NEW ZEALAND’S PASTURES

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 17 August 1929, Page 16

NEW ZEALAND’S PASTURES

BRITISH RESEARCH ON VITAL POINTS. (By Gilbert B. Hunter). Throughout the world, and espeoialh in certain parts of the British Umpire, a greater demand lor food, clothing and the other necessities of life, is being created by the ever-growing population. Tbits demand can only be satisfied by an increased productivity oi the soil, or what amounts to the same tiling, by the more extensive use ol chemical fertilisers, especially nitrogenous ones, for nitrogen is the element that is lacking in the majority of soils. In other words, the everincreasing population of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and other parts of the .British Umpire means an ever-increasing intensity of soil cultivation and, incidental! v, an

ever-increasing demand for nitrogenous plant foods. Scientists have demonstrate*l to us that no two plots of earth are alike in all respects, nor are the climatic conditions to which they are .submitted always similar. This means that farmers should employ fertilisers particularly suited to their “earth conditions,’’ and which incidentally afford the best economic results.

As it was pointed out at the last

International Nitrogen Conference, “no fertiliser can be said to be superior to another under all circumstances.” imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., are for this reason carrying out exhaustive trials with different kinds of fertilisers ir. nil parts of the Empire, and In this means compiling considerable data for the benefit of farmers in all climes.

The increasing extension of its field of research activities litis made it necessary for Imperial Chemical Industries to decide upon a central station where all research work can he <oordinated. Their choice has been Jealott’is Hill, the research station oi' Nitram, Ltd., situated on the south hank of the Thames thirty miles from ] xHidon.

The Jealott’s Hill research station was formally opened by the Kt. Hon. J. H. Thomas (Lord Privy Seal) on June 28, 1929. It consists of two adjoining farms —Jealott’s Hill and Nuptmni. The former has an acreage of 400, of which IGO are under the plough, while the latter, a grass holding, inis an acreage of 7G. It is the intention of the company that Jealott’is Hill shall become the control station of a research staff and an advisory organisation, which lias the Empire as its province. Its aim will be to bring the resources of industry to supply the needs of agriculture in Britain and throughout the Empire.

Jealott’s Hill research station and experimental farm is fully equipped on the most up-to-date lines to investigate soil fertility in all its aspects in both temperate and tropical countries and in relation to all crops of economic importance. Amongst the problems being investigated are: The relative effectiveness o-f such fertilisers as sulphate of ammonia, nitro-clialk, ammonium chloride, urea, nitrate of lime, ammonium phosphate and l nitrophoska; the raanurial requirements of arable crops; the manuring and: management of grassland; the economics of manuring; animal nutrition; grass preservation ; and land improveemnt. . The total number of plots under field experiments at Jealott’s Hill in 1929 in connection with the above investigations amounts to 1,204. Of this number 350 are on cereals, 25G on root crops, 547 on pasture land, and Gl miscellaneous. The work being; done at Jealott’s Hill on these problems is being supplemented by experimental work scattered over the whole British Isles and overseas colonies and dominions.

C( )-OPMR ATFON \Y ITH X.Z. Agricultural work in New Zealand is carried out in conjunction with the Agricultural Department ol' the New Zealand Government. in addition to experiments on wheat and rice, an extensile series of experiments on the application of the intensive system of grassland management in New Zealand us in progress. New Zealand is, of course, first and foremost a pastoral country. It Inis been estimated that “grass is the raw material! ol' 94 per cent, of the whole exports' of New Zealand.”

According to Dr A. H. Cockayne, Director of the fields Division of Agriculture, ‘‘the desire of the New [Zealand dairy fanner is to make grassland itself self-supporting throughout the year by increasing both total and seasonal production, and with hay and ensilage derived from the grassland itself to bring down to a. minimum the production of annual sown crops.” In his view, the co-operation of Imperial Chemical Industries with the New Zealand Government marks what will in later years be regarded as one of the historic milestones in the progress of New Zealand grassland farming. At the beginning of August, 1928, it will be remembered, Mr. 11. Lindsay Robb, of Imperial Chemical Industries’ I

research organisation, visited New Zea-i land and placed himself at the disposal of the Government to investigate the intensive system of grassland management in that country. He came home three and a half months later, only to return in 1929 to carry on the work begun. OBJECTS OF EXPERIMENTS. As a result of his first visit SO trials of the intensive system were laid down at selected farms and institutions. In Canterbury ISO small-scale trials were also begun. Furthermore, numerous investigations with the following objects were inaugurated at the Mart on experimental farm: 1. To discover what effects different J form, and quantities of nitrogenous fertilisers have on poor pastures of the brown top type, and on good pastures composed principally of perennial rye j grass and white clover. J 2. To ascertain tin* relation in sheep carrying capacity of two pastures, one' manured with phosphates alone, and

the filler manured with phosphates and nitrogen salts, and also to discover how the botanical flora ol' the pastures treated reacted to intensive manuring and controlled grazing. 3. To determine the value of mowing as a means of measuring the growth of pastures.

4. To discover the period of maximum production as influenced by the tims of application of superphosph ate

and slags, applied in spring, summer, autumn and winter. The application of intensive methods in dairy farms, it appears, will not only increase the amount of winter feed, but will also add a month to the grazing season in the spring of the year. IN HAW ERA. DISTRICT.

J ll the district of Hawera, Taranaki, 47 acres of intensively treated pastmt lands gave a profit of 7s lid per acre, 1 while in the New Plymouth district 40 acres intensively managed yielded !a- profit of 17s 3d per acre. These exceptionally good results were obtained in spite of the fact that nitrogen was applied too late —from the middle to the end of .July—to get the full benefits of early grass. There is one warning to be given in regard to the application of the •intensive system, that is, it is not advisable to attenppt intensive* methods on poor quality pasture—these must first of all be improved by the application of phosphates, and by controlled grazing. Otherwise, money spent on nitrogen is money thrown away.

An outcome of the extensive system of grassland management is the desirability of being able to preserve grass in a form suitable for feeding during the dry period of the productive seasoiu Investigations on {jfrass drying, and the alternative method of nfaking silage from grass is being studied at Jealott’s Hil Research Station. GRASS DRYING

Work in 1928 was devoted to the investigation of various types of driers and an examination of similar processes for the drying of short grass An experimental .band drier lias been designed and constructed at Jealott’s Hill Farm, and much useful information has been obtained as a result. F'eeding trials have also been carried out on the dried product. Digestibility experiments with some clover dried by the Jealott’s Hill experimental plant have shown that the digestibility of the dried fodder was as high as that of fresh green clover, and very much higher than that of clover hay. According to work carried out at Jealott’s Hill it is likely that the most suitable types will he (a) a simple tray drier for use of a small farmer, (b) a brand drier for use on a large scale. Some work has also been done at Jealott’s Hill on the compression of [dried grass. For small farmers this is not considered necessary. It is cheaper in their case to stock the dried material in a covered building. A large farmer would probably find baling the most satisfactory means of compression before storing. From a commercial point of view, however, compressed grass in the form of cakes is cheaper in the long run, as i it is an attractive product "easy to\| transport. The total cost of making grass concentrate as estimated by the Jealott’s Hill staff ranges between 106 and 127 shillings per ton. This includes depreciation, but not interest on capital. The extra cost of briquetting would he about, 4s per ton Tlie grass drying method and the alternative method of preserving young grass, the making of silage, are again being thoroughly investigated this year at Jealott’s Hill. It seems likely that in the near future pastoral countries like Now Zealand and Great Britain will have a flourishing export trade in grass concentrates, unless, of course, they lose the lead they have already gained in grassland management