ON THE LAND.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 858, 9 November 1916, Page 2

ON THE LAND.

MANURING OF GRASS LANDS. I? SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS. i i' Based on experiments ma<lc in different parts of the country, the Knglish i Board of Agriculture offer some sugges- ; tions for increasing the produce of j grass laud liy the use of suitable I manures. I ' The first tusk of the i tup rover of grass land should he to examine the .nature of the problem he has to i tackle, for in differing circumstances it ' .may vary widely. In the case of tillage land, a single crop usually occupies tlu> Boil, the niauural ace.ls of thai crop aic known, ami on any particular farm it. | 5s relatively an easy matter to decide' on the manuring likely to givo. the best j results. But the herbage of grass land is mixed; farther, the object of the treatment in one case may be to entourage the existing plants, in other eases to .alter the whole character of the vegetation. The needs of grasses! differ from those of the clovers, and «ven aniline.- t lie grasses themselves the demands for manure differ very considerably. In general terms it may be stated that grasses are aided chiefly by nitrogenous manures. Clovers benefit from phosphates, lime, and potash. On poor (day soil, which lias "tumpled down'' to grass after being exhausted j of its phosphates by com growing, jmosphntie manures (especially basic tdag) work like a charm, and in 18 months a barren brown surface may be transformed into a green sward of clover. The clover in its turn collects nitrogen from the air, and as the clay soils contain enough pot-ash for immediate needs, fertility accumulates rapidly; j thus, after the slag has been at work for a year or two, grasses begin to overspread the enriched soil, and a good mixed herbage results. Where the manuring of ''seeds'' hay is considered desirable the course followed must depend on the character of the plants and the land. Hay or tillage land may consist either of pure clover or of a mixture of grass and clover. If. clover be absent, or very scarce, it may be disregarded and attention be wholly j directed to stimulate the grass. In this case nitrogen in some form will be-' the .main fertilising (dement. Thus, on I an ordinary loam or clay, a spring dressing of 1 to 1J or even 2 evvt of sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, or i nitrolim—applied in the case of the ! larger quantities, in two doses—will suffice. Ou light and peaty soils, 2 cwt of superphosphate may be used in addition. Rotation hay, composed largely of rye grasses, has been found to respond particularly well to liquid manure applied at the rate of about 2000 gal. > per acre. j Meadow Hay. "When a crop of hay is carted off the farm, almost as much plant food is removed from the soil as in the case of a j corn crop; hence the need for continuous and liberal manuring if the meadow is to be kept from deteriorating. The manuring should aim at eucour-J aging the stronger-growing grasses ami clovers, so that bulky hay crops may j be secured. Meadow laad in low-lying situations,! or on soils of a peaty nature, or those ! to which farmyard manure or sulphate ; Df ammonia has been applied continuously, may sometimes be in need of lintling. Lime may'be applied in the form of quicklime, slaked lime, or ground j limestone, whichever is cheapest, due regard, of course, being paid to the quality of the material. The application should be at the rate of from 1-2 tons of quicklime per acre. Tlui dressing slnuld not be repeated too soon, and the improvement resulting from the first application should be followed up by manuring.

Medium grass land under meadow Lay should, if possible, get about 10- tons of dung per acre applied in autumn or winter as often as practicable. Dung in amounts similar to this applied every year has produced heavy crops on light sandy land, and on moderate loam, and whore dung is plentiful, this practice .may usefully Vie followed for several l/ears in succession. Dung.with artificials in alternate years, has proved profitable on both light and heavy soils in practically all experiments carried out on this plan. The artificials used in alternate years may be sulphate of ammonia only (lcwt per acre) or sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate (i'cvrt per acre) on light soils. Equivalent results wilt be obtained by using about 1 [ cwt of nitrate of soda or nitrolini instead of 1 cwt of sulphate of ammonia. Dung applied every fourth year, with artificials in the intervening years, has also well repaid the cost of treatment on gravel, loam, and clay soils. The artificials used in the intervening years may be 21 cwt. of superphosphate - or .'! cwt. of basic slag per acre applied in autumn, and 1 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia or 1| cwt. of nitrate of soda, per acre applied in spring; in many cases the slag or superphosphate need only be used every second year. Those quantities may be reduced if the aftermath is grazed by stock fretting cake. Potash manures, when available, should also be applied in intervening years on light soils which are likely to need potash; but when dung is applied once in four years potash will usually be unnecessary.