PASTURE COMPETITION

Taranaki Daily News, 21 December 1931, Page 16

PASTURE COMPETITION

REVIEW OF THE JUDGES NORTH TARANAKI ENTRIES. INCREASED INTEREST -SHOWN. The judging of the pasture competition organised, by the joint committee representing the Taranaki Agricultural Society and the Farmers’ Union has been completed, report the judges, Messrs. Smith and Haynes, Department of Agriculture. As last season the judging was done by observation and not with the. point analyser as was the case previously. Whil® from an educational point of view the eye method of judging a pasture is not to be compared with, the other system, from the point of view of placing the various pastures in their respective places ot merit the observational system is quite sound. However, the greatest value of these competitions is in the educational value, but under existing conditions it is impossible to point analyse all the pastures entered. The points allocated were the same as for the previous season —good grasses 30, clovers 25, inferior grasses 5, freedom from weeds 10, denseness of sward 15, utilisation 15, total 100. These points appear to be fairly satisfactory. For the good grasses those species which score highest are perennial rye, cocksfoot, poa trivialis, timothy and dogstail. It is necessary to have not only these species present, but also that the individual plants should be good leafy specimens. Next to these grasses comes poa pratensis, a grass which, while a fair quality, occupies far too much space on our pasture lands. As far as clovers are concerned a variety of clovers is desired just as a good variety of species of grasses is required, but with the clovers we have not the varieties to select from. ■INFERIOR GRASSES. Some consideration must be given to inferior grasses such as vernal, fog, etc., as it must 'be recognised that it is better to have the ground occupied by these species, low in production though they are, than to have the ground bare or occupied by weeds. Denseness of sward is also very desirable in the interests of high production, and the pastures should be as free from weeds as possible. The last points are given to utilisation, which points indicate the degree of success achieved as far as stocking is concerned. The entries .show a very decided increase on previous, years which is an indication that farmers appreciate the value of the competition. The total entries this season were 102 as against 50 last year. Details of entries are as follows (last year’s entries in parentheses) : 1

Despite the judging of the pasture competition coming at an extremely busy period it was very gratifying in most districts to see the way competitors and others turned out to accompany the judges round the pastures and 8 w ci o o G. F. Mehrtens (Inglewood) 28$ W. Sutton (Huirangi) ..’ 28$ T. T. Murray (Toko) 27 S. Topless (Urenui) 28 F. Bracegirdle (Kaimata) 28 R. B. Sutton (Inglewood) 27$ J. N. Blyde (Lepperton) 28 F. B. Harford (Huirangi) ........ 27 .Di L. Tate (Urenui) 27 J. Vickery (Tikorangi) 27 G. Macinder (Huirangi) 27 I. Hine (Tikorangi) 27 W. N-Ackland (Lepperton) 27 F. Goodin (Okato). 28 J. Qavey (Okato) 27 R; Cassie (Okato) 26 D. M. Peak (Lepperton) 26 G. Salway (Urenui) 26 J. Poletti (Huirangi) .. ..’ 25 R. W. Giddy (Huirangi) 26 H. Burwell (Kaimata) 26 F. S. Burson (Inglewood) 27 S. Managh (Urenui) 25$ R. B. Gray (Okato) 26$ A. H. Morton (Inglewood) 26$ In the following details the order is: Competitor, area, age, top-dressing (1930 and 1931) and harrowing:— G. F- Mehrtens: 7, 12, 3 elag, 4 lime and super mixed, tripod once per year. W. Sutton: 7s, 9, 3 African phosphate, 3 super, tripod three times per year.T. T. Murray: 3, 12, 4 super, 8 lime, 3 ammoniated super, tripod. S. Topless: 8, 19, 3 slag, 3 slag, harrowing 'nil. 1 F. Bracegirdle: ss, 12-13, .slag and 30 per cent. potash, 4 cwt. mixture, slag and 30 per cent, potash, 4 cwt: mixture, Taylor twice. R. B. Sutton: 7,7, 2$ slag, 3 slag and liquid manure, tripod four times per year. J. N. Blyde: 4, old, 6 slag, 2 super, 1 30 per cent, potash, as year before, Burke two to three times per year. F. B. Harford; 7-8, over 7, 3 super, 4 slag, Whakatane 7-8 times per year. D. Tj. Tate: 7, 20, 3 ammoniated super, 2$ slag, 2$ super, tripod 4-5 times per year. I. Vickery: Unavailable. G. Mackinder: 10, 13, slag 3, slag 4s, tripod four times. . ■ T. Hine: 3, 16, slag 3, elag 3, tripod once.

to discuss the merits of the numerous entries. It is felt that as this field day constitutes such an important item in the competitions if the date of judging were put forward a week or so, more farmers would be able to attend. Generally speaking the standard of the pastures was high despite unfavourable seasonal conditions. These unfavourable conditions were particularly represented in the utilisation. Following a very backward spring, warm dry weather suddenly set in which boosted the pastures right away from the stock and made good grazing particularly difficult. GOOD SEASON FOR RYE. The past .season has been a particularly good one for rye; consequently tins valuable component part of a high production sward showed an improvement on previous years. No doubt the heavy poaching most of our dairying country received during the, winter was largely responsible for the impetus given to “the rye. Despite the general improvement in the rye content the lack of this grass still forms one of the greatest weaknesses of our Taranaki pastures and as rye is the backbone grass of oilr sward this weakness is a serious one. Timothy was particularly good this season, and although really out of season for cocksfoot this grass was showing up prominently. A little poa trivialis was noted, also a little meadow foxtail, two valuable grasses in their right place. Paspalum, despite the wet, cold spring, was showing up quite favourably, and again gave indications that this grass is developing a longer growing period in this district, which makes it a more valuable grass than ever. Poa pratensis, or common couch, is far too common in our 'dairying swards. Another great weakness in our grassland is the percentage of inferior grasses that is present, particularly sweet vernal. With this grass, as with moat of the weeds, prevention is better than cure, so that if a pasture is treated well in the early stages of its growth it will compete quite well with these undesirable plants. Having got them in, however, it is a long uphill fight to eradicate them. Severe harrowing periodically and top-dressing should reduce the vernal content somewhat. ' ,

One pleasing feature this season has been in connection with the denseness of the sward, which has been very good, this despite the severe poaching the ground received in the winter. The percentage of fiat weeds —eatsear, plantain, etc. —still constitutes one of the greatest grassland problems, but with harrowing, suitable top-dressing and judicious grazing much can be done to check these weeds.

As previously pointed out, utilisation has constituted a difficult problem during the past spring on account of weather conditions. . In several instances the mower had been used to top the pasture with decidedly beneficial results, but this operation must be carried out early in the piece to be of the greatest assistance. Mowing when the plants are in full bloom does not do a great deal of good. The championship for pastures this season goes' to G. F. Mehrtens, Inglewood, who thus wins the Imperial Chem cal Industries Cup. This pasture, which pointed Up to 91 points, was a very fine one indeed, being composed chiefly of rye and clover with smaller percentages of the other bettor grasses and with very few weeds. Mr. W. Sutton, Huirangi, who gained second place, was penalised on account of utilisation, and in this connection Mr. Sutton’s job was a decidedly more difficult one than Mr. Mehrten’s. Three pastures gained 90 points for third place, these being S. Topless’, Urenui, F. Bracegirdle’s, Inglewood, and T. T. Murray’s, Toko. The details of the first 25 entries are:

W. N. Ackland: 6s, 12, super 3, slag 3, nil. F. Goodin: 18, 7, slag 3, slag 3, chain twice. J. Cavey: 6,5, slag 6, slag 3, heavy chain twice. R. Cassie: 6, 8. slag 3, slag 3, Whakatane twice, chain twice. D. N. Peak: 4, unknown, unknown, slag 4, .super 2s, 30 per cent, potash 561 b., WTiakataiie 3. 1 G. Salway: 14, 9, slag 3, basic super 3, tripod 2-3. J. Poletti: 4s, unknown, super 3, slag 3, tripod 3 times. , R. W. Giddy: 6s, unknown, Africansuper 3, slag 3s, tripod 3 times. H. -Burwell: 4-5, 3, slag 3, Yeates’ manure 3 cwt., 1 cwt. ammonia, tripod once. F. S. Burson; 4,5, slag 2s, super 2s, nil. ■S. Managh: 5,9, slag 2s, slag and super 3$ mixture, Whakatane 2-3. R. B. Gray: 5,3, super-slag 3 cwt. mixture, slag, Guano and super 3 cwt. mixture, tripod once. A.- H. Morton.- 7-8, 26, slag 3, slag 3, tripod once. H. E. Blyde: 5, 10-11, slag 3, slag 3, Perfect harrow 3 times.

Inglewood ... Huirangi .... TTrpnui 12 12 . 17 (17) (H) (10) Ka.irnjvha ... 11 (6) Lepperton ... 7 (4) Tikorangi ....< 10 (2) 16 (0) Toko 5 (0) Tarurutangi . 8 (0) 4 (0)

to to £ £ CO LO JO to to to CO £ to to to IO to IO lO £ to 10 to 4k Clover® GO CO 03 03 co co to ■H CO 03 to to 03 to A o> Inferior Grasa - MH 05 C33 — I <35 M O5-I —I 09 CH --4 —I X - -T X X X X| -i Freedom from Weed* NH • - ■ - t— * 4a. 03 £ 03 £ £ 03 03 £ £ 4*> a? £ £ w H-» i— * —« r—' Denseness of Sward CO 4k Jk. 4x 05 05 4k IO 03 £ 4*. i— 03 £ Utilisation mH MH x QO (Z) x XXX X (X X X X X QO X X X XXX CP co co KHtJH CO Total WH KH MH mH tO- <■»- o o «H