COCKSFOOT – SEED PRODUCTION.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXV, Issue 1, 20 July 1922, Page 18

COCKSFOOT - SEED PRODUCTION.

SUCCESSFUL TRIAL OF THE DANISH SYSTEM AT ASHBURTON EXPERIMENTAL FARM.

F. E. WARD,

Instructor in Agriculture, Christchurch.

A trial in the production of cocksfoot-seed on the Danish system of intercultivated rows at the Ashbuiton Experimental Farm has given very successful results. The plot is of 2-4 acres, of medium loam with stony patches. A crop of Dun oats was taken off it in 1920, after which the stubble was ploughed and the plot given three strokes with the grubber in the spring, tine-harrowed twice, rolled twice, and sown in 24 in. rows on 20th October (1920). The seed was imported Danish seed from a commercial line. No manure was used. The stand was horse-hoed three times and hand-hoed twice between November and February, owing to the excessive growth of -hen. Seed-stems appeared in March, 1921. The plot was stocked on 20th March with 40 lambs, and on 8th April an additional 160 were put on. They were all removed two days later. The field Was then horse-hoed, harrowed, and closed, for seed. The cocksfoot stand, was infested with grass-grub, especially in the light , patches. . These ’ portions were , heavily rolled in June and came away again, maturing, somewhat later than the main crop. The '’seed was harvested on 24th December, 1921, the total yield being 713 lb. of undressed seed, or 297 lb. per acre. Double heads were very noticeable in the seed-sample, owing to the unripe condition of the grub-infested areas. . The .. sample was an exceptionally good one, with a germination of 87 per cent., and weighing 18 lb. per bushel.

On being machine-dressed the following results were obtained on the total crop : Dressed seed, 557 lb. ; glumes, 14 lb. ; glumes and chaff, 60 lb. : straw, oats, &c., 6 lb. ; double-heads, 34 lb. ; weed-

seeds and kernels, 30 lb. ; goose-grass, hair-grass, &c., 12 lb. : total, 713 lb. : loss in weight on dressing, .22 per cent. The average yield from Akaroa hill-paddock ciops is about 170 lb. per acre, with a germination of 63 per cent, and a weight of 15 lb. per bushel. A privately owned stand in the Waikari district, considered commercially to be' above the ordinary, yielded on an average for two years 261 lb. per acre, with a germination of 82 per cent, and a weight of 18 lb. per bushel. The three crops are here compared :■ —■

The trial thus indicates that the growing of cocksfoot on the Danish system compares favourably with the ordinary New method, and that it could be employed to advantage more generally' on arable land. A remarkable feature of the Ashburton Farm crop lies in the fact that it was harvested in fourteen months from the sowing of the stand. It is intended to follow up this first season’s test, and to record subsequent comparative data in greater detail.

Crop. Yield per Acre. Weight per Bushel. Germination. Remarks. ijj. lb. lb. Per Cent. Danish, sown in 24 in. , rows and intercultivated 297 18 87 . First cut; stand fourteen months old. W a i k a r i district, broadcast 261 18 82 Average of two seasons, established stand. Akaroa, natural 170 1.5 63 Average commercial seed.