ENGLAND’S FIELDS

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1935, Page 21 (Supplement)

ENGLAND’S FIELDS

THEIR GRASS WORTH MILLIONS POSSIBLE REVOLUTION. British farmers and agricultural professors have been holding a Grass Conference, and we note with surprise that our cattle eat in a year grass: and hay worth £120,000,000, says the Childrens Newspaper. Mr Ling of Bristol University, says that a cow eats 1201 b of grass a day. If the grass is good, that is equivalent to eight chickens, 501 b of cabbage, and 401 b of potatoes. If the grass is bad, it is equal to no more than 51b of tough beef and 701 b of cabbage soup. Sometimes cattle prefer weeds to grasses. The best results in some grazing experime. ts in- Worcestershire were in places where the herd had access, to some common land. Many weeds are more nourishing than grass. Young stinging nettles, for example, are rich in protein. , , , Professor Stapledon, of the plant-, breeding station at Aberystwyth, also praised the value of weeds and told the farmers he was now busy collecting seeds of buttercups and daisies. Silage, vegetable matter preserved by collection in a receptacle and allowed to ferment, was also discussed. An expert said that silage is equal ir value to hay; when made of young grass it is worth more than hay. Young grass artificially dried is as nutritious ~anrl valuable as when growing in the fields. Efforts are now being made to produce this at £5 a ton delivered in the farmer s barn, and if this is realised English farming will be revolutionised.