THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23350, 16 November 1937, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

By Rusticus.

SUMMER SHOW SEASON DATES FOR 1937-38 ’Agricultural and pastoral shows for the 1937-38 season have been arranged as follows: November 17.—Waunate. November 19 and 20.—North Otago at Oamaru. Novembei 20,—Talerl, at Outram. November 23 and 24. Otago ai Tahuna Park. November 27.—Clutha and Matau a* Balclutha. Novembei 27.—Winton. December I.—Central Otago at Omakau December 4.—Tokomalriro Fanners Club at Milton. December 7 and B.—Gore. December 11.—Wyndham. December 11.—Owaka. December 14 and 15.—Southland ai Invercargill. December 17.—Manlototo. at Ran furly. December 18.—Otago Peninsula, at PortobeUo. December 27.—Tuapeka, at Lawrence, 1938 January B.—Blueskin, at Waitati. January 15.—Waikouaiti. January 21.—Palmerston-Waihemo at Palmerston. > April 9.—Temuka and'Geraldine, at d Winchester. April 18.—Mackenzie Highland Show at Fair lie. NEW ZEALAND WOOL SALES ROSTER FOR 1937-38 SEASON The following roster of New Zealand wool sales for the 1937-S8 season is announced. It has been arranged by the New Zealand Wool Brokers Association and the New Zealand Wool Buyers Association:

The April dates are tentative only, and are subject to alteration and/or cancellation, according to the quantity of wool offering.

Mws- : FROM CLUBS

The monthly meeting of the Upper Waitaki Club was held on October 27, •when arrangements were made for a Held day. The speaker for the evening was Mr T. A. Sellwood, of the Department of Agriculture, Oamaru, who took as his subject “Clover in Pastures.” * * ♦ The Palmerston Club met on November 5. The lecturer for the evening, Mr Craig, voluntarily postponed his lecture to enable members to see the Pig Marketing Association’s film on “Pigs and Their Diseases,” dealing: with pleurisy, peritonitis, necrosis, and. various other diseases that affect pigs and their marketing. The film was shown by Mr Stubbs, and he was warmly thanked by Mr J. Lowen on. behalf of the members. * * * On Saturday, November 6, the Upper Waitaki Young Farmers’ Club held a field day in the Hakataramea Valley. A party of 23 young farmers and farmers of the district assembled at Mr A. C. McCaw’s property, “ Cliffside,” at about 10 o’clock. Mr T. A. Sellwood, instructor in agriculture, explained the layout of the barley manurial trial, in which the varieties Archer Spratt and Chevalier’ were used. The subterranean clover trial was also inspected, and much discussion arose as to the localities for which this clover was most suited, Lunch was then enjoyed in the orchard of Messrs J. and F. McCaw. The next trial to be inspected was the wheat manurial trial on the latter’s property. Marked differences were noticed between “no manure ” and “ super—lewt ” plots, while there was no apparent difference between lews and 2cwt super. An established field of subterranean clover was then inspected on the property of Mr J Cleeves. Much interest was displayed in the field, and Mr Cleeves supplied some useful information. On this same farm an excellent demonstration with regard to the inclusion of good clover when establishing ryegrass was seen. In this field certified rye and Montgomery red clover had been sown, but just before sowing was completed clover seed ran short and a small block was sown with rye only. The pasture, which is now four years old, had an excellent cover of rye and Montgomery, and the rye is healthy and vigorous. On the portion where rye, only was sown the rye is short, harsh and brown in appearance. The remainder of the same field had been sown down with ordinary rye and cowgrass, and on this pasture, which is also four years old. there is little, if any, rye present. The red clover has maintained itself by a. certain amount of reseeding taking place. The general appearance of the swafd is open. This demonstration was most interesting, and clearly showed the necessity for the inclusion of good clover and rvegrass strains in pasture establishment. The next place to be visited was the Hakataramea Station, where the manager (Mr Parsons) gave a very interesting and instructive outline as to what was being accomplished on this station. The wool shed was visited, and close to the homestead an excellent field of red and white clover and cocksfoot was seen. Grazing in this field was a very fine group of Corriedale studs, and Mr Parsons kindly pointed out some of the finer points of the flock. The party then adjourned to the homestead, where afternoon tea was provided. Mr P. Atkinson (president of the Upper Waitaki Young Farmers’ Club), on behalf of the members, expressed his appreciation and thanks to Mr Parsons and Mr Sellwood for the interesting demonstration they had provided, his remarks being suitably replied to. Two more fields were then visited, where top-dressing had been carried out on old and new pasture with super

Items of interest to those engaged In agricultural and pastoral pursuits, with a view to their publication in these columns, will be welcomed. They should be addressed to “Ruaticus,” Otago Daily Times, Dunedin.

and reverted super. Outstanding results were obtained, and Mr Parsons outlined his top-dressing programme to the visitors. From the Haka Station the party returned to Mr A C. McCaw’s property, where the inspection of a further wheat manurial trial and subterranean clover field brought a most interesting and enjoyable day to a conclusion. ♦ . * The Waitaki-Hilderthorpe branch of the Young Farmers’ Club has now concluded its meetings for the year, and the final gathering was held at the residence of Mr and Mrs J. B. Chapman, where a very enjoyable time was spent, all joining into the various games and competitions with much enthusiasm. The chairman (Mr J. Duncan, jun.) thanked, the host and hostess for the kindness shown to the members. * * * The Milton Club held its monthly meeting on November 1, and there was practically a full attendance of members to hear Mr Christie’s lecture on “Farm Shelter and Afforestation.” * * * The following is a further article by Mr S. H. Saxby in the series on pasture plants;— Annual Poa (Poa annua): Is a freeseeding annual weed grass which oc-

curs In pastures and waste places throughout the country. Although it is relished by stock, its short life and low production cause it to be regarded as ox very little value. This season it is very common in Otago, no doubt due to the long spell of wet weather that has been experienced during the past year or so. The consequent opening up of pastures due to poaching by stock and drowning out of other grasses has been responsible for its ingress. On heavy country it comes in readily where temporary strains of grasses and clovers are sown. Poa annua is very common round gateways, stable yards and paths, and can be recognised by its light green colour, long ligule and short habit of growth. It flowers practically all the year round. As distinct from Poa trivialis, Poa annua has a dull surface bn both sides of the leaf, which is usually slightly crinkled halfway along its length.

Clover and Top-dressing The value of suitable top-dressing to induce clover-growth in pastures, particularly paspalum pastures, is to be observed in North Auckland. Right through the winter where such conditions exist the clover has stimulated the paspalum, and this grass has produced feed right through, whereas paspalum pastures lacking clover are yellowish and are making no growth. Subtewnnean Clover The importance of surface-sowing subterranean clover at the most suitable time has been well shown in the Manawatu district -in the past season. Areas sown in early February appear much further ahead, both in number of plants germinating and also in their vigorous growth, than areas sown later in the autumn. This year, owing to the high summer rainfall, subterranean clover could be sown much earlier than usual with good results, and those who took the opportunity appear to have been well repaid. A Useful Combination A combination of subterranean clover and swedes was noted in the Apiti district. The growth of the clover was very strong, making a dense cover between the rows, even though suffering slightly from some of the exceptionally heavy frost experienced in the district. The subterranean clover was sown in mistake for chou-moellier seed, and the evidence noted from the mistake makes it appear as if it might be a combination worth consideration. Basic Slag Top-dressing A farmer of Tirau who owns a farm of 340 acres, carrying capacity 1300 breeding ewes and from 180 to 200 head of cattle, has had good results with basic slag in top-dressing this past season. When growing root crops and sowing down permanent pasture his manurial treatment is equal parts of super and bones at the rate of' 3cwt per acre. When old pasture is ploughed for root crops he applies 12cwt of carbonate of lime on thS furrow. His usual top-dressing mixture is one sack of superphosphate diewt) and one sack of lime (lewt) per acre. Last autumn he top-dressed part of his farm with basic slag at the rate of 3Jcwt per acre and the usual super-lime topdressing on the remainder. The lambs from the ewes on the slagged country were all sold and forwarded to the freezing works on November 20 in one line; late lambs doing very well. Only one-third of the lambs from the superlime top-dressed country were ready and sold at this same time. Certified Ryegrass On a farm in the Ruawai district the value of certified ryegrass is well exemplified. In two fields alongside each other a pasture mixture was sown down four years ago. One was sown with certified ryegrass in the mixture, the other with Canterbury seed, noncertified. The two fields have received practically the same treatment. The paddock in which the certified ryegrass was sown now possesses the desirable ryegrass-white clover pasture, with sufficient but not too much paspalum. The other possesses little ryegrass, is paspalum-dominant, which grows rank and is inclined to smother the white clover. Thus it appears that on such alluvial clay soils, to obtain that essential type of pasture so desirable and also so highly productive in North Auckland, certified ryegrass must be used. Sugar Beet as a Pig Feed

A crop of sugar beet grown on the Waimate West Demonstration Farm for the purpose of beet sugar investigation is creating interest as a feed for pigs. It is the usual farm practice to winter store pigs in open, small, grass paddock runs, with a ration of mangels carrots, and whey. This year, however, root-growing is confined to the above area of sugar beet, with the exception of a very small area of carrots. A start was made in feeding sugar beet to the pigs during May last, and although at the commencement a few carrots were fed out with the beet the pigs selected and ate the sugar beet prior to the carrots. The manager states that the pigs are particularly Eartial to sugar beet, and he has never ad pigs to winter and thrive so well. A total of 22 store pigs and one sow

with a litter of nine are being regularly fed with sugar beet. The total amount fed in conjunction with whey is from 651 b to 751 b per day, and the grass run area is approximately 1J acres. The beet is lifted, leaves topped, and allowed to ripen some 10 days prior to feeding. Experience to date is such that sugar beet presents possibilities as a valuable pig feed. Causes of Inefficient Ensilage Unfortunately, a good deal of inefficiency characterises ensilage in New Zealand. In addition to failure to utilise up-to-date labour-saving equipment and means of storage—e.g., trenches and pits—among the mam causes of inefficient ensilage are:— 1. Too late mowing of the crop, which, as a rule, leads to a falling-off in quality that substantially outweighs any increase in quantity. The material resulting from too late mowing is unduly stemmy or woody, and this, irrespective of the curing process, is associated with the poor balance in the supply of nutriment and the low digestibility that characterises any over-mature pasture growth. 2. Curing at excessively high temperatures, which results in avoidable loss in feeding value. This often may be remedied by more speedy ensilage. Partial wilting of the material tends to lead to high temperatures, but in dealing with very sappy material partial wilting may be advisable. As a rule, additional green material should be placed upon that already gathered as soon as the latter begins to sink in height because of the curing process. If this rule is followed, temperatures in the vicinity of lOOdeg. Fahr. will develop and silage of a greenish to a yellowish tint usually will result. 3. Insufficient exclusion of air, which leads both to too high temperatures, resulting in silage which is too dark and in wastage due to decay. This fault may be removed or lessened by more thorough packing in the pit or trench and by more adequate covering of earth or other sealing matter, which, to minimise wastage, should usually be placed in position practically as soon as all the green material

has been gathered. It is more difficult to exclude air sufficiently from stemmy than from leafy green material, and because of this late mowing tends to less efficient curing and more wastage. PASTURE COMPETITIONS THE TAIERI DISTRICT RESULTS OF SPRING JUDGING On Monday last the spring judging of the pastures in the Taieri district was carried out by Mr H. S. Saxby, of the fields division of the Department of Agriculture. There were nine entries, six of which were in the “young pasture” class and three in the “ old pasture ” class. This is the first time that these competitions have been conducted in this district. There are many good pastures on the Taieri, and a competition of this nature affords farmers an excellent opportunity of discussing the establishment and maintenance of pastures under various conditions, and the relative values of the many kinds and strains of grasses and clovers. When the autumn judging is carried out next March it Is hoped that there will be a good muster of farmers interested in pastures and grassland farming, which are so important now. By the courtesy of Mr J. Young, jun., the opportunity was taken of inspecting the various strains of grasses and clovers which had been laid down on his property by the Department of Agriculture some three years ago. A pasture that attracted considerable attention and which was the subject of much favourable comment was one of Montgomery red clover. This pasture is three years old and has an excellent sward of red clover which at present is providing a considerable quantity of fresh and vigorous feed. The following are the details of the points awarded to the leading pastures: — OLD PASTURE CLASS

Centre. Auckland Opening 9 a.m. time. 1937, November 27 Napier 9 a,m. December 3 Wellington 9 a.m. December 8 Christchurch 9 a.ra. December 13 Timaru 8 am December 17 Dunedin 9 am December 21 1938 Wellington 9 am. January 10 Napier 9 am. January 15 Wanganui 9 am. January 20 Auckland 8 am. January 24 Christchurch 9 am. January 31 Invercargill 9 am. February 4 Dunedin 9 am. February 9 Wellington 9 am. February 16 Nanier 9 am. February 21 Wanganui 2.30 or 4 pm, February 25 Christchurch 9 am March 3 Timaru 9 am. March 7 Invercargill 2 pm. March 11 Dunedin 9 a.m. March 16 Wellington 9 am March 22 Auckland 9 am March 26 Wanganui 9 am. March 30 Napier 9 am. April 4 Christchurch 9 am. April 8 Dunedin 2 pm. April 12 and/or 9 am April 13 Wellington 9 am. April 22

:Name Per cent. : good grasses i Per cent, clovers Freedom from poa grasses Freedom from weeds Density Appearance and control Total

(40) (20) (5) (10) (15) (10) (100) R. Kirk .. 29 15 3 5 13 ,9 74 A. Grant .. 25 15 1 7 13 9 70 YOUNG PASTURE CLASS J. Young, jun. 38 19 4 9 14 9 93 F. D. Held .. 37 18 4 9 14 8 90 C. G. Shand 35 17 4 9 12 8 90 A. Thompson 32 17 2 7 14 8 80