Fertility Of Pasture

Northern Advocate, 14 March 1939, Page 12

Fertility Of Pasture

The acid test of a pasture’s fertility or usefulness is its greenness in winter. A deep green shows that the pasture is made up of the right kind of grasses, is fertile and will grow profitably the whole year round.

Stand on a hill and look down on the nearest dairy farm (writes R. A. Homewood in the Farmers’ Weekly). The fields nearest the homestead will be the deepest colour, luscious green near the gateways where the cows come out from the sheds, gradually petering out to a pale yellowy-brown on the fields farthest from home.

One can visualise the fertility of these latter being carried home and sent away in the milk-churns and nothing much coming back in the way of manurial equivalents. If the farm is green to its farthest field you may be sure there is nothing much wrong with the management of that farm, though the fields nearest home are sure to fare the best. Colour Tells the Story It is the greenest, of course, which are the most valuable and will give the longest grazing season. More and more it is realised how important it is ■ that the grazing season should be extended, especially in the early part of the year.

Early grass in practice is usually grown to help until the natural growth on other fields is ready, but with plenty of phosphate and lime a'n the soil the clovers will not be retarded to any great extent by the heavy applications of nitrogen. Perennial rye-grass, which looks so green throughout the winter, thrives on nitrogen.

Timothy, dogstail and the fescues are valuable grasses, and have their place in my pasture, but my experience is that a preponderance of rye grass and wild white clover gives the best result. Rye grass will give that large quantity of early high-protein herbage, and, being coarse, will allow the clovers to grow freely among it to take its place when the dry summertime comes along and the rye grass gets strandy.