PLANNING FOR CROPS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21200, 24 August 1940, Page 19 (Supplement)

PLANNING FOR CROPS

SUPPLEMENTARY FEED I RENEWAL OF PASTURES

In planning the area and variety of crops to be grown in the coming season consideration should be given to several factors—the area of inferior pasture which requires renewal, the cash crops which may be grown as part of the rotation, and the special requirements of the stock |

for supplementary feed in summer ! 1 and winter periods. ; The main cash crops are the ; I cereals—wheat, oats, barley, maize, | ; ! and also potatoes, peas, onions, and j ! linseed. If any of these or other ! j special crops can be grown success- j j fully, then the ploughing up even of j 1 first-class pastures may be econo- j j mically justified taken in conjunction j I with the subsequent growing of sup- j J plementary fodder crops as part of ! j the rotation. Where the winter is j j prolonged and severe the growing j of supplementary feed crops, is, or j I should be, a regular farm practice, j I but in many of the warmer districts i I the provision made of hay, silage, i | and roots is insufficient for stock re- j j quirements since too great a reliance ; I is placed on a relatively favourable j

j climate. Period of Shortage j i Another probable period of short- j age occurs during the dry late sum- ! mer-autumn period. To provide j . feed for stock in this period suitable j j crops are green maize and Japanese \ j millet (in the warmer districts), j ■ lucerne, red clover, vetches, peas, j soft turnips, rape, and chou moel- » lier. Preparatory cultivation for

these crops, and for other springsown crops—mangels, carrots, pumpkins, swedes, potatoes, linseed—if not already started, should be commenced as soon as the ground is in a state fit for working. Where cereal-sowing has been done the implements may be kept at work preparing for these crops. If old grass pastures are being ploughed up for root crops or lucerne, one deep ploughing with complete burying of the surface layer gives the best results. Particularly for root crops and lucerns, the soil must be worked up very fine from the bottom up and the seed-bed should be firm and moist. Land for the potato crop which was skim-ploughed in the autumn should be ploughed deeply about September to prepare for the later cultivation needed. The seedbed for potatoes should be of a loose, rather than of a compacted nature. Lucerne is a crop the potentialities of which are not fully recognised. For lucerne to succeed on any soil, the drainage conditions must be good and the soil should be free working, but, apart from this, the range of soils on which it may be grown is wider than is generally realised.