Better Hill Pastures

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18207, 30 September 1933, Page 14

Better Hill Pastures

LULL country pastures might be improved by copying the dairyman. Mr. W. J. Cullouch, superintendent of the Fields Division, Palmerston North, put forward this view recently when discussing the problem of hill pasture deterioration, and lie suggested tlmt the matter was worthy of investigation.

He said that of the 11,000,000 acres cleared and surface sown, about 4,000,000 had rapidly deteriorated, and were now more or less in the grip of secondary forest or other useless growth. It seemed problematical whether a light to save this country would prove economically sound. Air. McCullouch traced the development of hill country, and said that us the present existence of the fat lamb trade in the North Island was dependent on the annual drafts of aged cast ewes from the hill country, it was only reasonable to suggest that if the mother of the fat lamb was lowered in quality and breeding efficiency, it would certainly be reflected in the fat lamb trade.

“Personally, I feel that the future improvement of hill country sheep farming will be a combination of 1 ceding and of breeding, and of the two, I feel that the management of hill country pastures easily presents the greatest problem in New Zealand today,” said Mr. McCullouch. “From my own observation it seems to -me that leaders in the sheep industry today talk incessantly of breeding, but seldom of feeding. Is the problem of improving, or even holding, the hill country grassland so great that it cannot be faced? * I feel that there is an urgent call for vigorous - investigation in the hope that some method of management may assist in improving these pastures.” He suggested that when the possibility of improvement of the hill country production was being studied, the methods that had assisted in bringing about increased dairying production seemed to be worthy of consideration. Much of the progress that had been made in dairying had been attained by studying the grass-farming methods and allied practices of the dairyfarmers obtaining good results, and then by disseminating effectively the knowledge thus acquired among the groat body of dairyfarmers. ft seemed very likely that a parallel procedure in respect of the sheepfarming of hill country that previously carried bush, would be productive of valuable results.