PASTURE MANAGEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20656, 30 August 1930, Page 20

PASTURE MANAGEMENT.

SYSTEMATIC GRAZING. HIGHER CARRYING CAPACITY. DAIRYING AND SHEEP. Since it has been demonstrated that the carrying capacity ol pastures can he as much as trebled if tho grass is kept in the young leaf stage much attention has been given to the, practical problem of keeping pastures growing continuously, and preventing the plants from seeding. The' production of seed is the ultimate object of plant growth, and once seed is produced the growth ceases for that seaEon, but if the plant is prevented ' from seeding, then it grows in the hope that some day it may be able to produce seed, and so a longer growing season is obtained.

The principal English grasses, the ryegrasses, cocksfoot, crested dogstail, timothy and the bent grasses (brown-top and red-topj usually produce seed in the early summer and exhibit a very rapid growth for a period beforo this occurs. Paspalum, on the other hand, commences to produce seed in midsummer, and contrives to do so throughout the summer and autumn Red clover sets seeds during midsummer, but white clover, the ideal pasture clover, continues to flower and produce seed over a larger period. Effect' oi Top Dressing. The mixed pasture, therefore, produces fin abundance of leafy growth during spring, followed by a leafy growth of clover'and paspalum during the summer and where prairie grass is included this growth is continued during late autumn and winter.

Top-dressing really intensifies the problem of being able to keep the grass short. It may give an earlier and later growth to the pasture, but if the pasture is kept short the same will apply even without fertiliser. Much of the success that has been attributed solely to topdressing, is partly due to tho better management of the. pastures that has been forced/yon the farmer by the increases brought about by top-dressing, and so to the farmer himself some of the credit is due.

To keep grass in the young leaf stage it is necessary to adopt the system of intensive rotational grazing, which means crowding such numbers of stock on a pasture as will graze it down in from one to four days, shifting them on to another field, and then to others until when the litst, field has made sufficient growth, usually in from eight to 14 days, the stock are bi ought back and then again allowed to graze it moderately bare. Closing the Fields. To apply this system to the average farm, it will be necessary to treat a portion, usually about two thirds, of the pasture by this method, and to shut up the remainder during periods of flush growth as a standby in c«se of adverse weather conditions, and for the provision of hay and ensilage. This shutting up need not be done at any particular season of the .year, but should be done whenever it is found that there, is more grass growth than can be kept in control. It is better to shut up different fields in different years so as to reduce the detrimental of taking off a hay or ensilage crop.

In the case oi dairy cattle, the system is usually to concentrate the herd on fields of such a size, that there arc ten to twelve cows per acre. A field so grazed will last three to four days. Dry stock or sheep should follow, and then the pasture should bo well harrowed. In the case of sheep, two examples may ba taken. On country that, is carrying two sheep per acre, the fields require to lie /in acres about an eighth of the number of sheep grazed. Thus, 800 sheep would be concentrated on a 100-acre field. On country that is carrying six sheep per acre, tho fields require to be about one twenty-fourth the number of sheep grazed. Thus, 240 sheep would be concentrated on 10 acres, or 500 sheep on 20 acres. Use of Tv/o Glasses of Stock.

In the cases of both dairy stock and ghee)), it is preferable to carry two classes of stock. The highest-producing stock, i.e., the cows in milk or tho ewes and lambs have the first run and the best of the grass. Second-class stock, or "followers," clean up the roughage left by the first-class. Thus, a mob of wethers after cows oi ewes will clean up and although they may return only a moderate profit, the benefit to pastures, and therefore to the main line of stock, is great. If ''followers" are not available it may be necessary to run the mower over the fields, especially during December and January, to cut down seed stalks and roughage. Where the pastures are in good heart through top-dressing with phosphatic fertilisers an early bito can be obtained by the use of lewt. of sulphate of ammonia or other similar, quick-acting, nitrogenous fertiliser during July. Likewise. a Jato bite can b'3 obtained by similar treatment during the autumn.

Intensive grazing will mean a great accumulation of stock droppings, and regular/harrowing is necessary to adequately distribute these To facilitate their rlecomposition, there is nothing better than n dressing of carbonate of lime, of from lOcwt. to one ton per acre. Lime assists process of decomposition of stock droppings, and its application thus keeps the pasture even and sweet, besides promoting more rapid recovery. The future of dairying and sheepfarming in New Zealand is closely bound up in the judicious application of intensive rotational grazing combined with top dressing and harrowing, so I hat a continuous supply of young leafy pasture may bo obtained throughout tho year.