BUILDING UP GRASSLANDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 370, 13 September 1930, Page 22 (Supplement)

BUILDING UP GRASSLANDS

WORK IN NEW ZEALAND EXPERT’S HIGH PRAISE. An interesting visitor to Christchurch this week is Dr H. E. Annett, of Matangi, Waikato. Dr Annett spent many years at the agricultural experimental station a W’ye, England, and laer was in charge of more than one agricultural college in India, and for some time was director of agricultural research in that country. Recently he toured the British Isles, and the Continent, and has returned to settle at Matangi. He has been invited to do scientific advisory work in New Zealand for Imperial Chemical Indusries. In an interview with a representative of the Christchurch Press, he reviewed recent progress in fertilising, and stated that research work in grassland management in New Zealand was second to none in the world, and was in fact further advanced than in most countries.

“I recently returned from a tour of the British Isles, Holland, and Germany,” he said. “I have studied the methods of agriculture in those countries very closely, and as a result I consider the possibilities of production from our grasslands are higher than in any of those places. The temperate climate and well-distributed rainfall in the Dominion is a big factor. As a

result, we in the North Island in particular are able to produce butter-fat at a lower cost per lb than any country in the world. This is a most valuable asset, for it means that in times of stress, when values fall to a low basis, the dairyman here is able to withstand a slump better than his fellows in other parts of the globe.” Waikato Developments.

In reply to a question as to recent progress in the Waikato, Dr Annett said that recent research work had made for great development in that province.

“We have got farms in the Waikato producing 250 to 3001 b of buttcr-fat per acre, on grasslands alone, without any subsidiary feed,” he said. “However,

we have similar periods when feed is scarce as those which you have in Canterbury, though not so marked. During the winter and February are our trying times as a rule, and the problem is to conserve feed for those periods. Because of that the making of ensilage from grass was first developed in the North Island to a higher standard than in other parts of New Zealand. In the last two years further developments have taken place, and farmers now realise that ensilage made from mature grass is not a milking food any more than hay, and attention is being paid to making it from immature grass, in which stage experiments show that it is the equal of linseed cake as a food. “In the Waikato much progress has been made with subdivision, and close rotational grazing, and as a result of both these systems there have been big increases in production recorded. Increased Top-Dressing. “Up to last year, fertilising was simply phosphatic in the main, but instead of the single application of two or three cwt. per acre per annum, larger quantities are being applied. It is now a common practice to apply three hundredweight of superphosphate twice a year on many farms. “Potash is being recognised, too, as of great importance in some areas, and will certainly have a more widely increased use yet. “The value of lime is being recognised. Even although the farmer may not notice any immediate effect on the grass as the result of its application that does not mean to say that it is of no beriefit. Recent experiments have shown that manuring with lime and phosphate together improves the feeding value of herbage by increasing the lime and phosphate content. Lime is intimately connected with bone formation, and so must be related to fertility problems. It is now recognised that milk fever is definitely associated with a shortage of lime in the animal’s food. Nitrogenous Manures. Since last year a considerable quantity of nitrogenous manures—sulphate of ammonia, etc. —have been used. Nitrogenous manures increase the leaf growth, and when used in conjunction with phosphates are proving of great importance in producing early feed. A grass produced during July and August in the North is many times more valuable than grass produced in October or November, as the securing of early feed enables cows to be brought in earlier with safety, and it is tne early calving cows .which produce the bigger yield during lactation period. “Nitrogenous manures are going to play a very big part in New Zealand agriculture in the future, both on grasslands and on crops such as wheat. “The Department of Agriculture’s experiments, which have been admirably carried out, prove clearly that dressing with one cwt. of nitrogenous manure an acre gave an average increase of five bushels of wheat, and in many cases the increase was much larger than the figure, being up to 10 bushels an acre. “In a few experiments it has been found that the use of them with barley* crops has meant an increase of up to 30 bushels an acre. It therefore seems a sound investment for farmers to act upon the advice of the Department and use nitrogenous fertilisers Ante-Partum Paralysis. “A development of interest in the Waikato is that dairy farmers are now running in-lamb ewes to clean up pastures after cows, and the recent discovery by Mr Leslie, of the Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln, that an injection of glucose and administration of treacle, is a successful treatment of ante-partum paralysis, has aroused as great interest in the North Island as it has done in the South. “I would like to add,” said Dr Annett, “that the work done by the Canterbury Agricultural College is much appreciated in the North Island, and recent statements in regard to stock feeding during the winter, and the fattening of stock on wheat have been closely noted. Grassland Research. “There is a great amount of grassland research work being carried out in New Zealand, and much of that work is of the highest standard. In fact, I consider that this type of research in New Zealand has reached a stage of de velopment which is equal to, if not ahead of, that in any other country in the world. The thing which most appeals to me is the need for the even closer co-ordination and direction of the work in the Dominion, in order to concentrate on a continual progression, and to avoid duplication.”