PERMANENT PASTURE

Western Star, 22 August 1924, Page 3

PERMANENT PASTURE

VALUE OF TOP-DRESSING

There was. a thoroughly representative meeting of farmers at Gmnmies Bush school in Tuesday evening to hear Mr McGillivray gave his address to a representative meeting of farmers, jn the Thornbury Public Hall on Thursday evening. ? an address by Mr "It. M’Gilliv ay, Instructor in Agriculture for ‘Southland. Tt was under the auspices, of the local Branch of the Farmers’ Union-, ■Mr M’Gillivray (received with applause) said that- “Pastures .would be his prncipal theme that evening. iNo feature of the agricultural industry had been so much neglected as pasture lands. This era was notable lor changes It was only to be expected that there would he grt.b changes in agriculture as the result of research work aiming to understand tho functions of the ; micro-organisms working for us. in the soil. It was essential to have more productivity from pastures, and a 'higher quality. In England it had been proved by experiment that 25cwt oi hay from top-dressed pasture had 1 greater feeding value than 35cwt ot hay immanured adjoining plot. So they would understand the value oi top-dressing, not alone in the hulk result, but also in the quality. A lot of pastoral land was: not so productive as it should be, too many weeds being present. "Widespread improvement was necessary, because good pasture was vital in ibis country. In Britain tlie growing of cereals and potatoes bad ceased to be profitable, and but for the old pastures, wliicb there was nothing to equal, the farmers would have been in a plight. H was the splendid old pastures that- had pulled: them through the period of stress and j depression, enabling them to grow stock and produce milk. "With taxation so heavy, the farmers must otherwise have gone to the wall. In 1920 21, when the slump struck us, none] felt it so quickly as the city dwellers, who w ere made to realise how much they were ‘dependent on the work of men on the soil. Farmers could get hack to primitive conditions and live in their occupation. In dealing with] the subject of pastures, he amplified, the' statement by showing what ban- i vMied if the nasture were allowed to j degenerate and hare patches to develop. Those patches would fill with. vegetation suitable to the climatic and soil conditions, following the law j of natural selection. In Central Otago the scab-weed filled the spaces. 1 as it was a plant- that could stand extremes. Sweet vernal and New Zealand hairgrass nourished in dry areas—Yorkshire fog, etc, in moist country. That supplied* a guiding principle in the selection of pasture seeds. Very fine grass seed mixtures might be sown, but for their success depended on climatic and soil conditons and treatment. In the North Island. where, grasses of too high a standard had been sown the pasture had gone back to a state of nature. That could have been prevented when laying the land down to grass if the governing principle had been clearly understood. A Rothamstead authority had affirmed that “no form of wastefulness is so great as trying to grow plants unsuited to soil conditions.” In wet lands there was a sweet floating grass, growing there because the conditions suited it. Meadow foxtail did well at Mainura Island because it was heavy land— a very fine grass, coming away early, and with perennial ryegrass, and clover made a- good pasture on suth land; but the foxtail would not do on dry lands. Certain grasses would disappear if the fertility of the soilwere not maintained. The predilection of stock for palatable grasses were neglected until they'predominated. To' shun' the value of top-dressing, ho quoted the case of a Myross "Bush farmer who had eo treated do acres of his property, with results so pronounced that he was going to topdress the whole of his 365 acres next - year-. Before there could be good pasture they must have good soil conditions. The first essential was effective draining, as most Southland farmers understood. It was useless to sow good . grasses in a cold water clogged soil. Places where “niggerheads” were frequent now carried splendid fields of clover. Lime was a great factor in bringing about the best .results. He quoted the progressive (use of lime, beginning at 20,000 tons and running up to 45,000 tons, with tins year promising to be a record, one firm having orders totalling 16,000 tons. He showed the beneficial effect of liming in producing a good physical condition of tile soil. It established a crumb-like structure which admitted the air. A crop of turnips removed 1181 b of limo per acre. Lime also got washed down into tho subsoil, where there would be plenty and none in the top soil. Soil was mistakenly believed to be inert, but now was 'known to teem with bacterial life, and Unie was necessary for the development of the beneficial bacteria, acting on leguminous, plants—aiovers., vetches, peas, etc. —the only order that enriched the soil in their growth by taking nitrogen from the air and in cooperation witli tho bacteria fixing it in the soil. ‘lf we can encourage the clovers, we are going a long way to improve the soil.”, It was a question how far the. farmers could go with green manuring. Interest in pastural improvement was developing all over the Dominion. The higher the state of fertility of the soil when laying down pasture, the greater the chance of success, hut subsequent management was vital for complete success. The young pasture should not be eaten-too soon or too bare, but time should lie given" for the root system, so vital to the plant, to develop. Personally he believed in laying down straight in pasture and not with a cereal crop, where possible. There were differences, of opinion as to whether ryegrass was perennial. Tho test depended on the fertility of the soil. Generally there was very good seed on sale in Southland but some from outside liehad encountered was a disgrace—--3 per cent good seed and 97 per cent, trash. He stressed the importance of phosphate in top-dressing An eminent authority had said ho could make good pasture if liberal enough in fertilising; but it might cost too much to grow good plank-, on poor land. Nitrogenous manure alone led to deterioration. The difference with phosphate-treated areal alongside would bo clear cut. With potash added they would have a well balanced, fertiliser. In (Southland they could not -get away from suporTiosuhate for pasture. The lecturer cited a number or j marvellous cases of suo&ss following

on the top-dressing of soils with phosphates—basic slag in the most outstanding instances. He piled fact upon fact, proving the case for top-dressing results. At Newhaven, ‘Sussex, there was a farm which was a byword. Professor Somerville in 11)1-1 bought it to demonstrate what could be done by topdressing He applied basic slag (a cheap phosphate), and sowed a little white clover, and in due time got his expect od results. There was such an improvement that farmers- came from far and near to see the “joke ”. His predecessor out on 700 sheep, of which 300 died. Professor Somerville grazed 800 sheep nod had 4 per cent, of deaths. The ’anibing was 129 per cent. His cash return was 4* 658 6s 7d against his predecessor's .-£76 10s 3d. Professor Somerville had cattle too. Put on a sheep baa's bis stock represented 4 3 times that of bis predecessor. All be bad done was + o t-oodres'i with Ocwt. of basic slag to the acre and lib of white clover. Spread n nimal dronpines by barrowing to keep 'die pasture 'ii healthy condition, be said. He cited the case of Messrs WatBros,, Heddmi Bush. where ore result was an earlier spring growth and a prolonged growth in the autumn, 't Winton on fonr-yer-old pasture 8 sheep per acre bad been carried in the growing period and for tile whole rear. The lecturer gave the Winton spading mixture (per ' acreCocksfoot 141 b, perennial rye 71b. meadow fescue 'lb, meadow foxtail 41b, poa trevials till, crested dogt-ail 31b, timothy 31b, '■ed clover 41b, white clover 21b. lotus major lib. At Rothamstead there were rve and white clover in excellent condition after 40 years, and in other ’daces pastures over 100 years-—not -o good where it was allowed to seed r onchuhng he ’'cpoated, lime to keen +lio clovers which enrich the soil with nitrogen, and where it is necessary to restore clovers use phosphate; where O'"' land is light ad-hug no’usli. Nit rat" h-dp-,-. but it b oual’- v that is wanted. 'Mid that comes with phus: hates.