THE ART OF GRAZING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19455, 11 October 1926, Page 18

THE ART OF GRAZING.

SHORT AND SWEET GRASS. EXPERIMENTS AT CAMBRIDGE. VERY INTERESTING RESULTS. The farmers of New Zealand who depend so largely upon pasture for the feeding of their stock are rapidly learning the value of top dressing, and some of them are recognising the importance of subdivision into paddocks for the purpose of controlling grazing. I'ew of them, however, realise the full value of grass kept short by grazing, and will he surprised at the results obtained by the careful experiments conducted in connection with Cambridge University. Mr. J. G. Stewart, writing in the British Agricultural Journal, says:— "In the Cambridge investigation, arrangements were made to analyse and feed to sheep the produce of a pasture kept continuously short by mowing. At the same time, adjoining plots, let go for hav, were also periodically analysed. The first outstanding fact revealed was that the pasture grass was throughout rich in protein, and moie than twice as rich as that of the grass at haymaking stage; that is to say, more than twice as rich as it was hitherto generally assumed to be. Moreover, the figure for protein in the pasture grass remained remarkably constant throughout the wholo grazing season from April to October, thus suggesting that the feeding value does not necessarily decline as the season .advances. It was also shown that the aftermath samples from the hay plots resembled closely in chemical composition the pasture samples cut during the samo period.

Nutritive "Value. "'The young grass was, moreover, highly digestible—more so than tho best meadow hay, palm kernel cake, barley meal or undecortrcated cotton cake, and equal to linseed cake. In fine, the nutritive value of short, fresh, green grass is very much higher than that hitherto ascribed to pasturage. A considerable falling off in digestibility and nutritive value, however, occurs during the growth of the young herbage to the still immature stage required for hay, a condition which occurs in pastures if they are allowed to become rough and run to seed. It should be remembered that it is leaf, not stem, that makes a pasture valuable for feeding purposes. "The investigators conclude that leafy pasture grass may be regarded as possessing the character of a concentrate, while it possesses a feature lacking in many of the concentrates in that it supplies the animals' complete requirements lor vitamins and, where the botanical character is satisfactory, as in mixed grass and clover herbage, for mineral matter also.

"It may be asserted with reason that the farmer's cheapest, and possibly his best, concentrate is to be found growing within reach of his homestead. With this in mind, it is eminently desirable that the feeding properties of the pasture should be utilised in the fullest and most intelligent manner possible. "The authors of the account of this research are careful to point out that the results of the investigation are only applicable to such pastures as are kept short by being stocked to the fullest capacity. The most successful graziers are likely to be those who regulate the stocking of the pastures in such a way as to ensure a continuous supply of short, succulent herbage. This is, of course, not always easy to achieve. In a spell of drought pastures cease to grow, ant), although thev may not burn out, particularly if wild white cloves is present in goodlv proportion, they become unable to . provide sufficient sustenance for the head of stock initially necessary for proper grazing. It is then that lucerne or other green crop would come in so usefully for supplementary feeding. However, pastures will carry more stock and do the animals better : f the fields are not too l-"'Ke and periodical changes can be made from one enclosure to another. Under such a system, it would generally be possible in this country lo win through the longest drought likely to be experi- j enced."

Value o i Experiments. The experiments referred (o are undoubtedly of great value to New Zealand, and go to show that the general practice of allowing pasture to grow rank and luxuriant during the flush of the season is bad from the grazing point of view, and that it would be much better cither to keep the pasture closely fed by extra stocking, or to cut so much of it for hay or ensilage that the ordinary stocking could ke«p the pasture well under control. The fact that well-cropped pasture is more 1 palatable than, more luxuriant growth has long been recognised, but that it is so much mora nutritions than older and coarser herbage is not generally known. The facts elucidated' by the ( ambridge experiments should do much <■o I>ri 11 about the better subdivision of "farms into suitable-sized paddocks, which lias sn long been advocated bv this Journal. and should do much to encourage f better system of crazing than is generally practised. The experiments also confirm what experience has taught in -New Zealand that good pasture is the great essential in successful dairving, and that with our favourable climatic conditions giving such a prolonged period of growth in grass, we have only to provide a moderate amount of succulent fodders for our div periods in summer, and roots "Y"' hav winter, to obtain not only the highest production of butter-fat, per aere obtainable in any country, but. also to make all classes of'slock-vaisin" hMilv profitable. " " '