CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume II, Issue 2, 15 February 1911, Page 106

CORRESPONDENCE.

Sowing Grass-seed with Wheat.

J. K., Flaxton, writes as follows : I should be glad to know what you think of sowing grass-seed with a crop of Hunter White wheat, say in the middle of April, as is sometimes done with Dun oats ; or do you think it would be better to sow grass-seed by itself ? I have a paddock of heavy peat land to sow which has already grown a crop of beans. The Director of Fields and Experimental Farms replies, — Grass from seed sown with a gross-growing cereal, such as most varieties of the Hunter strains, is not usually a success. It must be obvious that a crop, such as wheat, which. withdraws from the soil a high proportion of plant-food is far from conducive to the luxuriance of the grass that is sown with it and struggles with it for sustenance. It must be remembered that grass-seed is costly, so also it is expected to remain profitable for some years. Therefore it should be sown by itself after careful and thorough cultivation, and on land liberally supplied with the elements of plant-food.

Time for Cutting Green Maize.

F. M., Whakaronga, wishes to be informed when maize is ready to cut for feeding to cows green. . ' The Director of Fields and Experimental Farms states, — The best time to cut maize for feeding green to cows is when the cob of the plant.is formed, but before the grain begins to harden. It is recognized that it is impossible to utilize a large area of maize when the cutting is left to such a late period. When maize is sown , for the purpose of green feed, a small area should be sown at intervals of, say, a fortnight. The area to be sown of course depends on the number of stock to be fed.