PREPARATION OF THE SEED BED

Southland Times, Issue 23074, 16 December 1936, Page 13

PREPARATION OF THE SEED BED

Basis Of Pasture FIRMNESS OF SPECIAL IMPORTANCE , — When it comes to the cultivation of land for new pastures, too much stress cannot be laid upon the vital necessity for the proper preparation of the seed bed. Failure in this region inevitably results in loss of seed, and a much sparser “take” than would otherwise be the case. Partly because of the size variations of the seeds generally used, and partly because of the requirements of the resultant plants, a fine, firm seed bed if necessary. Firmness of the seed bed is of special importance. At times failures, which are attributed to poor vitality in seeds, are found to be due to lack of firmness in the seed bed. Sometimes in areas which are almost complete failures there are patches of successful “strikes” of seed around headlands, or in other places which have been consolidated by the passage of implements or the trampling of stock. Those small areas in which success has been achieved indicate that not poor seed but lack of soil consolidation was responsible for the general unsatisfactory establishment. Lack of adequate firmness is specially prone to occur in soils naturally loose, such as those that are sandy or peaty, but it may often occur in clayey land where, through lack of suitable implements, the clods are not pulverized. Need of Firmness The advisibility, indeed the necessity, of firmness in seed beds for pastures is of current interest, because the most effective and economical means of securing appropriate firmness is cultivation which is begun early enough and carried out thoroughly enough. The joint effects of weathering (which demands a lapse of time) and of painstaking cultivation result in the most desirable firmness. Cultivation without adequate time for weathering may readily lead to an intractable, cloddy field, which it is practically impossible to turn directly into a good seed bed, even though the individual clods are comparatively small. Such cloddy conditions sometimes result on heavier types of soils from a relatively late ploughing, which buries a layer of weathei- mould and repiaces it with a layer which is lumpy when the land dries, and which, of course, is a very poor seed bed. A Common Oversight A very common oversight is that firmness is required not so much in the immediate surface as in the soil which lies beneath it, and extends to the full depth at which cultivation has been carried on. That surface firmness which can be obtained by the use of the roller is not at all sufficient. Disking, cultivating or grubbing and harrowing are the pulverizing agents which, in conjunction with natural disintegration, will most readily give firmness right throughout the cultivated layer of soil. Often too much dependence is placed upon the roller, which, as commonly used, only effects the consolidation of a shallow surface layer with many clods merely pressed into the loose soil. If the roller is used immediately after ploughing it may be of some value in consolidating the lower portion of the layer being cultivated by directly crushing the furrows against the unbroken earth beneath, but later, when the upper portions of the furrow are levelled out by tillage, the pressure of the roller is more widely distributed, and hence not felt so heavily at any particular point

Another Important Element

Lapse of time is an important element in the proper preparation of the seed bed. Time-saving measures are as a rule not advisable. Dependence should be placed on the pulverizing of the full depth of soil in good time by such measures as disking and cultivating, which penetrates deeply enough to pack the soil a few inches below the soil surface, instead of leaving that vital area in a dangerously loose condition. It must not be supposed from these comments that rolling is of little value; indeed, its place in scheme of preparation is exceedingly valuable. Used at the right time the roller reduces the surface soil to a good tilth, and finally consolidates it to form a firm layer in the soil is well packed round the seed. It also facilitates the freer rise of moisture to a position from which the seeds may use it.