Topdressing of Pasture

Northland Age, Volume 1, Issue 4, 30 October 1931, Page 3

Topdressing of Pasture

Is It Too Effective ? A correspondent writes: “Some farmers state that the repeated topI dressing of paspalum grass paddocks is having a smothering effect on the paspalum by bringing on the growth of clovers and English grasses.” Questioned as to his experience, Mr. D. Lewis, of Kaitaia, emphatically confirmed the statement. Showing a paddock of his own covered with a dense growth of ryegrass amid which it was difficult to find the few scattered plants of paspalum, he said that it had been a pure paspalum paddock and had changed into English grass through the effects of topdressing. The manuring gives the ryegrass a flying start in spring when the paspalum is still dormant, and the ryegrass crowds it. When the paspalum does come away the abundance of plant food forces a strong leafy growth and weakens the seed-producing powers of the plant. Then, too, the abundance of food provided does not encourage the paspalum roots to range widely and deeply for nutriment and weakens the plant in the struggle for existence. However, whatever may be the cause, there was no doubt in his mind that topdressing did tend to exhaust a paspalum pasture in that way as well as tending to crowd it out by encouraging the growth of other grasses and clover. It would be interesting to have the experience of other farmers with the topdressing of paspalum.