WAIKATO PASTURES.

Waikato Times, Volume 123, Issue 20635, 22 October 1938, Page 24 (Supplement)

WAIKATO PASTURES.

SOWING OF SEED MIXTURES MOST DESIRABLE SPECIES (No. 3) The following article is the third of a series from a paper delivered by Dr. H. E. Annett, D.Sc. (Lond.), F.1.E., at the annual conference of the New Zealand Grassland Association at Ruakura. It is usual on dairying pactures to sow at least 35 and up to 40 and more pounds of seed per acre. It is advisable to sow 251 b of certified ryegrass. Some farmers use as little of this seed as iOlb to 121 b. but this is a great mistake. It is important to get a vigorous sward to smother out weeds. A useful mixture is as follows: Certified perennial rye. 20 to 251 b; certified Akaroa cocksfoot, 8 to 101 b; timothy, 3 to 41b; certified New Zealand white clover, 1 to 21b; red clover, 31b. Crested dogstail at 31b per acre is also frequently added. Where it is desired to encourage paspalum 61b per acre can be substituted for cocksfoot in the above mixture, but the mixture must then be sown in the late spring or early summer, as it takes many years to become established in the Waikato by autumn sowing. It is probably far better to sow paspalum alone in early summer and then disc in the late summer and sow the rest of the mixture in autumn.

In breaking in raw country roots play a great part, but where land has been in grass and it is wished to renew it the grass can be ploughed and resown within a few weeks. Actually in the present year we finished ploughing up a grass paddock on February 18, disced twice, harrowed and rolled,

and sowed it down in grass again by March 9, rolling again after sowing. In spite of drought conditions we got excellent results. The Weed Problem Time will not admit more than a passing reference to this subject. Ragwort has rapidly increased in rei cent years. Six years ago ragwort j was auite rare on most farms in my own are, but it is probably not too I much to say that a careful search | would show the presence of at least | an odd ragwort plant on almost any | paddock in the Waikato to-day. The ! liffht soils are ideal for the growth of j weeds, and Californian thistle is a real I menace, especially on land freshly sown to grass. Poa pratensis is a common constituent of pastures, but as fertility increases it begins to disappear. Buttercups in some seasons, and on the wetter soils overrun the pastures. They are encouraged by the stocking of wet land in winter, but early mowing keeps them in check. On the question of weed control no more will be said, except to point out that where j sheep are run on the dairy farm they | do a lot in checking weed growth, and, further, that early cutting for ensilage before the seeds of weeds have set plays a big part in weed control. The best way to get a clean farm is to build up a good sward by proper fertilisation and management, and then there is far less room for weeds to grow. Manuring Problems Time will allow only a brief discussion of this matter of manuring. Superphosphate has been the mainstay of fertilisation in the Waikato, and by its use the production and carrying capacity of our pastures have rapidly increased. Three cwt per acre is a i usual top-dressing and it is mostly | applied in the autumn. Some farmers | apply a second dressing in the early ; spring Personally my practice is to | top-dress with super at 3cwt per | acre once a year. The lighter soils 1 receive the dressing in autumn and the I wetter soils in August, as already ex- | plained. T have never felt it economic | to top-dress in the summer, for the | reason that if we do not get rain we ; get no result, and if wc do get rain 1 we get good growth on the residues | of manuring earlier in the year, i Controversy has centred around the use of lime and potash. Grazing records on my own farm show that after the first three years both lime and potash increased the carrying I capacity by from 25 to 100 per cent, i Where the carryiiur capacity is as high as it is in tlm Waikato it seems at least good insurance to apply lime and potash. In regard to lime, * I feel convinced that it, should be more | widely used. W e have light soils and la high rainfall, and any lime present j gets rapidly leached out. Professor i Robinson, one of our best soil workers. ■ in his new book. ‘'Letters on Soil.” I states that 25 years ago perhaps 10 ; per cent, of the soils of Wales were deficient in lime, but to-day over 50 per cent, of Welsh soils are sadly in need of lime. He states that the posij tion in England is probably about the | same, and that the problem is one of i national importance, j Lime is cheap in New Zealand. Soil I survey work shows the pH value of ! the Te Kowhai silt loam of which my 1 farm is partly composed to be 5.30 nearly as acid as peals. This parj ticular type of soil is also low in [available potash (.013 per cent. , and

potash response is therefore not to be wondered at. What Is remarkable, however, is that on this particular soil type the available iron content is of the same order as is found in bushsick soils. Recent work on cobalt shows that the Hamilton clay loam is rich in this element, whereas the Te Kowhai loam has a cobalt content as low as that of some bush-sick soils. It certainly seems a wise practice in the Waikato to feed licks containing Whangarei limonite or cobalt on soils of the Te Kowhai series.

The Waikato experiences much trouble with grass staggers and milk fever in cows, and perhaps further study of mineral deficiencies may throw light on troubles such as these.