FIELD CROPS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3783, 17 July 1936, Page 8

FIELD CROPS

MANURING MARROW-STEM KALE. In a recent number of the Ministry of Agriculture Journal (England) Mr F. Rayns, director of the Norfolk Agricultural Station, sums up the findings of marrow-stem kale, one of the most valuable of recently-introduced crops.

While this crop responds less, perhaps, to potash than mangolds, less than swedes to phosphates, a basal dressing of these manures is desir-

able in practice. Remarkable results have followed the use of nitrogenous manures, and at Jealott’s Hill profitable responses have been recorded to as much as 9 cwt per acre of nitrochalk.

There seems no doubt that the Jealott’s Hill figures could probably be repeated on many soils in this country, although it seems doubtful whether anyone could feel able to afford the outlay of as much as £3 10s per acre on nitrogenous manures for marrow-stem kale.

It is interesting to note, however, that experiments at Woburn and at the Midland College showed that profitable response resulted from up to 4 cwt of nitrogenous manure, the maximum quantity that was used. The evidence generally suggests that

about 50 cwt per acre more kale will result from the use of every additional cwt of sulphate of ammonia, or its equivalent.

The extent to which artificials are used for a forage crop depends very largely on the possibilities of using them on the farm completely and profitably. There is no point in forcing the yield of kale to such an extent that it cannot be fully used before the frosts in some districts destroy its usefulness.

Perhaps, concludes Mr Rayns, while we are awaiting further experiments, it is best to suggest 4 cwt of nitrogenous manure as a useful compromise, that, with adequate phosphates, potash, and dung, would produce satisfactory crops.