THE BACK COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 May 1925, Page 10

THE BACK COUNTRY.

METHODS OF IMPROVEMENT. WHY LAND DETERIORATES. OBSERVATIONS AT AWAKINO. The tour of the recent commission, which sat in different districts to hear evidence on the cause and possible remedy of the deterioration of hill country has, apart from any recommendation it may make, had a very beneficial effect upon farmers in the back blocks, in that their imagination has been stirred and they have set themselves to go further into this very great problem. When at Awakino recently, a Daily News reporter listened with great interest to the discussion of back-country settlers upon this matter, and he was surprised to note the degree of success some of thorn have experienced in experimental work connected with the eradication of fern, the sowing of pasture, and the stocking of the land for different purposes.

One of the grasses which has been exhaustively experimented with was paspa Hum. Quite a number of settlers have laid down paddocks of this grass in different ways and at different seasons of the year. On listening to the talk, it became apparent that the b«?st results were obtained from pa spa Hum sown down in November, it being contended that the grass thrived best in real hot weather, and if sown earlier its growth was seriously affected by the cold. Several farmers related surprising results obtained from simply throwing paspallum seed over an existing pasture in November. “You would not credit the giowth, or the fattening value of that old worn-out pasture after the paspallum was sown,” said a bearded settler. He related that 64 bullocks were fattened in a surprisingly short time during the hottest months of the year off 75 acres of paspallum, jyid when the cattle were taken off there was enough feed untouched to place another lot on. Opinion differed as to the -tendency of paspallum becoming root-bound oi’ “matty” on good land, but all the evidence pointed to its usefulness on poor or average country.

SOWING AFTER BURNS. “Much of the cause of the land going back is due to sowing too sparsely after burns,” said another. He contended that if a good burn was sown down with good seed and plenty of it, the resultant pasture would remain, where a >spar«ely sown area would soon bloom with weeds and go back to fern. Clearly one of the greatest difficulties of the back-country settler is the high price of good seeds. “Would you believe that after I had put over my burn I stood here/ and watched an ordinary motor lorry depart for the farm with £5OO worth of grass seeds represented in the few bags thrown in the back?” said an experienced farmer. Continuing, he put his finger on the cause of a great deal of the hill country deterioration by asking: “What would have been the condition of that burn if I had not -been able to find the £500?” Obviously, within a few years it would have supported a few sheep picking a precarious livelihood from the edges of great clumps of fern and second growth. INJUDICIOUS STOCKING. Another cause of the land going back appeared to be due to injudicious stocking. “Young fern will not beat you if you stock it properly,” declared one confidently. He gave details of his experiences and stated that, contrary to advice, he had put through his burn in the spring. It was only a small one, so instead of sowing expensive seed, he laid down quick-growing grasses such as Italian rye and other quick-growing varieties. The sheep went straight on to the new grass and were enticed to stay there, so that the young fern just making headway after the burn was effectively crushed out. The paddocks in question were now the cleanest on his farm.

An optimistic tone seemed, to prevail at the better prices now being realised for fat stock, and the opinion was expressed that farmers would now be able to stock for profit as well as for crushing fern. The discussion turned to other and mere intimate matters, but the reporter gathered the impression that the report of the hill country commission was eagerly awaited, and some annoyance was felt at the protracted delay. THE WAYS OF PIGS. The sight of a number of pigs being driven along the road led a well-known farmer, who has resided over 40 years in the district, to comment upon the ways of pigs. “If you are driving pigs and have to herd them for the night in any strange paddock, never take them back to the road through the same gate as they entered. Even if you have to break down a fence, the time required to repair the opening will be more than saved by the trouble avoided in continuing the drive,” he said. The reason for this seemingly strange procedure was stated to be,, that the pigs, if driven out by the same gate as they had entered, would follow their scent back the way they had come, and the greatest difficulty imaginable resulted in trying to persuade them to adopt the opposite ccurse and proceed with the journey.