IMPROVING PASTURES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13992, 25 August 1909, Page 4

IMPROVING PASTURES.

ADDRESS BY MR. GILLANDERS.

"The Improvement of Pasture Lands" was the subject of a paper read by Mr. Uillanders, manager ot the Moumahaki Experimental Farm, at the Town Hall, New Plymouth, last night. The meeting had been arranged- by the Taranaki Agricultural Society. There was a fair attendance, and Mr. W. Ambury, president of the Society, presided. The Chairman in introducing Mr. Gillanders referred to the great ad-

vantages ot the Government experimental 'stations. Instead of the average iarmer experimenting with the various kinds ot manures for himselt he was aow able to obtain information as to ihe results ot the efperimeirts carried out 011 the Government farms and then

.40 "straight" tor the very best treatment ot the soil and produce the very best croph. The Government was spending a good deal ot money in connection w.th these farms, and any effort that Plight be put forth by getting the best practical men to work them was helping the settlers by giving such valuable intormation as to enable them to produce with the very best possible results. . , . Mr. Gillanders then read his paper, as follows: — . The improvement of pasture lands is a question which at the present time is largely discussed by agriculturists in almost all parts of the British dominions. This is due to several causes.;

I the primary one, no doubt, is the great tendency amongst agriculturists to try to improve pasture without breaking up the surface, and having to resow. The increased cost of labour has also reduced the area of land under crop, and the general tendency at present seems to be not to break up grass land if it can be improved without doing so. There is no doubt whatever pasture lands can be improved in many ways without breaking up the surface, and in the course of this paper I shall endeavour to try to deal with a few of the modes generally adopted for doing so. The term pasture land is no doubt generally meant to convey the meaning that the land is grazed with stock. However, certain portions of grazing land are set aside from time to time for mowing, but as the latter are generally grazed at some season throughoat the year, we may assume that all lands growing grass are pasture lands. The treatment of pasture may be termed almost a new matter in this country, and so far we have only a few | records of experience gained in the i nr.anagement of pastures, it being but ' a few years since the question of pas- . ture improvement was mooted. ' Pastures can be renovated and improved in several ways, such as draining, limeing, harrowing, resow ing, manuring, and also by the consumption of artificial and other foods by stock grazing on the pastures. The lrftter method is not likely to be adopted tin this dominion to any extent for some time fo come. Before any scheme is adopted for their improvement the fullest consideration should be given to the sub-" ject. If the scheme is to be a large and costly one, it will always be advisable to begin operations on a small scale and make, certain that they are to be beneficial before entering into any scheme of cost or magnitude. ' In making this statement there isnothing further from my thoughts than suggest that farmer* should go into experimenting largely on their own account to 1 see what would be applicable in their own particular circumstances. I am fully aware that it ia out of the question to suppose that the* rank and file of the farming community can do anything of the Jcind. AH any farmer in the ordinary way can be expected to do in to conduct a few simple experiments mainly to ascertain in what form some of the common fertilisers can be best applied to his own soil. Before going farther let me say that there are fanners and farmers, a number of whom have been brought up on farms and have a good knowledge of the requirements and management of soils. While this is so, in this country we have a large number of men on the land who never had the opportunity of gaining knowledge on the subject.' To these men I would say, get all the information you can gather before going into costly undertakings, and above all study local cii cumstance* and conditions. Be progressive, but avoid fads which are generally advocated by men of no practical experience. Suppose yon intend going in for manuring and are doubtful as to the best manure to adopt, it is an easy matter to procure a small quantity of any of the manures I intend referring to later on and 1 try them on your own soil. The 8» me thing with liming, draining or harrowing. Draining.— The first essential is to , see that your soils are properly drained. , Although no vegetation can thrive without a sufficient supply of water, nevertheless, a superabundance qf moisture has injurious effects on many soils, , therefore, it is essential that the excess of water be removed. This allows '■- plant roots to penetrate deeper into the soil, prepares the way for tillage, improxes the texture of the soil by making it poms, drier, looses and more friable. Although at first sight it seems otherwise, well drained soils- will withstand the drought much better than undrained soils. • After a heavy rainfall an undrained soil becomes sodden with moisture, and when dried by evapouration becomes baked and hard, whereas a well drained soil is aerated and retentive of moisture. Of the different modes of draining the mole plough is perhaps the cheapest, but it can only be practised on stiff clay soils of a tenacious nature. Open ditches or furrows are largely need for removing surplus # water in some countries, while in this country wo wilt doubtless have to depend on the tide dram. This method although costly is thoroughly effectual. The drains »re almost always preferable to stone or tree drains. Th> influence of draining on the temperature of the soil will be at all times noticeable, more especially in the spring of the year. The large amount of water percolating through the drains and removed front the soil rais.es its temperature, and makes it in a fit condition to be worked at an earlier period. The advance of veuetation will also be noticed upon a drained soil, and the rapid growth of crops generally. The main question ot drainage is altogether too large for me to deal with in this paper, and I have no intention of going into it further than point out the advantage of a well drained aoil ovtv an undrained one. Limeing.— Another means of improving pasture lands is by an •application of lime. Although not mfbelf a fertiliser, lime is very essential in air plant foods/ iff f«ct without lime plartts cannot grow. It converts the insoluble plant food into soluble, corrects the damp and sour conditions M c °™ m i °" in many of bur day soils.. » «Isom. mists largely in the pulverising or breaking np of the soU, and is one of the grlatert importance m the growing of all crops, and especially in the germination of fine seedTsuch as clovers, rape, turnips and mangolds. The old method of applying four to five tons per acre of lime in one dressing has now" been abandoned. Now. seldom more than ten cwts » applied in oTe dre«rin g , % «jd often not more than five cwts. The most effectual lav is to apply the lime in the form of t^und a»£»ltur«l lime. This is IS buped in a Hta. g«j fggj • tea very fine jlbwder which is tuwa %v »S whichmakes it mttch easier to handlo4an the old form of applymg slaked lime. As already mentioned, «ro Jnd |& k generally •»££•**• Pate of from five to ten cwt per acje. Its application to sour, wet, or clay soils will show wonderful results; white mi the other hand, if •?&£****' powdery soil no greet benefits may K*ue irom its applicatto-, » » h °«J also be kept in mind that only **?& small Vntity of lime is "fl***" the immediate use of any plant. j£«£ areas of country are composed hw-geTj of limestone, #md wide. ranges or son an- iZSrf «ssdM«WWr that is, containfn X chalk or lime. Uis a well-known fw-t tha* in several eowi»es in England the effects of chalk «iaoilj wffl " ten vtars ago part of the unmanured Sot got a lißeraldreasJng of time. The . wf part of the pl^t is «rew'ng light rX* and not decreasing, wMe on the 1 SB* of the same A fcfc. -JP •» I Jgwth of" luminous P» a »*» Jxas a nowerful effect to renovating the Sard and also h*h» to decompose decavintf matter. It is d»>med that ifcponr soils in Westmoreland >n the north of EttKland have been lar«*Jy nccowaiy for «ra«. lands <» most soUs i,i order to m-utrahsc the aeWita pro-u-ed hv decaying vegetation, an* also £ enabf- the other manures, to , « 'xemse tlx-ir full efft-ct." The main difficulty in applyiiiK lime »" this ccmotry is the «»tt of freight ami handing, sod tho difficulty of applying it in windy weather. The Government obviates the fost of freight considerably by the free carriage by rail of aKrteultural hmc for 100 miles. f/Tho cost, of appircation fcan also bo considerably reduced by applying tho iimc to the soil with a distributor. Several of the force feed •bn»ad cast sowiu« machines will distribute ground lime at the rate of .about fire cwt per acre, Later in tow

paper I will refer to the effects of lime ob the pasture experiments at MoumaHarrowing of Pastures.— The custom of harrowing imsture lands is one which has received attention from almost time immemorial, nevertheless, it is a custom that by r.o means gets the attention, it deserves. In all grass pastures which have become overrun with moss anq fog it will be found advantageous to harrow them. " , A, On pastures which have been largely grazed with cattle, they naturally camp on the drier and more sheltered situations, and in time their droppings ge.t, accumulated m parts of the field. For breaking up cattle droppings, removing the moss and renovating the surface of old pastures, I know of nothing better than the grass or tripod harrow, and its use cannot be too strongly recommended on all pastures. The Resowing of Pastures. — Very little resowing of pastures is practised in open country without first ploughing up the surface, and in the main I am doubtful if it would be wise to attempt such resowing of posture lauds without ploughing. However, in some soils that have become mossy or foggy, if the surface is well pulled about with grass harrows, then a light dressing of seed sown and the field again harrowed, an inferior pasture might be largely improved. The question of seeds to be sown is hardly one which comes within the scope of this paper, and at almost all times it is a question that should be largely decided by the farmer himself. The best way to find out what grass is adapted for certain soils and situations is to let a small plot go to seed and you will at once see what good grasses and clovers are doing best in that particular soil, and it would be always wise to sow whatever good grasses you sec that particular soil retains. There is no doubt whatever that in the laying down of pastures there is altogether too much attention given to grasses that are not suitable for the soil and situation, for it is doubtless worse than useless to sow costly seeds on soils where they are to be of no permanent value. The selection of suitable seeds is often a difficult matter, and no mixture can be considered suitable for general application ; therefore I will not attempt to put forward the claim of any particular one, for, after all) as I have said, the farmer should be the best judge of what grasses will suit his own soil and' situation. On good soils for permanent pastures there are only a few grasses that can be recommended. On soils where rye grass wiU hold there is no doubt whatever but it is one of the best grasses than can be sown. On the other, hand there are large areas of grazing country in this dominion where rye grass will not hold, and on t^pse soils it is dnly a waste of money to sow large quantities of this seed, where there is no possible hope of ft succeeding. In the sowing down of any pasture it is advisable to sow a mixture of seeds, and that mixture should be largely composed of the best grasses that will hold on that particular soil. In this country where our live stock depend almost entirely on pastures it is always advisable to try to include grasses that will grow at almost all seasons of the year. Rye grass comes away very early in the spring, grows very little in midsummer, but shoots away again in the fall. Cocksfoot does not come so early in the spring, but grows better in midsummer, especially if th© season is a dry one. Meadow fescue is also a better summer pasture than rye grass, but will not come so early in the spring of the year. Cocksfoot, doubtless, is one of the beet grasses for a permanent pasture in this part of the dominion. It is a grass of high feeding value when kept in order, and thrives on almost all our best soils, but grows rough and coarse on some good soils. For pastures that are to be mowed it is not suitable, as the hay is rather coarse and" rough. On stiff clay soils inclined to be damp timothy will be found to be a superior grass for. this purpose, although it cannot be claimed to be very suitable for soils of a loose powdery nature. Meadow foxtail is also good grass on heavy ofay soils, but has Tittle to commend it on the "(Afcr class of soils. Dogstail holds well jpi almost all soils, but it makes no great amount of herbage, and runs fast to seed, while no stock seem to care much for its seed stalk. Chewings fescue, is a grass which deserves more attention on the lighter class of soils than it gets. It is a splendid sheep feed, makes a very close sward which helps to keep down Yorkshire fog and other undesirable grasses. For catch crops and for pastures that are not to be in grass for my length of time Italian rye will be found to be one of the best grasses that can be sown for this purpose, but with few exceptions there is no permanency about it. A small quantity of Italian rye is also very useful ;n a mixture, it comes away very* early, helps to shelter the tender grasses aiiJ clovers, and makes a fresh bite, for young stock before any of the other grasses are fit for feeding.. However, as I have said, the main aim should be to select seeds to suit the soil, requirements and situation, while it is more the' intention of this paper to deal with the improvement of pastures already in existence than to discuss the making of new ones.

(To be continued.)