RYEGRASS CONTROVERSY.

Southland Times, Issue 21771, 28 July 1932, Page 9

RYEGRASS CONTROVERSY.

To the Editor. Sir,—l am very interested in this controversy and would like to give you my experience of Southland-grown seed. I may state first of all that I have specialized in fat lamb production for the last 30 years and have been farming land, well known country in the Western District My grass seed mixture usually contains 201 b of heavy Southland-grown Ryegrass, 21b Crested Dogstail, 41b Timothy, IJlb Alsike and IJlb White Clover per acre. I have consistently farmed my place to grow pasture. I top-dress at regular intervals and have paddocks that have maintained and increased their carrying capacity for as long as 10 years. My farm is divided into 24 acre paddocks and on each paddock I carry from 4 to 6 ewes the whole of the season from the time they come off the turnips until the lambs are weaned. I never shift the ewes out of the paddock from'lambing time until weaning time and I always rely on getting from 30 to 35 ner cent, prime quality lambs at the first draft. Please note that I say prime quality, and I never draft out any seconds or light weight lambs. These paddocks are there to-day and can be inspected. I always made a point of selecting a good sample of heavy ryegrass and leave nothing to

chance in the way of working the land before sowing out. My firm conclusion after 30 years of experience is this, that where your land is in first-class heart there is no question about the seed used being perennial. From observations I have made elsewhere, no ryegrass, in fact no good quality pasture grass, can be maintained in any land unless it is in good condition, and where required, topdressed at regular intervals. My farm was known as second-class land and I am aware that in the rich alluvial flats of Southland there are places where ryegrass is known to be perennial and will stay in the ground for over a period of 40 years.

To sum up it appears to me that permanence of pasture depends on the quality of the land ana its aftertreatment. Having attended to this the next question for consideration is the pasture of the highest degree of palatability so that the sheep farmer can be assured of the maximum return by quality of fat lamb production.

On one occasion it did not suit me to break up a paddock and it appeared to me as if the ryegrass had gone out of it; however I top-dressed with 12 cwt. of burnt lime and 2cwt. of topdressing mixture, with the result that I completely restored the pasture in that paddock with an abundance of ryegrass and clovers.

It seems to me that no laboratory selection of ryegrass or any theories will upset what I have herein stated. It is a well-known fact that on some soils the coarser and stronger strains of grass will persist longer; in fact the Agricultural Department experts have well demonstrated the fact that the soil content is the true index of the grass that will grow on it. I am not a ryegrass grower for seeding purposes, and, as already stated, my aim is the production of first quality freezing lambs. I merely give my views to add to the knowledge of the subject as the result of my experience ■in farming. The question for farmers to consider

is what they are aiming for and I contend that my theory suits my particular case.—l am, etc. “SMALL FARMER.”