PASTURE TOP-DRESSING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20257, 17 May 1929, Page 5

PASTURE TOP-DRESSING

HEAVIER WOOL Y(ELOt-

EXPERIENCE OF AUSTRALIAN. SHEEP IN BETTER CONDITION. Compelling evidence of the immodiatt value of top-dressing is contained in an article from the pen of an Australian farmer, Mr. W. W. Ingroy, of Grenfell, New South Wales, who publishes his experience in an Australian agricultural and pastoral journal. For some considerable time previous to 1926, he states, he had read with interest many articles advocating the top-dressing of pastures, but he held the view shared by so . many landholders that this was largely propaganda on behalf of manure distributing firms. However, in 1927 ho decided to carry out a trial on his own account by treating an area cf 60 acres with three-quarters of a hundredweight of superphosphate to the acre.

The autumn proved exceptionally dry, with no useful rains until July. When sufficient rain did fall, the top-dressed area was the first to respond, and in about six weeks was very much in advance of the untreated portions. With the advent of spring, the top-dressed section was covered with a dense growth iof herbage. The contrast was so great that he lost little time in top-dressing tho remainder 'of the paddocks. Basis of Experiment. At this time he was approached by tho New South Wales Department of Agriculture to undertake in conjunction with it, a top-dressing experiment over an area of 40 acres. Eventually the experiment was carried out over an area of 200 acres, the Department supplying manure for 40 acres and the owner of the property the balance. The whole area was topdressed with three-quarters of a hundredweight of superphosphate to the acre. Operations were commenced on February 20, 1928, and when about half-way through with the work, a fall of five inches of rain compelled a halt, since the land was too soft to carry implements and horses At this time 600 sheep were turned on tho pasture. The whole area was treated by March 26, when another good fall of rain occurred. The 60G sheep were grazed continually until July 7, "when 300 were taken off, the remainder being left on until August 20, when all the sheep were removed for three weeks to allow tthe herbage to come away in the spring growing period. Weights at Shearing.

The sheep were shorn on August 21. Two officers of the Department of Agriculture superintended the shearing of 20 sheep off the top-dressed area and 20 more from an adjoining paddock which had not been treated.

Both lots of sheep were carefully selected in order that they should be as even as possible. The weights bf wool were carefully noted and it was found that although the experiment had been going for only months, the sheep off the top-dressed area averaged half a pound of wool more per head and the body weight (alive), showed a considerable gain over that of the sheep running on the untreated area.

Again on January 29, 1929, departmental officers again weighed the sheep. Both lots were in prime condition but when penned side by side,, those from the fertilised paddocks showed more bloom than the others and on weighing were found to have gained more weight per head than the sheep from the natural conditioned pastures.