GRASSLAND FARMING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21136, 19 March 1932, Page 20

GRASSLAND FARMING.

HANDY, PUBLICATION. PRACTICE IN NEW ZEALAND. The grasslands of New Zealand provide almost 95 per rent, of her productive wealth. They are, therefore, the most vital factor in her economic health. The growing realisation of the importance of efficient, pasture management, as typified by the attention being paid to new and intensive systems, has placed the Dominion in the van of pastoral progress, yet such enormous possibilities for increased production are opened by them that, in comparison, producers have barely touched the fringe. In some instances production has been brought to a figure as high as 2501b. of butter-fat, and more, per acre. The fact that the general average of production from our grasslands, however, is little more, on a liberal estimate, than 1001b. of fat an acre, argues the necessity of a very much wider adoption of the principles involved. If inspiration in the cause of better grassland management is needed, producers could do no better than turn to " Grassland Farming in New Zealand," a hook written by Mr. C. Burnard, which gives a practical outline of modern methods with particular reference to the profit-making opportunities they offer. A summary of what has already been achieved by grassland farmers in New Zealand is perhaps one of the most outstanding features of the book, but its value and merit rest on a far wider foundation than this. The theories on which intensive grass management are based, and particularly their application to New Zealand conditions, receive concise but, thorough treatment, and since the author writes from the background of practical farming experience, coupled with a close personal contact with research activities and their translation to practice on the farm, lie has been able to' compile a volume which is nothing, if not practical. It should, therefore, have a strong appeal to the working farmer. _ Mr. Burnard makes clear that there is no hard and fast rule which can be applied with equal success in all parts of the Dominion, and that the development, of intensive methods, and the subsequent increase in production is contingent on factors such as soil, climate and finance. Nor does he suggest that the principles enunciated are capable of immediate and complete adoption. The process must of necessity be gradual and progressive. The publication of the book should do much to hasten the wider institution of that process. Mr. A. H. Cockayne, assistant DirectorGeneral of Agriculture, contributes a foreword to the volume.