Renovating Old Pastures

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 6918, 23 July 1932, Page 4

Renovating Old Pastures

(By \V. Alexander, Agricultural Adviser to Ivcmptliornc, Prosser and 00., Ltd.) There' are many thousands of acres of really good country that arc carrying inferior pastures at present and let us see what can be done to improve thorn. Dairying pastures in a large number of cases arc not more than half os good as they should be and this stato of affairs may bo due to sowing but poor quality seeds in the first place, to insufficient drainage, unbalanced manuring, want of lime or badly controlled grazing. The question is how to set about the task of renovation. Ploughing, though most desirable in a groat many cases, must be ruled out •on account of the reluctance of fanners to break up grassland no matter how poor it may be; wo have to look for an easier way out. The first essential is good drainage—the value of good drainage is not always appreciated. With a micro or less open ditch—l say moro or less open, because ono sees so many ditches partially closed by weed growth or fallen-in sides —with such a ditch, then, round one or two sides of a paddock, it is taken for granted that sufficient drainage has been provided, yet in the centre of the field the water may continue to be in pools. The presence of rushes and penny-royal indicate

water too near the surface for good pasture. In the same way wc read, by the presence of rib-grass, catsear, fog, etc., that the land is in need of lime. Until the drainago is improved and the necessary lime added, it is almost impossible to expect 100 per cent, quality in'the pasture. Regular harrowing is another important matter in the routine of improving old pastures. Too often one sees pastures permitted to become fouled by undisturbed patches of animal manure. Even if harrowing served no other purpose, it is necessary for keeping pastures clean and sweet. Harrowing will also prevent pastures from becoming matted or sod-bound; dead growth and surface-rooting annual weeds as well as Fog and Twitch can all be effectively disposed of by regular harrowing. Proper control of grazing is not possible without regular and frequent harrowing, and I am sure these

is no more efficient method of preparing land for the introduction of better grasses.

Surprisingly good results have followed the surface sowing of a few pounds of the certified llawkc ’s Bay rye-grass and Now Zealand white clover on old pastures that had reverted to low fertility grasses. This surface renovation may be carried out by sowing, say, half a bushel of seed per acre, or by feeding out good quality hay on old grassland, or, better still, by both methods.

Personally, I would strongly recommend the feodiing out of hay, roots or ensilage on any paddock requiring renovation. Keep feeding out until the whole paddock is well tramped and well manured. Then use the harrows freely, Working in the animal manure, and at the same time working up a seed bed. At the end of August or beginning of (September, sow out half a bushel of certified true perennial rye —it’s no use wasting time with any other sort —and a couple of pounds of New Zealand No. I white clover. A further stroke of the harrows, chains for preference, to cover the seed should just about complete the job.

Fertilisers. A talk on this important matter of pasture establishment that did not include some reference to fertilisers would bo decidedly incomplete. The whole aim and object in applying fertilisers is to maintain, or, if possible, improve the fertility of the soil. Plants, no less than animals, have to eat to live. Grasses and clovers have the capacity to take up plant food and unless they are well nourished they simply cannot do what is expected of them. Onesided manuring is oltcn dangerous and it rcaJly looks now as though a good many dairy farmers have reached the stage where neither their pastures nor their stock respond to the fertiliser treatment being accorded them. I am convinced that as lar as our dairying pastures arc concerned the greatest need of the day is not more grass, but better quality grass. Moro complete manuring should bo the order of the day, that is to say, farmers should be putting back into the soil more of the various plant foods they are taking out in the form of dairy produce, meat and wool. Manuring to increase fertility results in reducing tho number of species present in a pasture, or at least causes a few species to become dominant. All those species which we look upon as being the most desirable —ryegrass, timothy, cocksfoot, etc., demand a. high standard of fertility in the soil and unless these demands are met in a liberal manner they simply refuse to carry on.

Young grass pastures in particular should be given a good start in life by tho application of a substantial dressing of phosphates and nitrogen. On heavy soils ammoniated super at the rate of 3cwt. to 4cwt. per acre, and on light soils a 50-50 mixture of superphosphate and blood and bone up to dewk or oven scwt. per acre would be profitable. The fertilisers recommended would greatly assist the young plants to establish themselves with a more vigorous and deeper rooting system. If wc would but realiso that all pasture plants have a fairly well defined standard of fertility, or, to put it another way, demand a certain environment, wc would understand why some pastures are good, some bad and others indifferent. One has only to look at the natural covering on our soils to understand that nature has sorted out plants to suit certain soil types and standards of fertility. In bush country we recognise first from second or third class laud by tho na.turo of the timber growing thereon. On grass country wc have equally distinctive plant indications to serve as guides in determining unfertile soils from fertile soils. Our aim to-day is to improve the fertility of our soil and to make it capable of carrying first class or high fertility pasture plants. AVe look upon ryegrass and white clover as the acme of perfection in a pasture, and it is only by maintaining the soil in a highly fertile state, combined with good management. that wc can hope to establish and then retain these two species in a dominant, position.