IDEAL SWARD OF GRASS.

Putaruru Press, Volume XI, Issue 268, 7 September 1933, Page 6

IDEAL SWARD OF GRASS.

HOW TO PRODUCE IT.

Topdressing and Grazing.

Grass as a name is applied loosely to a wide range of pasture plants: rye, timothy, cocksfoot, dogstail, fescues, for, poas, danthonia, brown top and numerous others are all included in the general term “ grass.” It is an association of grass and clover species that goes to make up our pastures, and those pastures are just as good and no better than the individual species contained therein.' One of the difficulties associated with pasture establishment is that comparatively few farmers are able to distinguish between the various species of plants in their pastures, with the result that they go on treating a poor one as though it was a good one, and sometimes abusing a good one as though it was of little value. No doubt every man on the land has his ideal pasture in his mind’s eye, but very few have them where they can make use of them. Perennial Rye and Clover. Perennial ryegrass of a leafy, truly permanent type, in the proportion of about 70 to 75 per cent., a sprinkling of timothy and poas trivialis and the balance of a selected type of persistent white clover, is probably the nearest thing we know to an ideal permanent pasture. Many farmers have set themselves out to sow such a pasture, but through purchasing seed from poor type strains they have not secured what they were after. The fault does not always lie with the farmer, as he has bought his seed on the understanding that he was getting the right stuff, -but there are other occasions when buyers have difinitely sacrificed quality to price and have been paying for it ever since. Sometimes the land is at fault; it is either too raw, too sour, or too wet to sustain satisfactory pastures. Here it becomes first q question of

draining and liming as a preliminary to the sowing down of permanent grass. ™ Proper Manuring. A good pasture, properly manured and carefully handled, will, in a district of moderate rainfall, yield up to, and possibly over, 18 tons of green matter per' acre in twelve months. The treatment necessary to maintain such a yield is an annual application of carbonate of lime at the rate of from 5 to 8 cwts per acre; an annual application of super given in two dressings—March and November—of 2 cwts per acre each time and a dressing of potash where necessary. In addition to this the grazing must at all times be kept under strict control; the pastures should not be eaten right down to the ground, nor should they be permitted to get too far away before being stocked. For sheep the ideal stage at which to stock up is when the ryegrass is from three to four inches long and for cattle when it is twice that length. Such grass has the feeding value of a concentrated food like oil cake, and so long as the essential mineral constituents are kept up to standard stock will thrive on this feed.

Regular harrowing to spread the droppings is an important feature of pasture management.