ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

Otago Witness, Issue 3525, 4 October 1921, Page 11

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

By

AGRICOLA.

“Settler,” Hilton, writes as follows: “The sec Lion ot land on which I am located is of downs nature, mostly all pioughable, carrying bin to Sin of soil on a yellowish clay, w.th water m gullies. , Most oi the land is in Chewing’s fescue intermixed with true couch. On dark faces of pasture moss has taken possession, and yet there is a limekiin in work not far away, and I would suppose that subsoil hero was limey, and lime being, I understand, an antidote to inoss. something seems wrong, but I ‘hae ma doots’ about matters. Is ground lime as eflicac.ous as burnt lime? What is the best way to kill Chewing’s tescue and couch, also bow to counteract the moss? In sowing grain or roots is crushed lime as good as manure? If not, what manure is necessary'' In resowing, what mixture of grassseed for this class of land would you recommend There is no way of getting rid of couch except by removing the stuff by hand and burning it during tillage operations. To rid land of Chewing’s is quite another proposition, as it grows differently. There are at least two ways. Skim-ploughing in late summer or during autumn and allow the furrows to he all winter, and cross-plough in early spring, and sowing land in any cereal you wished; or plough land up side down a fairly good depth, and work up a good tilth with harrows, discs, etc., and sow out in, say, ryegrass seed. Leave down in grass for, say, three years, and crossplough land, when you will find that the Chewings sod . has perished. As to moss taking possession, it is clear that land requires draining. Liming is well enough in some places, but unless drainage is good no amount of liming can rectify the trpuhle. you should endeavour to arrange the ploughing .(if drainage is too expensive to do) so that the final ploughing .is down the hill, as this is better than noth ng, and sometimes answers well. Even land resting on limestone rock formation frequently requires liming, as the tendency for lime to sink is well recognised. In general the form in which lime is applied is immaterial. The finer state of division of the burnt lime when it slakes is invaluable, and in comparison usually beats the crushed limestone. Then, too, in treating land it is important to remember that nearly twice as much ground limestone per -acre as burnt lime is required to provide similar amounts of carbonate. The matter generally turns on cost of cartage, providing as good a limestone is crushed unburnt as burnt, and used in proportion of 2to 1 per acre. Lire in any form for roots or grain is not as good as a special fertiliser. One should have the land in good “nick” with a good lime content worked in some time previously a season or two earlier, and then use a little special nrtifiedd manure with crop per acre. A fertiliser like superphosphate will act like a charm. As to a grass mixture, you are some seasons away from that time, as land must be clean and sweet first, and this takes time. However, you can safely build a grass seed mixture round the dominant grass in vour district. Supposing it is wograss, then rvc grass 1511), cocksfoot 71b. crested dogstai! lib. Italian 31b, and various clovers 8l!> —32It> per acre. Another point in connction with the appearance of moss occurs to me, and that is: from vacant bare places if spreads. The soil has probably lost Its good physical condition, owing possibly to holding but one . . f up ass. and there is no aeration, such as might be caused by plants of different rooting natures. One sees the trouble in the case of earth in a pot. should the plant which occupies it be unhealthy. There is nothing like a good covering of turf, and whether of mixed grasses and clovers or not. a lack of aeration in course of time presupposes moss. “Tnouivor” asks:—“When sowing crested docstail by itself, intended for cutting, bow many pounds per acre should be sown?” The quantity of any species of grhss required to sow an acre depends on size and weight, ot the seed ami germination, tilth, and locality, frosted dogstnii is a persistent grass on many soil:, and frequently in a mixture (of grasses and clovers) will after some yea rs have possession, although limited to lib tier ac re. Sown alone as you desire 16!b to 181 b p< o' acre of good seed should prove ample but if. is not a proiect 1 would care to ro'-ommend. Mv experience is that one gets the dog-toil fast enough with but a small sowing per acre in a mixture. It is stated (hat an experiment in the ffrowiig of tobacco is to bo undertaken in the Kelson district.