatie manures gives its greatest increase, in the hap crop', and gives relative increases under a. lenient system of grazing than under a drastic system. 18. —Nitorogen has the effect of reducing clovers when applied to a mixed sward. This is largely a result of increased overtopping by the grasses. 19. —The indigenous strains of grasses' are more leafy and more persistent and have a greater filleting capacity than the ordinary non-indigen-ous strains of commerce.

29.—The indigenous strains are. however, later to start growth in the spring than the non-indigenous. Wild white clover is decidedly late to Start growth in tin* spring. 21.—The indigenous strap’s are more Winter-green than tin' noni ndigenous. 22—The indigenous strains respond more sumptuously to nit r« gen than do the nun-indigenous. 23. —The commercial strains are more erect growing than the indigenous ami are. therefore, more sensitive to punishment bv ithe grazing animal. 24 —Herbs like the common daisy (in particular), plantains, cats car ami some others are decidedly winter-green ami are grazed to a very appreciable extent in 'tlx* winter. Many such herbs are richer in lime than the grasses. Prom these axioms follow certain rules of grassland management which Professor Sitapledon details as follow 1. —Early and late species and Strains can be turned to advantage in one ami the inline sward only if the; sward is grazed early in the season and ‘then rested. 2. Every sward needs at least one good rest period during the growing season. TTeavv grazing must, however follow Mich a rest ami especially it the rest has been prolonged. 3 —When grazing has been started early in the spring the field should be given increasingly long rest periods later in the season. 4. —When pastures are allowed to grow into miniature hay crops with excess of flowering stems they- should be run over with the mowing machine before the hay harvest is begun. si.—Tf hay crops are continuously taken or the produce from mow overs removed, it i.s< absolutely- essential 1o make good the loss by adequate man uring. 6. —The same is true if animals are only permitted short grazing grinds per day on any particular sward. 7. —Manures should always be applied when the root sy-terns of the. plants a re active and when they are not restricted. Do not. therefore, apply- manures very early in the spring, or when pastures are being grazed to f

( excess. The early autumn is an admir. i aide time to apply manures. s. —The gr: ss-c’over ratio is influenced o a mail e<l degree by the intensity of tin gi. ing. To allow pastures to pass into the null: : period with exccs> of ta»i am| burned herbage handicl ver development—to graze on a -foo ong rotation is also to handicap wild white clover. Tf the treatment in I one year has tended greatly to handicap white clover, the grazing in the next year hould be designed to favour the clover at the expense of the grass hat is Co say. the grazing should be more heavy. 9. —P« or fields, the herbage of which consists chiefly of the less palatable • pecies an.l those whi|-h soon cease to l.e palatable with growth (as for example, bent and Yorkshire fog) should l.e grazed very hard. This will encourage white clover and maintain the sward in a condition of high palatability- and high nutrftive vahie. although of low 10. —lt is better to graze fields with a poor vegetation (such for example, as are overrun with l ent or rushes) as hard a<» possible on an intermittent basis than to run only a few head of stock over the field ’incessantly. 11. —Ft is onl v : <n exceedingly good field that will stand being managed on precisely the same basis year after year and for an indefinite number of rears. Even * 4 good management’* long continued on 'the fame plan will tend to have an unsatisfactory bias to the constituents of the sward in some particular respect or another. 12 —Rotational grazing should be considered from two points of view, first, to maintain the of the farm as a whole in as high a state of productivity as possible, and secondly, to provide the animal with an appropriate ration throughout as long a grazing season as can possibly be maintained. The first need is the more important, and is to be met by a ro- 1 tation throughout in terms of the several fields and over a- great number of years. The second need is a matter of fields and paddocks considered as grazing units during a particular year.