WHICH RED CLOVER SHALL WE PLANT?

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7412, 20 December 1930, Page 9

WHICH RED CLOVER SHALL WE PLANT?

What Investigations Has

Revealed

(By E. Bruco Levy, Agrostologist, and Wm. Davies, Plant Geneticist, Plant Research Station, Palmerston North.)

Bed clover occupies an important place in grass-farming the world over ahd the typo now dominant in world markets would indicate its greatest role to bo in temporary and short-rota-tion pastures. Por purely temporary pasture work rapid establishing and high-producing but short-lived types of red clover have been evolved and for the temporary pasture this typo is what is required. The South European, French and Chilian red clover on the market are of this type and are suitable for one year pastures. For tho short-rotation pastures of two to three years, rapid establishment and quick production is similarly required, but there is not tho same call for rapidity of establishment. The typical broad red clover has apparently been evolv<*» under years of short rotational farming. All New Zealand red clover is essentially of this normal broad red type, although there are indications that New Zealand broad red is slightly longer lived than the ordinary European red clover of this type. Our trials in New Zealand and those at Aberystwyth, Wales, however, would . indicate that New Zealand broad red and the English broad red, were almost identical in type. The point, however, that we wish to mako perfectly clear is that broad red clover is characteristically a short-lived, type, evolved ' under a short-rotation system of farming. For such conditions we do not require high persistency but moderately quick establishment; early spring growth, heavy hay yields and good summer aftermath production are essentials. Such pastures arc regarded as an intergral part of rotational farm-

Now-a-days, however, with high renewal costs and the ever-increasing practice of topdressing, tho trend is definitely for long-rotation and truly permanent pasture. The big question before the research worker is whether he can produce and make available to the grassland farmer a red clover that can take its place and hold it definitely in a mixed sward of ryegrass, cocksfoot, timothy, crested dogstail, white clover, etc. There is a place for red clover in the permanent pasture, hut it must he a type that will persist and blend in with the other dominant species.

The broad red sown to-day is in many respects dangerous to include in a permanent sowing. It establishes rapidly and produces in the first year an enormous bulk of herbage that quite overshadows and smothers much of the truly permanent elements such as perennial ryograss, crested dogstail, white clover, etc., and then in the second year its yield rapidly falls off, the plants die ,and a weak, open, poorly constituted pasture is left to carry on. An ideal permanent pasture red clover should not establish more rapidly than the other constitutents of the mixture, and it should blend in and harmonise with these other constituents yielding at a season a quota of feed when tho other species are at a low stage in production. It may be asked for what period of the year do we want red clovc-r in the pasture? Wo are of the opinion that red clover will best fit in during that period from tho falling off of the ryegrass and white clover shortly after December until the recovery of these when the weathor has definitely broken in tho autumn. Along with cocksfoot or paspalum, red clover should fit in this critical period. The extra late flowering red clover typo such as Montgomery or Cornish marl aro moro likely to fill this role than any early flowering type such as the ordinary broad red clover. The Montgomery red with its lower-set and more densely tillered crown is structurally moro fitted to persist under grazing conditions than the open-crowned, fow-tSUcred broad red types.

Finally, it -would appear that if we are ever to introduce into permanent pastures a red clover, our hope of success lies very much more definitely in Montgomery red clover than in any other type, and the trials in New Zealand with this clover to date would certainly indicate some measure of success in this is assured Another important point to hoar in mind is the need to cater for export requirements. Great Britain is probably our greatest potential buyer of Tod clover seed and her requirement for a persistent red clover is more specific than our own. In New Zealand, with our milder winters and autumns that favour comparatively easy reestablishment from seed shed, persistent strains would appear to be less absolutely essential. In Great Britain, particularly in the western and northern districts, there is less chance of autumn re-establishment and a greater degreo of winter killing than with us; highly persistent, truly permanent types are what Britain in the near fu-

turo is likely to demand. The once growing in New Zealand of the Montgomery red clover typo and the export of this to Great Britain would greatly, help consolidate the red clover seed j trade between tho two countries. We do not advocate abandoning the gowing of broad red clover in New Zealand, but rather of adding Montgomery red clover as a special type, keeping in mind always that as the world demand for a truly permanent red clover expands, so should our crops of this increase so as to cater for that demand. Bed clover is a particularly interesting species and provides an example of how environment, natural or modified to suit human purpose, selects out the type best fitted to survive for the particular end in view. The extremely low production, prostrate, small-leaved, wiry stemmed wild forms aro the outcome of an environment peculiar to the very old pastures of Great. Britain. Montgomery Bed and Cornish Marl arc types cultivated respectively in the long-rotation pastures of certain parts of Montgomeryshire and Cornwall. The late red group as represented by Hersnap and Altaswedo are intermediate between Montgomery and typical Broad Ted, and judging from their behaviour in New Zealand aro intermediate in demand of environment between these two major groups. The Broad rod is plainly the outcome of arable and short-rotation farming where the more tardy establishes and lower early yielders are Tapidly eliminated either by the smother or by the fact that their seed does not ripen simultaneously. Tho extreme broad red type is represented by certain French, Chilian and Italian types such as Lombardy red clover. The latter type was the first to establish in our trials and was during the first year always ahead of any other type. In the second year, however, it failed badly and was the first to go out under our mowing trials.

In the hands of a skilled plant breeder it would appear that a red clover for any soil and condition could ultimately be evolved and while many types may be useless as competitors for species already filling a definite role in our grasslands yet there are places not yet filled by any species that could well be filled by certain types of red clover.

In a second article to bo published later, Messrs Levy and Davies discourse on the different types of red clover.