ON THE LAND

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1930, Page 12 (Supplement)

ON THE LAND

PIG-FEEDING EXPERIMENTS.

AND MAIZE.

An experiment on pig-feeding was carried out on the farm of Mr. Timothy Fitzgerald, at Aulane, Abbeydorney, County Kerry. Eight weaners were selected from one litter and divided into two lots of four each. One lot was fed with a mixture of two parts maize meal and one part pollard. The second lot was fed with a mixture consisting of two parts of well-ground oats, one part maize meal, and one part pollard. Both lots of pigs got equal quantities of separated milk in addition. lhe maize meal lot weighed at the commencement • lewt. 3qr. *261b., and at the finish 7cwt. 2qr. 51b.—increase in live weight, scwt. 2qr. 71b. The ground oats lot weighed at the commencement 2cwt. Oqr. 21b., and at the finish, Bcwt. Iqr. 271 b.—increase in live weight, 6cwt. Iqr. 251 b. The increase in gain in weight of the ground oats lot over the maize meal lot for the four pigs was 3qr. 181 b. The oats used were of good quality, well seasoned, and very well ground.

LIMING PASTURES.

THE financial side.

In New Zealand liming grassland has produced very varying results. In some instances field results make liming appear an absolute necessity,, while in other cases, which are probably more frequent, carefully obtained field evidence does not support the contention that liming is a desirable or a profitable proposition. Such, widely differing results are only to be expected when one takes into consideration not only the greatly differing types of soil, but also the differing pastures and climates with which our farming deals. Further, the position is complicated by the fact that it does not follow there is no influence of lime because there is no visible influence. It is held by many, including recognised authorities, that the benefits of lime are not easily detected directly. For instance, Professor iStapledon, director of the Empire grassland research, says:—“lt is only occasionally and in very bad cases that liming actually adds to the bulk or weight of grass per acre, but it very frequently has a considerable influence on quality.” This being so, it is unsafe to condemn liming because of absence of visible evidence of its influence. Since, it is not easy to judge directly whether liming is profitable or not the farming community would welcome some ready reliable mean's of finding out when liifiing would be justified. Various attempts have been made to meet the widely felt want in this connection. These attempts usually involve the use of what are termed “lime requirement” or “soil acidity” tests. There is in the minds of some the impression that certain of these tests will quickly disclose the amount of lime that may be applied to a soil with profit. This is not so. Probably the best, statement on this point is that of Sir John Russell, the present director of the Imperial Soil Bureau. He says:—• “Before any indication can be given of the amount of lime required for cultivation, it is necessary to make field trials.” This',statement completely disposes of the alleged claims of quick and easy tests. ' Another important point is that circumstances are conceivable in which the use of lime would, be beneficial and profitable but yet not desirable. This position would arise when the possibld expenditure on a farm is strictly limited. In such circumstances the question may arise whether it is better to spend money on lime or on phosphates. The answer given would depend not on whether lime proves profitable, but on whether it proves more profitable than phosphates, A general indication of what form the answer would take in such a case may be gained from the fact that over this country as a whole the \ weakest link in the soil supply of plant-nutriment is the content of phosphates. Hence, usually the step that should be taken first is one that will build up the soil in phosphates. When the use of limb will involve considerable outlay in cost of cartage or other transport, then it is important to bear in mind that Iflcwt. of burnt lime is equivalent in its influence on the soil to approximately IScwt. of g/ound limestone (carbonate of lime). Field trials indicate that when the two forms of lime are applied in the proportions of 10 to 18 the results obtained are equivalent. Guidance of some Value in regard to the necessity of liming is provided by the following rule:—lf phosphates are definitely producing good results, then probably liming does not call for attention; but if the soil does not respond profitably to phosphates, then the lime factor is probably the weak link in the chain of factors giving fertility. There may be exceptions to this rule; the soil supply of available potash or of nitrogen may be the weak link, in which case it will be economically sound to apply, before liming is attended, to, fertilisers supplying potash or nitrogen. But the exceptions to the rule are much less frequent than many believe. Another practical aspect of the lime position is expressed by stating that if the funds available for expenditure on soil-improvement are strictly limited, then rectifying the phosphate position should be the first consideration; when this has been done liming may be given attention.

In general, relatively frequent small dressings of lime give better results over a number of years than would an equal amount of lime applied in one comparatively heavy initial dressing. — Journal of Agriculture.

ACIDITY IN THE SOIL.

THE FIRST SYMPTOMS.

One of the first symptoms of soil acidity is the failure to secure, a growth of Slover, says an English agricultural ■writer. Of course, this may be due also to lack of inoculation, but if we do not get a stand of clover we begin to wonder if the soil is not acid. Clovers are plants which are heavy feeders on lime, so heavy that if lime is lacking they fail to do well. Other crops, such as cabbage, spinach, peas, beans, etc., are also heavy feeders'on lime. Most crops require it, too, but not as much. Lack of lime, then, means that plants suffer from lime starvation. It is not a question of lack of lime alone, either. The acid soil affects the cell sap—the blood of the plants. Each plant has a certain degree of acidity in its sap, and if this is 'disturbed —made more acid —it causes the plant to suffer—to become ill. The acid condition of the soil also allows compounds of aluminium, manganese, and iron to dissolve, and these are absorbed by plants and poison them. Under proper conditions, where no acidity is present, these substances are insoluble ■umd cannot do any harm.

RYEGRASS.

NEW-ZEALAND VARIETIES.

In the Welsh Journal of Agriculture there appears a review of the investigations into the growing of perennial ryegrass at Aberystwyth. The author deals with specific investigations conducted at the Welsh Plant Breeding Station on samples drawn from all over the world. The . earlier publications of 1919-21 are reviewed, and it is pointed out that the distinction between British indigenous ryegrass and commercial ryegrass from other sources is still retained—the former have proved to be better suited than the latter to British pasture conditions. The present report deals with the ryecrass investigation over the ten-year period of 1919-29. The author emphasises the essential need for single (spaced) plant studies in regard to pedigree-strain building in ryegrass, an important implication wholly confirmed by the New Zealand work of Levy and Davies. Tables given in the paper show that under Aberystwyth conditions Hawke’s Bay ryegrass is outyielded only by pedigree Aberyst-wyth-bred lots. Of further interest to New Zealand country’s ryegrass as a whole. The following are extracts from the paper: are the author’s comments on this “New Zealand.ryegrass at its best r;ay at once be stated to be very good; at its worst it is very bad. In fact, two rather distinctive sub-groups must here be recognised. . t. ~ In the first subgroup must be placed Hawke’s Bay, Poverty Bay, and to some extent Sandon. These may be referred to as Class A. In the second group has been placed (seed from) Sandon, Canterbury and Southland districts, together with a few lots of unknown origin. These may be referred to as Class B. . . . The fact that these two extreme classes exist under the name ‘New Zealand is of grave importance both to the British agriculturist and. to the export trade of the Dominion. . . . - Poverty Bay (and Hawke’s Bay) seed already commands a higher price than (Southern on the New Zealand market. It therefore follows that when seed is available for export to this country (Britain) it will be largely of the inferior ‘Class B’ type.... and will probably find a ready sale—to the detriment of British agriculture, and eventually to the Dominion’s export trade. . . . The British farmer can with every confidence be urged to use Class A New Zealand seed, and with equal confidence to reject Class B New Zealand seed. If .. . . one might presume to offer advice to the dominion in the matter of exporting seed to this country it would be, ‘Do not export any of the Class B type; export only seed from such areas as produce Class A type, and see that in these areas the poor types are rigidly excluded’ . .” The author then discusses the origin of what> he terms Class A and Class B ryegrass, and concludes that Class A (the true perennials of Levy and ..Davies) is representative of the best types in British commercial seed, find by 6,0 much superior to British commercial. This is not in complete aggreement with the New Zealand work where commercial lots under test have' shown quite close affinities with some of the false perennials (Class B). The suggestions made relative to, the origin of Class B ryegrass (the 'false perennial of the Ne.w Zealand workers), are interesting, and most probably accurate. It is concluded that Class B lots are derivatives, firstly, of selection of the most lai? types in British commercial, and, secondly, by the intercrossing of these with Italian ryegrass. (Similar conclusions have been arrived at by Levy and Davies in Now Zealand. The discussion dealing with Australian “Wimmera” ryegrass is only of secondary interest to New Zealand. .The author shows that Wimmera ryegrass as found in commerce shows very close affinity with Class B, or the false perennial of New Zealand.

Comparing the Aberystwyth work under review and the similai’ studies now being conducted at" the Plant Research ■Station at Palmerston North, there is found quite close agreement. The Aberystwyth work has the advantage of intensive study over a ten-year period, whereas the Palmerston’ North work is considerably younger. The work emphasises what is already apparent at the New Zealand end—that we have little to gain by wholesale importations of commercial ryegrass seed from overseas countries. The domestic ryegrasestrain position can be most rapidly improved, and to some degree righted by the careful earmarking of our best true perennials of “Type 1” as defined by ( Levy and Davies, followed by. an extensive and well-controlled scheme of “once growing” our best types. The report as a whole is on eminently sound liiiybs. In the fostering and the development of New Zealand as an Imperial source for the production of tho best possible strains of herbage plants it is incumbent upon the Dominion to know the exact requirements of the consuming country, and in this respect the Aberystwyth Station can be of great assistance in tho determination ol and reporting upon types that may be particularly suitable to the needs of the British farmer.

CATTLE FROM JERSEY ISLAND.

MOST VALUABLE (SHIPMENT.

Many great prize-winning* cattle in the Royal and other important shows ori Jersey Island are included in the latest shipment of Jersey cattle for New Zealand. The shipment is not only the most valuable but also the largest that has ever reached New Zealand, as it comprises 21 head. Thirteen of the animals were prize-winners'; and the ■balance are mostly young stock from the dams in the shipment, and . were sired by the leading sires on the island prior to shipment to America, where the cattle were domiciled for six months ■before being shipped to New Zealand. Mr. W. lorns, chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Control Board, who was on Jersey Island following the selection of these cattle by Mr. H. Toose, Wellington, stated in an interview given in London that the Dominion was favourably known to the Jersey Islander. While he was talking to three very old breeders on the inland one of them remarked that Mr. Toose had recently won their respect for his judgment of the island's breed. Mr. Toose, who is one of the best known authorities on the Jersey breed in New Zealand, was fortunate* in having the assistance of Mr. T. S. Cooper, Jnr., Linden Grove. U.S.A., and Mr. Perree, head of the Herd Book Society on Jersey Island, in selecting thics shipment for New Zealand. Mr. Toose knows exactly the class of cattle required in the Dominion to further improve the breed, and Mr. Cooper and Air. Perree were able to give him full particulars of the outstanding breeding and producing families on the island. The selections were confined entirely’to these.

It was said when the cattle were finally brought together for shipment to New Zealand that they were the highest class collection that had ever left Jersey Island in one consignment. The distribution of these cattle throughout the herds in New Zealand should eventually prove 1 of tremendous value.

ORIGIN OF TESTING.

A SCOTTISH PIONEER.

The story of how milk recording started has been told by Mr. Janies Mackintosh, a Scottish agriculturist. Milk recording, he explains, is to many farmers a comparatively new idea, and although the practice has become much more popular during the last 15 years, there are still thousands of dairy farmers who consider the weighing of the milk of individual cows in their herds an unnecessary and unprofitable labour. In view of this example of the hesitation of many dairy farmers to adopt a new idea it is interesting to Team that in at least one dairy herd milk recording was practised over 100 years ago. Early in the nineteenth century, William Harley established the Willowbank Dairy on the outskirts of Glasgow. His main object was to supply the inhabitants of the city with milk of a quality they might rely on, and by 1814 his dairy of nearly 300 cows had become famous throughout the country. Among the many novel points in his management, it is stated that on “one day in every week at least (Friday was the usual day at Willowbank) it was the custom to measure the quantity of milk supplied by each cow morning and evening.” Ho also -used lactometers and milk tubes to determine the quality of the milk yielded by each cow, in order that the milk which produced most cream might be selected for cream rais-

ing. For the next seventy years the pioneer work of Mr. Harley seems to have been entirely forgotten, but from 1880 onwards journals of the Royal Agricultural Society contain occasional references to milk records and to the yields given by individual cows in a few. herds in the hands of progressive owners.