ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18459, 24 July 1923, Page 10

ON THE LAND.

>" •GHASS SEED' (MIXTURES.! •, ':/ ■ — ■ i FACTORS IN SELECTION, I M] :jf /f " - 'v \ DAIRYING B^eqcoements. i y,'- '/..[.'J. VARIETY ASnD .P^LATABILITY.J is »' ' No. L ' [BX^TELEOBA3®>—OWN CORRESPONDENT.! > . ;•* .* • "HAMHiTON. Monday. ■ j ' " Grass seed mixtures suitable for dairy .pastures were -dealt with by Mr. E. Bruce Lew, of • the .Department of -Agriculture, Wellington, in a lecture given at Ruakuia recently. Mr. Levy said -there were three - types of. pastures, the temporary pasture, 1 the :short rotation pasture, and the permanent pasture. ' In all cases the aim was a mixed pasture. These were preferable to pure pastures of any one species, because their growing period was longer and more uniform throughout the year than was that of pare .pastures. They .offered ,a varia- . tion of feed for stock; and the plant >com- . panionship was often -mutually 'beneficial , -to the - individuals of the pasture swaTd. ■ In ill nitration of : these . .points .i% was pointed out that pure perennial ryegrass pastures had .a much shorter - growing' period 'than had a mixture of perennial ryegrass and cocksfoot. The variation of feed ior stock was an important consideration. Their appetite was -akin to the human appetite, and .man knew well how sickening .the one kind of food became ■when' th© diet was unaltered. The system demanded a change, and often less palatable foods were eaten just in order to effect "that change. • Portability of -a .food was a variable entity, and .depended very aixrgely on its relative mass in comparison -with the other foods.' Where there was a patch Ox paspalum in a general- pasture -of English grasses that patch would be eaten absolutely close, while the mass of food might be mere or less neglected. Again, if those same 'English grasses were contained in small patches within » paspalum field, .then these -would be oaten down And : the paspalum neglected. In a mixed pas- - ture '/certain species were preferred by stock to others, and once a species in a pasture was left uneaten it was a sure indication that that species- was in sxcess, but lit did not nscessarily indicate that ishould be eliminated from the pasture altogether. Plant Companionship. Referring to the plant companionship point of view, Mr. Levy said, this was particularly true of the clover content of the pasture". The clover content of pastures should be looked upon as one of the most vital factors in the life history of pastures. The clovers benefited the companion grasses in two ways. By their fixation of free nitrogen they were direct enactors of the soS in .that important element of grass food, and, by their shade they-kept cool and moist the surfaas lay ers of soil, thus making possible a greater . surface root production by the grass, which was so essential to its proper nutrition. lit must be recognised that the root system of the .grass was not- a .permanent ■ • ..accessory to ; the , plant, : ior each grow•il : ing period there was developed a new root i-'.- 'system, and with the exception of those • grasses which' had an underground : root yV'stock , these new roots arose almost right on the surface of the soil. - - • • ; Perennial ryegrass-and cocksfoot were i \ two notable examples, and unless the con- ■ ditions in the pasture were such fihat this new root system could . develop, a stunted •' growth resulted. From this point of view the , closed turf was extremely important. ~ :i Bare spaces in the pasture meant a .drying out around the base of the isolated plants, and this -was extremely detrimental to new root development, and consequently the . growth became short and .stunted aud the -grass would most likely "go out"—-its ■ place , becoming occupied Iby deeper Tootv - ing weeds or inferior grasses like' brown top, whose new root system arose well . ;•; below -the surface of the soil. From this it would be -recognised -how important was -the actual constitution of the pas- • ture sward. ; ■ : - The devising of grassland mixtures depended largely on the results of three , main lines of research, namely,. the accurate : determination of which species of , grai?s and clovers would persist on the various, classes of Boil under normal stock- - ing conditions; ; the ,secnring of exact v - knowledge on the developmental stages through which the pasture might- go " from : - ; the w ing , until', such - time .as the soil was populated with those species that were permanent there; and the gauging •' of the - effect that the various types of j farm management had on the developmen- i tal stages - that occur in the ; life cycle of j -the pasture; ( ! .-, For the various types of 'soils, "New Zealand pasture species could be y " divided up - into three .main groups, V . the permanent elements, the short ■ . rotation ; elements ' (2-3 years), and ■ the temporary elements (1-2 years). .In ; almost all permanent- pasture mixtures & certain amount of temporary short-lived elements must be included in • -order to compete with weed growth and to provide 'feed while the slower -growing { permanent : pastures were' -getting estabished. One .of the - things that . had to be carefully guarded ' against, was the inclusion of so much temporary element thatthe slower establishing permanent elements might not be smothered out. Uses oi Temporary "Pastures.

Hr. Levy said the three main uses of the temporary pasture -were the •suppression of weed growth; the tiding over crucial periods of the year; breaking-in operations -on various lands. One of tho. •greatest principles in weed control -was the suppression of weed . growth by a plant or plants more vigorous than the weed,' and by one that -was of value to the! farmer. Not only did such plants as Italian ryegrass, western wollhs, ryegrass and red ; clover function -well as weed con- ' itrollers by their quick establishment and capacity to smother out, but they allowed of heavy stocking soon after sowing- 'thus bringing into play the second great factor in weed ; control. As special supplementary crops to tide over crucial periods the temporary - pastures were in- 1 valuable, ' and there ' was no doubt that more and more use should be made of the temporary pasture by the dairy farmer. By.; alternating ; the season sown, these pastures might be made to produce virtually 12 months in the year. A mixture for temporary pastures for virtually all classes of soils was Italian ryegrass 251b., and red clover 61b. West- 1 ern wolths rye might be- substituted for Italian, or the ' two might be nsei halt ! and half. In the choice between western; wolths : and Italian ryegrass, western wolths was more rapidly established, -was more upright in ; growth, and could be fed off sooner than Italian. It -was, how-' ever, more essentially an annua! than / was Italian. For temporary pastures of two vears' duration. Italian rye was -preferable to use. With either of these grasses there was the danger of allowingthem to gat away too far be/ore. bsinj?•? grazed, and often the red clover in such paddocks, might be entirely smothered out. ! The red clover was much slower to establish than the rvograes, and care mußt- be exercised in order that tfcfi. former 6hould not be smothered out. In late autumn sowines. alsike 21b.. should he added, and tho red clover shnnld he red need to 41b.