NEW ZEALAND'S PASTURES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20690, 12 April 1929, Page 10

NEW ZEALAND'S PASTURES.

CLOVER AND RYEGRASS. STARTLING RESEARCH RESULTS. PRESENT COMPOSITION CHALLENGED. (Peb United Press Association.) PALMERSTON N., April 11. Experiments that will revolutionise the grass seed industry in New Zealand and play an important part in the building up or production in the Dominion were disclosed to farmers during a “ field day ” at the plant research station to-day by Mr E. Bruce Levy.. Summarised, the announcements which created this impression were:—First, that New Zealand would very probably have to scrap its present red clover and introduce a different variety which would give infinitely better returns; secondly, that Hawke’s Bay was the onlv district in New Zealand which could be relied upon for ryegrass, that true perennial, the so-called perennial ryes from Southland and Canterbury being not much better than Italian ryes; thirdly, that imported white clovers were not lasting in the pastures more than a year or two, whereas New Zealand-grown white clover was permanent. These pronouncements are of tremendous importance to the farming industry. They will mean, for instance, that the thousands of pounds sent out of the country each year for white clover seed will now be spent in the Dominion, and that by getting true perennial rye seed instead of the so-called perennials that are really only Italians the permanency of pastures can be more readily maintained, with an attendant increase in production. The matter of replacing red clover will be. a stupendous _ task, but, according to Mr Levy, it will be well worth while. Of 104 plots of alleged perennial rye seed obtained from all over New Zealand, 28 only had the true perennial characteristics, the rest being Italian or hybrids. Twenty-two Hawke’s Bay lots yielded 15 perennials, 12 Sandon ryes yielded two true perennials, 30 lots from North and Mid-Canterbury yielded three only true to type, while there was not one sample from South Canterbury. Of 40 lots from Southland not one had come true, and of three from Marlborough only one came true!

The farmers present inspected the plots, which are like a draught board. The Hawke’s Bay rye shows considerable autumn growth and thick swards, whereas the other ryes were short and sparse. . Lucerne experiments have shown that the sowing of superphosphate mixed with innoculated seed has been responsible for destroying the nodule-forming bacteria so necessary to lucerne growth, and this has been the cause of the lucerne stands petering out a year or two after sowing.