PASTURES IN MAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23030, 6 May 1938, Page 5

PASTURES IN MAY

VALUE OF EARLY SOWING SUITABLE MANAGEMENT INFLUENCE FOR SUCCESS BY OBSKBYEB Excepting in special circumstances, most of the autumn-sown pastures will have been established weeks ago. Experience has demonstrated the value of earl j' autumn sowing, since this means the satisfactory establishment of grass and particularly clovers before winter. Suitable management of the newlysown areas plays an important part in the formation of a good sward in later years and this means the avoidance of under and over-grazing. If a young pasture is grazed too soon, satisfactory root establishment is prevented and there is a minimum of stooling out of individual plants, leading to bare patches in the field with the subsequent ingress of weeds. When possible it is advisable to graze a young pasture with a relatively large number of stock over a limited period. This avoids the selective grazing usually associated with light stocking. Aiding Consolidation A certain degree of consolidation assists grass establishment but if possible stock should be kept off the young grass in wet weather and when the land is liable to "poach." A few light grazings with avoidance of close grazing is the ideal to aim at in securing a good sward. If the herbage plants are allowed to get "proud" before being grazed it mitigates against good pasture establishment by overshading the slower-establishing species. This applies particularly when Italian ryegrass and red clover are included in the mixture. AA itli the advent of May there will be a marked diminution in pasture growth—except in warm and sholtered areas of the north. The paddocks intended for late winter and early spring grazing have been topdressed and closed from stock before this. While it is inadvisable to graze pastures too closely in late autumn, still, in the warm jireas it is often desirable to stock them fairly heavily for a brief period to minimise winter "foggage." After grazing a harrowing aimed at the maximum degree of dung spreading is indicated to minimise rank patches of growth. Drastic harrowing as advocated some years ago is now not commonly practised but in pastures carrying Yorkshire fog and brown top a good scarifying with a penetrating harrow will not be out of place. Proved by Experience Experience has proved the importance of completing the top-dressing programme before the mid-winter period. The fullest value from fertilisers on grassland comes if they are applied at a time when plants are still growing. At the season of minimum growth there is greater possibility of fertiliser ingredients being "locked up" by the soil before the pasture plants can utilise theni. , Early May is a suitable time to apply a fertiliser, such as ammouiated super, to certain selected pastures—those with a good content, ot ryegrass not too closely grazed for preference—so as to obtain a good early bite for early-calv-ing cows and early-lambing ewes. Pre-winter top-dressing even with phosphate—especially soluble phosphate —does tend to better even out grass growth throughout the year than manuring at any other period of the year. The securing of the maximum amount of succulent grass at times of normal pasture scarcity is the aim of the progressive stock owner. There is to-day a tendency to spread the top-dressing programme over several months in the autumn and even to treat certain pastures on the farm in the autumn and others in the spring. It is noticeable also that the use of potash along with phosphate is increasing on many farms, especially in the Waikato and Taranaki a^eas.

Lime lor Health Where there is a division of topdressing on the farm as between autumn and spring it is well to select the well-drained areas for the prowinter treatment. The use of lime has markedly increased in the North Island even in districts where field trials have not indicated an urgent need for applications. While relatively heavy dressings of, say, one ton of carbonate of lime per acre and even twice this are advisable in the initial treatment of sour soils the general practice on reasonably "sweet' 1 land is the application of scwt. per acre repeated every two or three years. On many farms the lime is applied as regularly as the fertiliser. Whether liming pays in better returns from pasture or not is hard to determine but many farmers look upon it as insurance policy from a stock health point of view.