CERTIFIED SEED

Wairarapa Daily Times, 10 March 1932, Page 2

CERTIFIED SEED

INTERESTING DEMONSTRATION.

An interesting demonstration of the , machine dressing of certified ryegrass seed was given yesterday afternoon at . Messrs G. H. Perry and Co.’s warehouse j in Chapel Street,'and was attended by , a number of farmers and others. I Conditions of the supply and sale of certified seed were explained by Mr S. Divers, and an informative exposition of the’Agricultural Department’s certification scheme was given by Mr S. Freeman, Fields Instructor. Mr Divers exhibited and described samples of seed, and said that anyone buying a line of seed could always see the departmental certificate of germination and purity. A registered number branded on the bag corresponded with the number on this certificate. Mr Freeman said his idea was not so much to justify seed certification as to try to interest* farmers in it. All farmers nowadays should realise the importance of good seed as the essential foundation of good crops. It was surprising, however, how many farmers did not really realise the economy of good seed. This was perhaps due to the fact that in the past farmers _ had expected high prices to be associated with good seed. Unfortunately, in the past dear seed had not always been good. Those who did realise the value of good seed and had tried to obtain it in the past had sometimes failed, and failed badly. The merits or demerits . of farm seeds could not always be determined by outward appearance. In the parallel case of farm livestock. attention was being directed on every hand to-day to pedigree and performance. It! was found necessary, m the interests of efficiency, to encouiage national movements like herd testing. In the seed world, there was scope for 1 similar work, involving the production of seed of known pedigree and performance. This had led the Department of Agriculture, in recent years, to undertake seed certification. The two most important kinds of seed to which certification had been applied were rye orass and potatoes, but work was also being done in regard to white and red clover, cocksfoot, browntop and wheat. New Zealand depended more on ryegrass than on any other grass, but in recent years the farmer’s confidence j had been shaken. Bad strains of rye- I grass had crept in, strains that would not persist even under conditions of i high feraility, and farmers had come to regard failure as inevitable on many | soil types. Until certification came m and the Department was able to show farmers by means of actual trials the true value* of the good strains of grasses farmers throughout New Zealand had come to the conclusion that it was a. fatal move to break up pasture it they had any intention of renewing.it. Thev found that the “better grasses failed rapidly after the first year, and that it took years to bring the pasture back to anything like a good sward. It could be said definitely that thousands of acres of weak and inferior turts were left down, and that large sums were spent on fertilisers applied annually to pastures that would not repay even the cost of the manures. The true policy was to get the paddocks down in good grass and then spend money m top-dressing. » The bad strains, the pseudo types ot ryegrass, Mr Freeman observed, were even less persistent that Italian ryegrass. On good soils, the pseudo types would be beaten, absolutely by white clover; on medium lands the pseudo types would last a little longer owing to there being less competition by clover On poor soils, the pseudo types failed very rapidly, sometimes _ withm twelve months. When commercial lines of ryegrass were put under trial, some were found to be very productive and persistent under stock grazing, leafy and forming a dense, close sward. Others were poor growers, short-lived, and not in any way suitable as pasture plants The good types recovered muen more quickly' than the others after crazing. They often found that seed coming from particular localities gave types alike in general character, and thus thev got regional strains, such as Akaroa cocksfoot, Poverty Bay and Hawke’s Bav rye. Man a wain lucerne, and others. ' In the Wairarapa there were to be found many examples of pastures that had failed, while others, still persisted after anything from twenty to forty years. On investigation it would be found that- the pasture that had failed had been sown, generallv, within the last ten years, with the bad strains of ryegrass that had crept in. The Department of Agriculture had undertaken the certification of ryegrass in all districts in New Zealand m which good strains were to be found. Tn the Wairarapa this year, seed from one area had been passed as permanent pasture and recommended for certification as mother seed. The produce of another area was under trial as mother seed. Three other areas passed for the production of mother seed had not been shut up this vear on account of the scarcity of feed. Seed from a number of other areas would be coming up for certification test next season on first recommendation. as well as from areas sown down this vear and last year with •mother seed with a view to re-eertifiea-tion. Tn consequence, quite a lot ot certified Wairarapa ryegrass seed should bo on the market next season. There was as good ryegrass in the Wairarapa ns in Hawke’s Bav and Poverty Bay. thou Hi in those districts the areas from which seed could be drawn were as y»t larger. The true perennial rva. Mr Freeman stated, was rather a << s p v ” coeder in comparison with Italian and pseudo types, which were heavy seeders. Tinder the Department’s scheme, Mi Freeman went on to observe, the farmer was well protected. The seed was followed practically right through. He described in detail the recording and inspection of paddocks prior to iar vesting, after which the ««ed was scaled up bv a departmental officer, and the testing and trial of the seed. Seed under trial was grown m thousands of ulots at the Plant Research Station in Palmerston North. Since the introduc-

tion of the ultra violet ray method, the process of trying out the seed had been shortened, considerably. The seed was germinated with long rootlets. Subjected to the violet ray, these rootlets, if the seed were of the true perennial type, showed no change in appearance, but in the case of false perennial or Italian types, a phosphorescent glow appeared along the rootlets. \V here permanent pasture seed was sown, the first seed harvested from the area was not eligible for certification, but arrangements could be made to have a sample of this first harvest seed grown under trial. If the trial indicated a satisfactory result, second and subsequent crops might be sealed and certified as “New Zealand Perennial Bvegrass Permanent Pasture.” Where mother seed was sown and the area passed field inspection, the first seed harvested might be sealed and certified as “New Zealand Perennial Ryegrass Certified First Harvest Seed.’’ MiFreeman assured his hearers that, ou account of the strict precautions taken by the Department, if any merchant, or farmer harvesting seed, wished to adulterate it, this could not be done. Lt was, of course, very unwise to sow any other seed than certified seed, particularly bad strains or Italian rye. In growing seed for certification, it was necessary that farmers should observe the greatest care in every way. Fir instance, carting out hay cut from Italian rye into a paddock Ssown with perennial rye would mean that seed from the paddock could not be certified. • On concluding his address, which was followed with great interest, Mr Freeman answered a number of questions. Mr H. Evans said that while he recognised that it was human nature that people should try to get all they could, the price of certified seed was prohibitive. Was there any chance of bringing the price down to a level at which it would be within reach of the ordinary farmer? Mr Freeman said it was a question of supply and demand. This year there had been large orders from Australia. Porbably, as time went on, the countries of the Old World would get seed from here and New Zealand would become the seed granary of the world. In many parts of New Zealand this year, the output of ryegrass seed had been affected by drought. Mr W. Perry said he had heard of an Australian order for 10,000 bushels at £1 a bushel.

Mr Evans said he quite agreed that it paid better to sow good seed than bad seed. He had known of seed being bought at ifis a bushel, but this "as just putting rubbish on the paddock. To another question, Mr Freeman replied that he had known farmers in Hawke’s Bay to sow as much as four bushels to the acre of ryegrass (of

their own growing), with a bit of clover with the idea of seed production. He thought, however, that 2olb to the acre should be any amount in a mixture.'The ! average production of ryegrass seed to I the acre, he added, was pretty low about nine bushels. A good deal depended on the extent to which the grass I was fed before the seed harvest. As he had said, grass of bad strains gave i heavier yields of seed than the true

perennial. He suggested that farmers might, plant small areas with certified seed and extend their pastures with seed of their own harv e-sting. Mr Evans said that he had put eight to ten two-tooth wethers to the acre on paddocks on which he had afterwards harvested 25 to 30 bushels of seed. Ewes, however, would eat the maturing grass right down.