ECONOMICMANURING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 104, 13 April 1933, Page 8

ECONOMICMANURING

SECURING CHEAP KEEP RESPONSE FROM FERTILISERS. QUESTION OF UTILISATION. The need for grazing off the extra keep obtained from fertilisers is emphasised by Mr. H. Cecil Pawson, of the Armstrong College staff, in an article contributed to an English farm paper. Keep is never eheap, he says, unless it can be converted into saleable produce at a remunerative price and more harm than good may be done by inducing improvement through fertilising unless the herbage is consumed. The increased yield of herbage on land of a poor character which results from systematic and suitable manuring is reflected, he points out, in increased stock carrying capacity and also in better “doing” on the part of the stock — whether cattle or sheep. The poor grazing land at Cockle Park which originally carried a sheep to the acre and was worth but a few shillings per annum rental value has been transformed by the application of high-grade basic slag into land on which the sheep stocking has been more than trebled and the live weight gains quadrupled. With the better grazing induced by a mixed stocking of cattle and sheep the output is increased, while intensive manuring and rotational grazing develop the production still further. TREATMENT OF GRASSLAND. Proper manurial and grazing treatment of grassland gives rise to more palatable and more highly digestive keep, richer in protein and mineral matter, as well as to an increase in dry matter production; in short, more and better keep. A pasture well nourished by regular manurial treatment means, too, an extended grazing season, the herbage starting earlier in the spring and lasting longer in the autumn. This, however, is subject to the limitations imposed by grazing management. Farming has been well defined as an interference with nature, Mr. Pawson adds. It is clear that we are now demanding more from our land in the shape of protein, mineral matter, etc., by reason .of development's such as the increasing yields from our. dairy cows and the increase in lamb production. Early maturity and intensified production in our live stock management impose a greater strain not only on the animals but on the land. Mineral mixtures have their place in certain rations, but it is well to insist on the value of feeding minerals to stock via the soil and the keep from the soil. The qualitative improvements of foods like grazing herbage and hay through the use of fertilisers is therefore of increasing importance. For young dairy heifers the value of mineral-rich hay and grazing to enable them to build up ample reserves of mineral matter can hardly be overstated. IMPROVEMENT OF FEEDING QUALITY. Protein is also much in demand by young stock. Hence the advantage of manuring which produces a good quality sward containing a healthy, vigorous plant of wild white clover, which is rich in protein and lime. For a dairy herd, mineral-rich herbage must contribute in no small way to the maintenance of productive condition. We ought not to judge the effects of fertilisers, as formerly, by the eye, but remember that the qualitative result may be more valuable than any increase in bulb. In the production of hay from permanent meadows, for example, it is true there is room for improvement in bulk, seeing the average crop for England is little more than •20 cwt. to the acre. Farmyard manure or complete artificials, or both, including a good proportion of nitrogen, are useful for this purpose. In many other cases, however, hay of better quality could be obtained on many farms by more regular applications of a phosphatie fertiliser, coupled with earlier cutting and harder grazing of the aftermath. Phosphates are of special value in developing clover, and in this and other ways improving the quality. Not least in importance is the way their application indirectly brings about a better sward by the encouragement afforded to stock to graze more closely. BENEFITS OF POTASH. In my opinion, on land that has been improved by systematic dressings of phosphate, there often arises a condition when potash added to the usual dressing of phosphate gives a better feeding sward. On this slag-improved grass there has been a big increase in output not infrequently in sheep production, and the supply of available potash is sometimes a limiting factor in attaining the highest degree of efficient management. Nitrogenous artificial manures are especially useful for securing an early bite, for encouraging a quicker recovery from close, clean grazing, and thus in obtaining a more uniform distribution of growth throughout the year. For spring dressings, where rapid improvement is desired on poor grazing land, there is much to be said under som e conditions for a dressing of a mixture of artificial manure containing all three constituents. The production of cheap keep is, however, more than a matter of application of suitable manurial dressings. There is the utilisation of the crop. A farmer must review his management from time to time, with a view to determining whether he is using his grass to the best advantage. Some land on Which considerable improvement has been brought about by phosphates is used for fattening cattle which is more suited to rearing stock. On some farms more hay is produced than is economic, on some too little. WhSe modification

in the cropping of a farm is never easy, there is often room for adjusting production to meet the needs of the particular farming system.