THE MARTON EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XIII, Issue 2, 21 August 1916, Page 145

THE MARTON EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS.

The following report on operations at the small experimental area near Marton Junction worked by the Department is furnished by Mr. G. de S. Baylis, Fields Supervisor :

The Marton 'plots up to the close of 1914 had been chiefly used as propagating and preliminary rough trial plots for various cereals recently introduced into the country. Consignments of a bushel or so were sown and tested, and such varieties as seemed likely to be useful or suitable to any particular district were distributed from the stocks grown, through the channel of the co-operative experiment, to farmers in various parts of the country. In this way Federation, John Brown, Jonathan, Taragon, and Yandilla . King wheats, all of which varieties are now well known in certain districts of the North Island, were originally introduced to this country. - ; -

Numerous other varieties of wheats from Australia, such as Comeback, Bobs, and Powers Fife, were also tested, as well as Canadian Fifes, both red and white varieties, Imperial Amber, and Turkey Red, all being varieties imported from Canada ; Grenadier and Pearl wheats imported from Sweden ; and numerous other cereals from England and elsewhere. Among Swedish importations, the White Ligowo oat — now thoroughly well established in the Wairarapa, where it has given excellent results —also Hannchen barley, have been markedly successful in certain districts, and, like the wheats, were first grown in this country at the Marton plots, from whence seed was distributed to farmers.

The soil immediately around Marton Junction is of poor quality and of shallow depth, being immediately imposed upon a stiff-yellow clay. The position is exposed and very wind-swept. This fact, together with the lack of drainage, renders the period of growth a very short one on account of the low soil-temperature, since the spring growth starts late, and droughty conditions usually make their appearance on the advent of summer. On such a soil and under such conditions it-is normally only possible to successfully grow such crops as wheat; oats, &c., which make much of their growth in late autumn and early ■ spring, and complete their growth before hot summer weather and droughty conditions set in.

In order to correct the natural errors in this soil, and thereby to render it fitted for the production of satisfactory crops other than cereals, it appeared to be necessary to drain the land thoroughly, to lime it to correct acidity, to improve its texture, and to .plough in green material to increase the humus-content and increase the porosity of the surface soil itself. By such means it was intended to render the soil sweeter, better drained, warmer, sooner workable after rain, < less subject to drought, and consequently give it possession of a ' longer growing season, which would alone result in enabling it to grow satisfactory crops of many kinds which . make their maximum growth

between the late spring and early autumn. . It was also considered that by such treatment less injury would be done to the soil when feeding off swedes or suchlike crops in the winter season, and that the stock would benefit by the dryer and warmer soil conditions prevailing.

A scheme was consequently' drawn up whereby all the land with the exception, of a small area was subdrained by the mole plough at intervals of 7 ft. Pipe connections and outlets were put in when necessary. The cost of this work was approximately £3 per acre. After the land had been drained it was divided into four areas, as follows : ..

Area A consisted of 5 T 4 T acres, plots Ito 9 inclusive. Ground limestone at the rate of 1 ton per acre was applied to all acre plots, the balance consisting of strips of T u acre each dividing the acre plots from one another. These were treated in various ways for observation purposes.

Area B consisted of acres, plots 10 to 19 inclusive. Ground limestone at 1 ton per acre was applied to all plots large and small. Upon this area a light crop of green oats was ploughed under in the early spring of 1915.

Area C consisted of 5/ acres, plots 20 to 29 inclusive. Ground limestone, 1 ton per acre, was given to all plots. Green oats were ploughed under in early spring of 1915. All plots were also subsoiled to an extra depth of about 4 in.

Area “ Triangle ” consisted of a small area undrained and not recently limed. '

In all cases in the areas A, B, C, the trial plots are the acre plots. The divisional plots between each acre plotviz., T X T acre strip—are treated in different manner for observation purposes only.

Last season the whole area was sown in kales and rape, which were fed off with sheep. The plots to be green-manured were subsequently ploughed and sown in oats, and the area without green manure was also ploughed. The green manure was turned under in the early spring.

According to the scheme arranged it was proposed to work this land for a period under a regular rotation, with a view to improving its fertility and ultimately rendering it more productive and suitable for the satisfactory growth of many other varieties of crops in addition to cereals. . The rotation was as follows: Red clover two years, then wheat, turnips, or a similar crop, followed by oats or a 'similar crop. The land was to be sown down to grass with the clover crop following if it was desired’to then put it out of cultivation for a period.

Green's Ruakura oat was the oat used for the season, and grew well. The boisterous winds and rains in the early part of the season, however, played great havoc with the crop, and some of the plots were badly laid. Hence records of yields are unreliable, since some crops were more difficult to cut than others. The chaff actually cut and bagged,, however, off i t 2 t acres on area C (drained, limed, green-manured, and subsoiled) was at the rate of 4-27 tons per acre. Area B (drained, limed, green-manured), which on account of rough weather was badly laid, only yielded at the rate of i-66 tons per acre. Area A (drained and limed) yielded 3-047 tons per acre.

In the oat plots the amount of seed and manure sown in each case was, as near as the drill used would put. same out- —viz., 127 lb. oats

and 170 lb. of manure mixture per acre, of equal parts slag, dried blood, and bonemeal.

In passing it may be remarked that I believe this is the ' first year in which potash has been omitted from the mixture used for cereals at the Marton plots; and although a little,rust is usually noticeable on varieties subject to same, this season even varieties like the Ruakura oat, which at Marton is usually practically free from rust, rusted considerably. Owing, fortunately, to habit of this variety of maturing early its period of greatest development had passed before the rust made its appearance, and consequently the yield was not affected to any considerable extent. The oats were sown on 15th September.

John Brown wheat, a variety originally imported by the Department from Australia, grown at Marton plots and from there distributed to farmers, was the variety purchased from one of the New Zealand growers and sown for the season. The seeding was 160 lb. per acre, and manure 150 lb. per acre. The manure mixture was equal parts slag, bonemeal, and dried blood. The actual weights threshed were as follows: Area C (drained, limed, green-manured, and subsoiled) yielded 39 bushels 35 lb. per acre. This sample off the mill gave, roughly, 56 lb. of first quality for every bushel of total yield. Area B (drained, limed, and green-manured) yielded 33 bushels 8 lb. per acre. This sample gave, roughly, 54 lb. of first quality per bushel of yield. Area A (drained and limed) yielded 35 bushels 36 lb. per acre, and gave about 56 lb. of firsts for every bushel of yield.

Owing, unfortunately, to a breakdown in the gearing of the drill when these plots were being sown, areas C and B had to be resown, and consequently for record purposes they cannot be compared with A, which had the advantage of being sown earlier, with the seed lying convenient to the fertilizer. Areas C and B were resown without further manure nearly a month later.

As regards the clover, according to the scheme two acre plots in each area were to be sown with this crop. It was, however, found necessary to fallow plot 11 for a time to clear it from weeds. The clover on plot 21 was also ploughed up to utilize the land for another leguminous crop. Thus practically only 1 acre of clover in each area was left for comparative purposes.

Owing to climatic conditions at the time of the first cut it was not possible to stack the produce of each plot separately, but the total weight of the first cut when pressed was found to be within a fraction of the total weight of the second cut. The interim notes taken place the relative, yields of the plots in the same order as in the second cut. It will therefore be permissible to place the weight of the first cut approximately at the same as the second cut. On this basis the yields were as follows :

Area C (drained, limed, and subsoiled), plot 23 : second cut, 42 cwt. 1 qr. 7 lb., baled by machine ; first cut, 42 cwt. 1 qr. 7 lb. (approximate) : total, 84 cwt. 2 qr. 14 lb.

Area B, plot 13 : second cut, 27 cwt. 2 qr. 2 lb., baled by machine ; first cut, 27 cwt. 2 qr. 2 lb. (approximate) : total, 55 cwt. o qr. 4 lb.

Area A, plot 3 : second cut, 26 cwt. 2 qr. 18 lb., baled by machine ; first cut, 26 cwt. 2 qr. 18 lb. (approximate) : total, 53 cwt. 1 qr. 8 lb.

The clover plots were sown on 22nd October, 1914, and were hard grazed in the autumn following when the sheep were eating.off the kale, as the kale was not fenced off from the clover plots; The grazing and treading given to the clover was consequently heavy, and it suffered severely, at one time looking as if it might not make a satisfactory recovery. The seeding was 20 lb. per acre. The manure used per acre was 84 lb. basic slag, 84 lb. superphosphate, and 42 lb. . sulphate of potash. This was a mixture which in a ' box test with Marton soil gave very satisfactory results, and for that reason was the one I selected for use.

On 14th January some observations were made on the subsoiled plot 23, and it was found in many places that a good top soil of dark colour existed to a depth of fully 11 in., and that the clay subsoil was loosened for about 2 in. below that ; also that the clover-roots had penetrated still considerably farther than that into the clay below the subsoiled area. The average depth of the,top soil on this .plot used to be about 8 in. ,

On the same date, on plot 13, which had received the same treatment as plot 23 without subsoiling, the.average depth of true top soil appeared to be about 8 in., with pure clay subsoil underneath. This had been penetrated to a moderate depth only by the clover-roots. On plot 3, also not subsoiled, the depth of the dark top soil was about 8 in. ■

It would appear, therefore, that the process of subsoiling has considerably assisted in deepening the top soil proper, and that in such a process a deep-rooting leguminous plant, such as cow-grass, is likely to accomplish far more subsoil tillage than shallow-rooting crops such as oats, barleys, &c. This evidence as to the increase in depth of true top soil on the subsoiled plot, No. 23, explains doubtless in a great measure the increased productiveness of plot 23 over the other clover plots in areas B and A, which were not subsoiled.

For the other plots in ' the rotation chon moellier was selected instead of swedes. At time of writing these have not yet been fed off, and will be reported upon later. All stubble plots in the rotation were sown in Italian rye-grass for grazing off during the' winter season.