NEW ZEALAND COCKSFOOT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18512, 8 March 1930, Page 15 (Supplement)

NEW ZEALAND COCKSFOOT

MUCH BETTER THAN DANISH. WHAT INVESTIGATIONS SHOW. More than 1,000,000 pounds of cocksfoot seed is imported to New Zealand every year, and the result of investigational work by scientists shows that this seed is not nearly as good in the pastures as is the seed actually produced in our own country, says a northern writer. A great deal of money is being spent in research work in the Dominion at the present time, and it is results such as these that point to the direct and indirect benefits resulting from it. Grass-strain investigation has been neglected in the past, but it is certain that in the future consideration of production problems will commence with grass strains, carry on with top-dressing, and finish up with the best possible type of rotational grazing. The introduction of certified seed will be a boon to all farmers, and will allow for maximum use of our pasture lands. It follows on the investigations which have thrown the spotlight on to our weaknesses, and disclosed the facts outlined above.

The knowledge gained in the experimental work carried out at Palmerston North will have a most stimulating effect on seed production locally, and should eventually lead to the building up of a considerable export trade.

Cocksfoot in Pastures. Cocksfoot occupies a secondary position in our pastures, being considered slightly inferior to ryegrass, and the farmer’s ideal therefore is to so adjust his grazing conditions that ryegrass and clover will be predominant during most of the grazing season, while cocksfoot will be available should very dry weather mitigate against leaf production from the ryegrass. In most of our pastures, in fact, cocksfoot takes the place which is taken by in the Auckland and North Auckland districts.

In earlier days it was customary to see cattle grazing in cocksfoot above their knees. To-day the farmer knows that it is uneconomic to have his grass as long as that, and his aim is to have the cocksfoot mass close to the ground —a thing which is directly the opposite of its natural habits. Again, because top-dressing has largely superseded the plough, the type of cocksfoot we need most to-day is that which will stand up to constant grazing, but which will by tillering continue to grow luxuriantly year after year. To get that type it is necessary to grow it ourselves; at least, that is what the experiments at the Plant Research Station lead one to believe.

Short-Lived Danish. Danish cocksfoot is short-lived, and so are those coming from France and from America. The investigations showed that they are heavy seed producers and that as a result they always bear a high proportion of stalk and a correspondingly low proportion of leafage, which is what we most want. New Zealand grown cocksfoot, however, was shown to be more persistent and to have a dense crown closfe to the surface soil. It produces a high proportion pf leafage, and as a type is more suitable for grazing than imported lines. Unfortunately much of our cocksfoot is pretty mixed as to strains, and selection work is needed to concentrate on the best lines. This will be carried out from now forward and as its effects are made apparent the demand is bound tp, be stimulating. Why hasn’t there been a greater demand before, since the foreign cocksfoot is shown to be inferior?,The reason lies in the fact that hitherto there have been no very definite tests made of the various types, side by side. Now they have been compared in the plots at the research station, and the comparison is all in favour of the New Zealand variety. Gradually the knowledge of this work will spread throughout the farming community, and as it does there will come increased demand for the locallygrown article especially that which is certified as being of the most desireable type.

Not only does the Danish cocksfoot tend to run to seed, but it browns off in the winter, and lies dormant for some months. Moreover, after hay was cut from the plots in November, the aftermath came away well on the New Zealand cocksfoot plots, but much more slowly on the Danish cocksfoot plots.

Interesting Comparisons. For about six months the cocksfoot pastures in the trial have been cut back each week, and already the plots are showing marked differences. The short-lived Danish types are not very productive, while New Zealand cocksfoot is thickening up and producing a more or less dense sward associated with abundance of white clover. Cocksfoot from districts as widely scattered as Hawke’s Bay and Southland has shown up as being better than imported, and with the building up of still better strains through selection, New Zealand cocksfoot will take its rightful place as the most suitable for our own conditions.

Those who are conducting the experiments are in the best position to know the facts. They say that for a country with almost unlimited scope for seed production, and already producing a good type of pasture cocksfoot, the consumption of imported seed

of the nonpasture type is altogether excessive. This country essentially requires persistent, leafy and high-yield-ing strains designed to withstand heavy grazing of a perennial nature. Danish cocksfoot does not fulfil this purpose; New Zealand cocksfoot does. The lesson to the farmer is therefore obvious.