FARMING AND COMMERCIAL

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 107, 2 April 1930, Page 5

FARMING AND COMMERCIAL

FEEDING VALUE OF GRASS. ENGLISH EXPERIENCES. SHORT-CROPPED PASTURE. Mr H. G. Sanders of the School of Agriculture, Cambridge, writing on the feeding value of grass says: “The most pronounced movement in British agriculture in the last ten years has undoubtedly been that away from arable land toward pasture. Much of the land laid down has, of course, been tho same that was ploughed up during the War, but it is certain that the net result will be a considerably greater proportion of grass land than in pre-war days. This will mean that livestock will play an even greater part in our system of farming than hitherto, for tho produce of grass land can only be cashed through an animal of some sort. Whilst tho laving down of arable land to grass has always been viewed as a national disaster, ,in the present case it is being mitigated to a large extent by an increasing tendency to farm pasture better, and to increase its productivity; it is pleasing to bo able to notice in passing that science has played a prominent part in this matter.

Some of the most important contributions to our knowledge of grass have been made by Dr. Woodman and his colleagues who have been carrying out most extensive studies of the productivity of pasture plots, and of the composition and nutritive value of grass as obtained by cutting at various intervals. It is worth noting that they have carried their inquiries right through to the appeal to animal (to sheep, in point of fact) for a final verdict.' The investigations have been planned on a huge scale and will take a number of years to complete, but many interesting and useful facts have already emerged. 'Young grass, it appears, must be regarded as a concentrate, its dry matter having a starch equivalent comparable with that of such foods as linseed cake; it is very rich in protein and its fibre content is low; further, tho fibre is very digestible and has a nutritive value equal to that of etarch. As, grass gets more mature its protein content falls, and the fibre gets more lignified, which means a large falling off in digestibility and nutritive value. So far the interval between cuttings has not been longer than three weeks (except for “control” hay plots), and no falling off in nutritive value has been found with this interval, as compared with one of one week, though the protein content has shown signs of falling; this latter is rather in the naturo of an advantage, for, in tho early stages of its growth, grass is an unbalanced food for stock in that it contains too much protein. VALUE OF SHORT GRASS.

Perhaps tho most striking result is that there is little or no variation in the 'composition all through the growing seaeon, as long as the grass is kept short—thus the nutritivo value of pasture is subject to no appreciable seasonal variation as such, but is determined solely by its condition of growth. It is true that there is a slight depression in its value at times of drought (especially on light soils), but this must bo attributed to the fact that under those conditions it makes little vegetativo growth, and approaches maturity more quickly. Probably the chief characteristic of a first-class pasture is that it contains a good succession of grasses, so that a fair proportion of the herbage is in tho early stages of growth throughout a large part of the grazing season. As regards the amount of produce per acre, close cutting undoubtedly lowers the quantity of dry matter obtained, for it means a smaller area of leaf surface, and

consequently, slower growth. If, howovor, tho comparison is made on the basis of the starch equivalent produced per acre, it is found that plots cut at weekly intervals produce nearly as much as plots cut as hay and aftermath, whilst they produce considerably more digestible protein. Fortnightly cuttings give 29.3 per cent, and tri-weekly cuttings 62.3 per cent 'more dry matter than weekly cuttings (without lowering of tho nutritive value) hence there must be a considerable gain in a system of grazing which gets the grass bitten off at, roughly, monthly intervals. Monthly intervals are being employed in the pre6ent season’s investigations, and tho results will bo awaited with great interest, for the usual practice in “rotational grazing” is to allow monthly intervals between stockings. The question is—Will the digestibility of tho herbage fall so low that it loses something of its character as a concentrated food, and will the protein content be a nearer approach to that required in a balanced ration ? MANAGEMENT OF PASTURE. Prior to these investigations, the management of pasture land was purely an art, for the grazier had no precise knowledge of the value of the herbage his animals were eating, nor of the factors which affected it —:and it must be confessed that scientists “had not realised what a valuable food it wae. With these facts before him, however, he has a chance of more efficient management. There are many points which the inquiries have loft untouched as yet, the most important probably being the question of the effects of different manures in varying quantities (the work has been carried out on unmanured pasture); this subject, and others, will, no doubt, be dealt with in due course. The results to date, however, mark a very great advance; we see the groat desirability of getting pastures well grazed down at short intervale (three weeks to a month is probably the best), and that the food it provides in this state is a protein concentrate, and should be considered in that light if. any supplementary feeding stuff is given. This means that, for feeding with closely grazed pasture, the cheaper starchy concentrates like the cereals are more suitable than the more expensive cakes with high protein content. . One other point of somo considerable importance might be mentioned, and that is that the nutritive value of young herbage is only very slightly dependent on the species of the grasses providing it—all common species appear to yield valuable food rich in protein in the oarly stages of growth, and it is only when they approach maturity that wide differences develop between them; this indicates, that close grazing is oven more important on poor pastures than on good ones. WINTER SHOW. BUTTER AND CHEESE ENTRIES. Entries in tho butter and cheese sections for the Manawatu A. and P. Associations 1930 Winter Show constitute a record for the association. They total 557 ( 350 butter and 207 cheese), as compared with 532 (339 butter and 193 cheese) last year. Seventy factories are competing.) WALL STREET BOOM. NEW YORK, March 31. Stock sales have made a new record for this year, sales being 5,150,600, exclusive of odd lots, while prices spurted upwards, several issues touching new high levels of prices.

WELLINGTON STOCK EXCHANGE. ' YESTERDAY’S BUSINESS AND PRICES. Only one sale was recorded on tho Wellington Stock Exchango yesterday, National Electrio changing hands at 10s 6d. There waß a good demand for Government securities, banks, insurance and gas shares, but otherwise there was very little business offering, tho demand being poor. Tho 44 per cent, bonds (1930) wore in demand at £99, and tho 44 per cent, stocks and bonds (1938) art £97 ss. For tho 54 por cents. (1936) thero was a bid of £99. Bank shares wore in active demand,, but with very little change in tho quotations. Australian Bank of Commerce at 25s 4d were steady and unchanged, but Commercial Bank of Australia were a shade easier at 21s 9d. Commercial Bank of Sydney at £2l 2s 6d, and National Bank of New Zealand at £5 19s were unchanged. National Bank of Australasia, £5 paid, wero up Is at £7 6s, but Bank of Now South Wales wero lower by 2s 6d at £3B 15s, with sellers wanting £39 10s. Bank of Now Zealand wore up 2d at 26s lid, but Bank of New Zealand long term were unchanged at 265. Union Bank at £ll 19s wero also unchanged. Goldsbrough Mort and Co. at 325, and New Zealand Guarantee Corporation at 8s were steady. Wellington Investment wero Id higher at 10s lid. Gas shares were steady and unchanged, Auckland Gas at 23s 4d, Christchurch Gas at 265, and Wellington Gas at 29s 9d. There were no sellers of gas shares. National Insurance wero wanted at 14s. and South British Insuranco at 60s. Huddart-Parker ordinary were 3d better at 25s 9d, and Union Steam were steady at 20s. There were bide of 8s 6d for Crown Brewery, 41s 5d for British Tobacco, 27s 6d for Electrolytic Zinc preference, and 34s 9d for Mount Lyell. YESTERDAY’S QUOTATIONS. Buying and selling quotations at the final ciil yesterday on th« Wellington Stock

JEx dividend and distribution of rights. YESTERDAY’S SALES. The following sales wero recorded on tho Stock Exchanges of tho Dominion yesterday : Wellington.—National Electric, 10s 6d. Auckland. —Bay of Plenty Power Board, 53 per cent. (1936), £99; Commercial Bank of Australia, £1 2s 2d; Bank of New South Wales, £39: N.Z. Insurance (2), £2 3s 9d; Newton King, preference, 11s 7d; Renown Collieries, ordinary, 15s; Auckland Gas, £1 3s 8d; Huddart-Parker, preference, £1; Union Steam, preference, £1 0s 44d; Farmers’ Trading, 8s 7d; Alburnia, 4d. Christchurch.—Australian Bank of Commerce, £1 5s 3d, £1 5s 4d; Commercial Bank of Australia (2),. £1 23; N.Z. Breweries, ex div. ex rights, £2 11s 6d. Sales reported: National Bank of Australasia, £5 paid, £7 7s 6d; Bank of Now Zealand, £2 17s 3d; Mount Lyell (late sale Monday), £1 10s. Dunedin.—Sales reported: Bank of Now Zealand, £2 17s, £2 17s 3d; Commercial Bank of Australia, £1 2s; National Insuranco, 14s 3d. ** AUSTRALIAN LOANS. NEW YORK, March 31. Sales of Australian loans on Wall Street to-day oompare with those of a week ago as follow: —

SYDNEY WOOL SALES. SYDNEY, April 1. At the wool sales to-day, the offerings totalled 9405 bales, of which 8942 bales were sold. Thero was keen and widely-distributed competition. The market was firm at the best point of the week, with some improvement in prices. There was a particularly spirited demand for skirtings. Greasy Merino fleece made 264 d. OVERSEAS MARKETS. ’ LONDON, April 1. Wheat. —Cargoes were steady in sympathy with American advices, sellers’ ideas being occasionally threepence higher, but buyors not responding. Futures: London, May, 35s 6d per quarter; Julv, 365; Liverpool, May, 7s 84d per oental; July, 7s 9d nett; October, 7s 10gd nett. CHICAGO, March 31. 1 Wheat, March, 1 dollar 63 cents; May, 1 dollar 94 cents: July, 1 dollar 7i cents; September, 1 dollar 9 3-8 cents.

Exchange wero as follow: — Buyers. Sellers. N.Z. GOVT. LOANS— £ s. d. £ i. d. 54 p.c. Ins. Stk., 1936 99 0 0 — 44 p.c. Ins. Stk. and Bonds, 1938 97 5 0 p.c. ditto, 1930 99 0 0 — BA.Nts.SAustralasia — *12 15 0 Australian Bank of Commerce 15 4 1 5 6 Commercial of Aust. (ord.) 119 — Commercial Banking Co. (Sydney) til 2 6 21 10 0 Rational of N.Z 5 19 0 — National.of Australasia (£5) 7 6 0 •7 8 6 New South Wales .... 38 15 0 39 10 0 New Zealand 2 16 11 2 17 4 Ditto (long term) 16 0 — Union of Australia ... ll iy 0 — FINANCIAL— Goldsbrough Mort .... 1 12 0 — N.Z. Guarantee Corp. (ord.) 0 8 0 t0 8 1 Ditto (pref.) — +1 1 0 N.Z. Invest.. Mortg., and Deposit — 0 10 6 Well. Invest., T. & A. 0 10 11 0 11 3 GAS— Auckland 13 4 — Christchurch 16 0 — Wellington (ord.) 1 9 9 — Ditto (pref.) U 17 U — INSURANCE— National 0 14 0 — South British 3 0 0 — MEAT PRESERVING— N.Z. Refrigerat. (£1) — 0 11 9 Ditto (10s) — 0 5 6 TRANSPORT— Huddart-Parker (ord.) 1 15 9 — Union Steam (pref.) .10 0 . P. and O. def. stock ... — 2 14 0 WOOLLEN— 0 12 0 Kaiapoi (ord.) — Wellington (ord.) — 6 0 0 Ditto (pref.) — 6 3 6 COAL— Waipa — 0 14 0 W eatport-Stockton (ord.) — 0 3 0 Ditto (pref.) — 0 3 9 TIMBER— National — 0 9 0 BREWERIES— Crown 0 8 6 — New Zealand — J2 14 0 MISCELLANEOUS— British Tobacco (Au3t.), (ord.) 2 15 t2 1 s Dental and Medical . — 0 13 6 Electro. Zinc (pref.) .17 6 — Holden’s Motor Bldrs. — 0 15 3 N.Z. Drug — *3 11 9 Sharland and Co. (ord.) — 1 0 6 Ditto (pref.) — Wilson’s Cement — 1 1 0 1 19 6 MINING— Mount Lyell 1 14 9 — *Cum. dividend. +Ex dividend.

Mar. 25. Mar. 31. Dol. Dol. Commonwealth — 5 p.o. Jan.-July, 1955 ... 913 91 5 p.o., Mar.-Sept, 1957 ... 92 91g 44 p.c., May-Nov., 195b ... 853 * New South Wales— 5 p.c., Feb.-Aug., 1957 ... 89 88 5 p.c., Apr.-Oct., 1958 ... 884 873 Queensland — 6 p.c., Feb.-Aug., 1947 ... 100 101 7 p.c., Apr. Oct., 1942 ... 107g # *No sale.