PHOSPHATES AND WILD CLOVER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3514, 19 July 1921, Page 8

PHOSPHATES AND WILD CLOVER.

In an article in the Field reference is made to various successful efforts that have recently been made to convert poor land into valuable pastures. The former belief that grass land could take care of itself _ has been eom.pl etly dissipated bv practical demonstration, and we now recognise that grass is as responsive to suitable manorial and mechanical attention as arable land. It may not be possible to maintain the same standard of output on grass as on arable .and of average quality, but the question is not a comparison of principles of husbandry, but of systems of management—of enlightened or defective management. \Ye are able to supply some particulars of a case in Scotland which fundamentally does not differ greatly from that adopted by the late Mr If. H. Elliot, of Clifton Park. Aoout a. dozen years ago Mr If. V. Mather, of the Kelso seed firm of Messrs Laing and Mather, began a scheme of grass land improvement on his farm of Ellemford, Puns, in Berwickshire—in the heart of the Lammermoors. As is common north of the Border, the pastures on this 2200-acre farm are mostly temporary, but the principle followed bv Mr Mather was the same as applies in the case of _ permanent grass land, of course with suitable variations in the seeds mixtures seed. It is remarkable to notice that the chief elements in effecting the transformation in the Ellemford pastures and rotation crops were wild white clover included in the seeds mixtures and basic slag and superphosphate as manures. Mr Mather did not rely on those entirely, but they have been‘the outstanding factors in producing the results that are computed to have enhanced value of the pastures from 5s an. acre to “anything between £5 and £B.” The stock carrying capacity of the land has been greatly increased, and both cattle and sheep can be fattened off the grass, a thing that was unheard of in the olden times. The principles enunciated at Ellemford have a direct or indirect significance for farmers in all districts, grass or arable, the world over. Quite recently this Dominion has obtained an interest in Nauru Phosphate Island, and farmers anticipate being put in the way of securing supplies of soluble or insoluble phosphate at cheaper rates than at present. ‘ (liven a soil well stocked with organic matter and a fair rainfall—anything over 40in per annum, —and there seems good reason to believe that finely-ground raw rock phosphate will achieve as good results as basic slag. It is easily conceivable that these mineral phosphates in conjunction with wild white clover would revolutionise some of the pastures in Otago-Southlnnd now deemed of small account. The position in the United States as regards the use of raw phosphate is somewhat remarkable, says the New Zealand Phosphate Commissioner, A. I. El’is, in an article in the Journal of Agriculture, on the advantage or disadvantages of the raw rock as against acid phosphate. 'We discourage,” says the director of the Illinois Experiment Station, “the use of acid phosphate (super) for the permanent improvement of Illinois soils. The large number of soils experiment fields, which we have conducted in the State for some time, and the increasing number of farmers in the State who are using it, strongly attest to its value. The farmers of the Illinois corubelt are finding that raw rock phosphate enables them to get much better stands of clover and other legumes, and is one insurance of success in the growth of legumes; improvement in the other crops which follow the legume crop is evident everywhere.” Other States, it should be noted, have not had similar good results, but doubtless an inadequate rainfall as well as a. lack of vegetable matter in the soil would account for dissimilar effects. The uses to which raw phosphates or super can best be put have yet to be determined bv farmers in their respective provinces. But, as Mr Illlis contends, beneficial results from the use of finely-ground raw phosphate depend very largely on the grinding, which should be to the same fineness as basic sla.g, or at least 80 per cent, passing through a sieve of 100 holes to the linear inch. "Users of the material should stipulate for this state of fineness when placing their orders.