FERTILISER CONTROLS SCRUB.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4951, 4 February 1937, Page 3

FERTILISER CONTROLS SCRUB.

A North Canterbury farmer has successfully brought in fairly steep tussocky nd manuka-covered faces of the hill country of his farm by consistent top-dressing with super. In quite a number of paddocks the manuka ten years ago was so heavy that it was impossible to ride a horse through it. Cut and burnt, the annual application of super has transformed the waste land into valuable grazing country. The fertiliser has established ryegrass pasture very little inferior to the pasture on tho flats. Tussock country also has been brought into ryegrass pasture simply by the application of the yearly dressing of super. The policy of consistent top-dressing of the waste hills of the farm was embarked upon eight years ago, and the owner, Mr. E. G. Gardiner, is emphatic that it takes from three to four years to establish thoroughly a good pasture by top-dressing. Consistency, he says, in the applications is of the greatest importance. A periodic dressing of lime would be an advantage as well as a light dressing of

a potassic manure every few years. This interesting experience is only what one would expect. The degree of fertility of a soil determines the plants that naturally grow upon it.