TREATING PASTURE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 80, 16 March 1936, Page 11

TREATING PASTURE

Autumn Superphosphate SHOULD NOT BE .MISSED In spite of the wonderful growth of grass everywhere in the North Island this summer the usual autumn application of 3 cwt. of superphosphate to the acre, according to the class of country, is advised by an agricultural authority. This should be put on during the next lew weeks. “In this district,” states the authority, “there is now a greater growth of pasturage than has been the ease for many years. This, combined with a considerably better price for butterfat, will help to improve the bank account of the dairyfarmer, who most certainly deserves this. The luxuriance of grass growth, particularly if it continues for a few weeks, is likely to mask the necessity for providing the dairy land with its annual autumn dressing of superphosphate. As dairyfarmers will realise, the advent of frosts will soon make the grass lose most of its milk-producing qualities and also reduce the quantity available for milking stock. _ “Despite the feed position, it is advisable to topdress in the autumn. A number of the most successful sheepfarmers and dairymen topdress a considerable portion of their farm every year irrespective of the condition of pasturage. In the dry autumn, when little growth is apparent, topdressing goes on in late February and in March, the fertiliser awaiting the advent ol the autumn rains.

“In au autumn such as at present, a certain percentage of the farm is grazed down, or the mower is used, and the fertiliser is applied. A little thought will reveal the fact that spring, summer, and early autumn growth is making a heavy drain on the pasturage, and it this is to go into the winter in good condition and produce its maximum next spring, it must be kept adequately supplied with the right type of fertiliser. . “So-far as grazing land is concerned, it has been amply demonstrated over a large number of years, both by the results secured on farms and by elaborate Government fertiliser experiments, that the autumn is the best time to topdress a large acreage of the pastures on the farm; the herbage is making a fresh root system, then the application of soluble phosphate encourages this root system and helps the growth well into the winter. "On most North Island soils root growth does not cease even in the winter, and while top-growth in the form of leafage is not very apparent, the plant is building so as to come early in the following spring and to maintain a good growth over the months following. In tho autumn the soil is warm and conditions are favour able for maximum growth. As well as this, the effect of the mineral content of the grass, which is so essential, and which helps to carry stock through the winter with the minimum requirements of supplementary feed. “Not many years ago, the most popular period tor topdtesshig grassslands was in the spring; undoubtedly spring applications give quick and very profitable returns, but they are suited in the main for ensilage and hay. On grazing land, autumn applications have been proved essential lor highest production on dairyfarms. “There seems to be every evidence for the belief that the autumn topdressing is rather superior to winter, as according to Prolessor Stapledon, tho noted world authority on grass production, it is better to apply fertiliser when the root growth is fairly active, as in the autumn, rather than in the dormant period of the year, when there is a greater danger of the fertiliser applied being locked up in an insoluble form in the soil before the plant can adequately get its full supply.”