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Sheep Pasture Research. (1) Sheep-nutrition Area run in collaboration with Massey College.—To date records have been made of botanical composition, yield of pasture and amounts available to the grazing flocks at set intervals. Owing to an exceptional season and the lack of provision of a suitable " flying flock " the herbage has not been kept down right through the season and unbalanced cattle-stocking resulted in unfortunate stock-fertility differences appearing. The cattle have now been eliminated as a control method, and Massey College has arranged to carry the extra sheep when necessary. Unless each block is stocked to keep each strain and each manurial block at the same grazing height the value of this experiment is largely lost, for the reason tha.t if the grass gets away on the high-producing areas it soon develops into feed of markedly different chemical and botanical composition to that where efficient grazing control has been practised. (2) Digestibility Trials with Sheep. —A shed equipped for controlled feeding of sheep was completed in mid-September, and to date trials have been conducted 011 pasture of the following types :— (а) Young new pasture : (б) Short high protein pasture : (c) Pasture as cut for silage of early stage : (d) Pasture as cut for silage of intermediate stage : (e) Pasture as cut for hay. Later on the silage and hay made from the above materials will be fed in comparative trials. Apart from the digestibility figures obtained from such trials, much useful information has been obtained on the general feeding requirements of sheep. Cleanliness of the feed offered to the animal is a vital factor contributing to ingestion, and the animals have adequately demonstrated the fact that they would rather starve than eat food contaminated with dung and/or otherwise polluted by dead bottom, &c. It would appear as if their sense of smell is very well developed and while they have refused dirty feed of good quality they have in all our trials where an effort is made to present clean food, eaten an average of over 3 lb. dry matter per day. Sheep-grazing Trials to determine Effect of Dung and Urine on Pasture. This trial has now been in operation since last July and has demonstrated even in this short time that very large differences occur in high-producing pastures subjected to the following treatments : — (a) High phosphate and lime with full return of excrements : (b) High phosphate and lime with no return of excrements : (c) High phosphate and lime with return of urine only : (d) High phosphate and lime with return of dung only. After three to four months of differential treatments as above there developed considerable botanical differences, and while total yields were not very different due to original fertility, total D.M. yields for the latest month (March, 1941) shows a 55 per cent, increase due to dung and urine both, a 30 j>er cent, increase on the urine return paddocks, and a 6 per cent, increase due to dung. The urine paddocks have run to rye-grass dominant, the dung only return to a clover dominant, while the full return is well-balanced rye-clover pasture. The no return is low producing and of an open clover-rye type of sward. All this has occurred on high-fertility land and with pedigree swards with high top-dressing. It is considered that results would be much more spectacular 011 poorer soils, and in view of the general shortage of artificial manures the results of the trial will prove of considerable value to instructional bodies in driving home to the farming community the great value of animal droppings if adequately utilized. The results of the trial are being prepared for publication, and articles have, been given to papers with a farming circulation. Dairy-cow Pastures. The observational and recording work on the area run in collaboration with the Dairy Research Institute has continued. On account of the war the indoor feeding has been discontinued and the work is confined to outdoor grazing of rye-white, cocksfoot-white, and complex mixtures. Nearly all of our data on this work was lost in the fire. Due to difficulties of measurement work on the main dairy farm, it has been decided to carry out most of the detailed measurement on our own area using dry stock for control of the pastures. The work on Massey College property in the future will be mainly observational using dairy cow production figures. Several new pastures and mixtures have been seeded down 011 the dairy-farm with the object of studying short rotation rye-grass, pedigree rye-grass, and clovers, together with special-purpose species, such as prairie-grass and cocksfoot. With the object of determining the value of certain forage crops for autumn milk-production two paddocks were sown into various crops after different cultivation treatments. Due to the exceptional season, the experiment could not be carried out in full, but some very useful figures for total nutrient' values have been obtained. Ensilage. Last, year's programme of work has been completed. Most of the data were saved from the fire and has been written up. The work has shown that there are very large losses in the actual making, and because of this and consequent interpretational difficulties publication has been postponed until this year's work has been completed.

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