FLAVOUR IN BUTTER

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1935, Page 24 (Supplement)

FLAVOUR IN BUTTER

CARE OF THE PASTURES INFLUENCES OF TOP-DRESSING. SHOULD BE GRASS-DOMINANT. A point brought out by Mr. E. Bruce Levy, agrostologist to the Department of Agriculture, in his recent review of investigations into feed flavours in butter inaugurated by Mr. A. M. Sterling, manager of the Morrinsville Dairy Factory, is that while feed flavours are noticed on lands that have not been topdressed with phosphate, as well as on land that has, it is obvious that “topdressing with phosphate, potash and lime intensifies feediness in proportion to the growth of clover that such manures encourage, and it appears that the value of a phosphatic manure is relative to the clover growth it promotes.” After discussing various aspects of phosphatic manuring in relation to various pastures Mr. Levy , shows that top-dressing with phosphate is essential to obtain good production and that there is no necessity for a lessening of phosphatic applications. He, however, states that “the men who have been top-dress-ing for some time and are in a position to make several of their paddocks dominantly ryegrass by the use of ammoniated superphosphate are in a position to allow one or more paddocks to get away somewhat more rank for specific rationing purposes along with th more clovery fields that, if fed alone, would give of trouble.” He adds, “the fundamental fact remains that the more stock we can carry per acre and the better we can feed that stock, the more grassy will the sward become as a result of the essential nitrogen returned to the sward by the grazing animal itself. Artificial nitrogen may help us out in getting to this ideal quickly in the Waikato, but it has been proved that it can be done with quick-acting superphosphate, with or without lime and potash.” MR. LEVY’S CONCLUSIONS. i- The conclusions Mr. Levy reached at the end of his investigations are as follows:— “I. Every endeavour should be made to make pastures grass-dominant rather than clover-dominant. . Heavier manuring with quickly-acting phosphates such as superphosphate with occasional dressings of ammoniated superphosphate and lime is recommended, and, where pastures are run-out ploughing and resowing to certified strains of grasses and clovers is advised rather than top-dress-ing the deteriorated pastures. The latter practice must inevitably mean up to three years of clover-ddminance, whereas ploughing and resowing gives grassdominance the first "2. The more clovery feeds should be grazed after milking rather than, from three to four hours prior to milking, and some consideration should be given to the class of feed given during the day as against that at night, tainting at night being less pronounced even when on the same class of feed —sometimes the same paddocks—as a result of the cow grazing mainly prior to midnight. “3. To permit of the foliage hardening to some extent, pastur- herbage, during periods of rapid growth, should be allowed to grow to a somewhat more mature stage before grazing. The mowing of clovery swards and the feeding of these in the wilted stage may also be effective, if practicable.” There can be no question that the point brought out by Mr. Levy about the heavy stocking of land returning more nitrogen to the soil, and this in turn producing more grass, is an important one. Lord Bledisloe, in his address on /‘Grasslands” to the laM Grassland Conference, had some very pertinent remarks to make in this connection more particularly in connection with placing too much reliance on this method. He also reference to the over-stimu-lation of leguminous plants by phosphatic fertilisation. WINTER AND SPRING GRASS. The point was also brought out by Lord Bledisloe- that the aim of the dairy farmer to bring his cows in earlier was becoming more and more manifest in many dairying districts of New Zealand. The difficulty in late calving was that the production of the herd was often affected by mid-summer dry spells. By calving in June and July, dairy farmers are enabled to get a large percentage of the production over before the advent of dry weather with its consequent limited supply of milk-producing herbage. It is of little use, Jiowever bringing cows in early unless suitable milk-producing food is available, and many farmers to-day have taken advantage of nitrogenous manures in bringing forward grass early in the spring in order to assist in this connection. While Mr. Levy stresses the importance of grassy swards for spring feeding there is another important matter which farmers are paying more and more attention to, that is, the securing of a good supply of winter grass for rationing along with ensilage and hay for cows in milk. It is important to note that grasses make a fresh root system in the autumn, and 'by the application of a nitrogen fertiliser in. April or May it is possible to get a good growth in the winter and a growth also that does not frost. TREATMENT OF PASTURE. Tn order to get the maximum growth in the winter it is necessary, either to have the pasture with a certain amount of leaf growth on it, or to spell the pasture for some time after the fertiliser is applied. It is important also, that the fertiliser be applied to pastures containing a good percentage of rye-grass, which, more than any other grass gives good growth in the winter time. It seems impossible to lay down hard and fast rules as to what percentage of clover should be aimed at in a pasture. Professor Stapledon has given his opinion that while as a rough guess the clover content should be from 20 to 25 per cent., he considers that the percentage should vary on each paddock of the farm. Mr. Levy stated at one time that the percentage should not be higher than 30 to 40, and that too much clover indicates faulty construction and management of the pasture. In a country such as Holland it is considered that more than 10 per cent of clover in a pasture is undesirable. It would seem that there is some case for developing certain pastures which are definitely with little concern for the actual percentage of clover, while on others, it is as well to have a balance of clover and grass. . The position in New Zealand is that while in some areas, notably the drier parts such as Canterbury, the need is to secure more clover, in other districts there is, as Mr. Levy points out, a need to develop grassy rather than clovery swards at least on a portion of the farm. Clover it must be pointed out, is a valuable constituent in any sward but any virtue carried to excess may become a vice, Mr. Levy has indicated.