THE GRASSLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXVI, Issue 6, 20 June 1923, Page 334

THE GRASSLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND.

■PRINCIPLES OF PASTURE-ESTABLISHMENT.

( Concluded.)

E. BRUCE LEVY,

Biological Laboratory, Wellington.

QUALITY OF SEED AND METHOD OF SOWING.

With regard to agricultural seeds there should be only one quality sown —-namely, the best. It may be laid down as an axiom that “ cheap ” poor, seed is always expensive. Many samples of reputedly cheap seeds have been analysed at the seed-testing station of this Department, and never in one instance could the individual living seeds of. the sample be called cheap. In connection with the accompanying photograph of 5 grams of a typical “ cheap ” mixture (Fig. m), it was worked out ' that the real value of this mixture was approximately qjd. per pound, and unless a farmer could buy such a mixture for considerably less than qfd. he could not in any way congratulate himself on his deal. It is true he will not get a pound of a good mixture for 4|d., but he will get more living desirable plants in q|d. . worth of a good viable clean line of seed, and it is the living desirable plants that the farmer requires and which he pays to get. The price asked for this mixture was in the neighbourhood of 6|d. per pound, which makes it quite an' expensive seed as far as the viable seeds in it are concerned.* There may, of course, be times when the farmer can'strike a bargain in buying seeds, but the selection of cheap mixtures demands great judgment on the part of . the buyer to ensure that the bargain is riot on the side of the vendor.

It is admitted that there are certain types of country which demand cheapness of sowing. A cheap sowing, however, does not imply that the seed used should be a cheap, low-grade seed of any particular variety, but that the amount of money spent per acre must. be low. ' Just how to ensure this cheapness and also secure satisfactory results ' is a problem, with our present knowledge, difficult of. solution. It is an extremely . unfortunate thing for farmers located on poor rough country that the seeds of plants. fitted for such country are expensive, owing no doubt to the cost and difficulty of harvesting them. Cheapness per ' acre of seeding can be secured (1) by limiting the amount sown putting in a certain amount of the desirable elements, and then, by spelling, allowing a certain amount of reseeding; (2) by sowing seeds of inexpensive varieties but unfortunately rye-grass, Yorkshire fog, and. suckling-clover are about the only inexpensive ones that could be used, and rye-grass is of no ■ use as a permanent element on such country j (3) by using “ cheap ” mixtures, dressings, seconds, &c., which are usually sold

at so-much per pound. The mixture shown in the photograph is of this class, and farmers undoubtedly will be wise to leave such lines' alone. At certain times rye-grass and cocksfoot seconds may be bought fairly satisfactorily, but these so-called cheap mixtures as a whole represent, little better than seed-cleanings to which a small quantity of . good-coloured ' seed —generally of Italian rye-grasshas been added for the purpose of giving the sample a good general appearance.. There is a fourth alternativenamely, for the farmer, to grow his own seed. This last method scarcely comes within the scope of the present article, but there is no doubt that where a farmer has difficult country to grass the growing on some cultivated portion of his farm of small areas of those crops the seed of which he requires is well worth considering. Very rough threshing methods could be adopted, and often, too, the straw could be strewn about the burn. Expensive seeds like brown-top, Lotus major, yarrow, subterranean clover, &c., might well be secured in this manner.

. In the buying of agricultural seeds in general there are three main considerations: (r) Germination of the seed; (2) purity of the seed ; and (3) its place of origin. .

GERMINATION.

Germination, or the capacity of the seed to grow, is the prime consideration in the buying of all seeds. High germination means high vitality : high vitality means success in the competition that will follow in the pasture. No amount of cultivation of the land and no amount of manure applied can make a dead seed grow. The farmer, at present, has no actual guarantee that the seed he buys will grow, but that the seed-merchants of New Zealand can be relied on very largely in this prime matter of germination is reflected in the statistics of our seed-testing station, where out of ten thousand samples tested last year only eighty samples were sent in by farmers. The farmer can always have resource to the official seed-testing free of charge, both for germination and purity, but so far as his ordinary seed-buying is concerned he is advised rather to demand from his merchant seed bearing a high germination percentage shown by the official test.. “ Government-tested ” seeds are often displayed by vendors, but it does not suffice to buy merely on the strength of 'this label, for the test may show the seed to be of high or of low germination. The seed should have a high germination as shown by the official test. : The foregoing course is recommended because the farmer, as a rule, does not buy his seed until he is practically ready to sow, and it would take fully a week to secure a germination test even with the quicker-germinating seeds.. Further, if the test proved the seed of low germination the line would have to be returned to the vendor and a fresh stock secured, meaning another week’s delay. The farmer, of course, could get samples preparatory to buying, but then he has no guarantee that the seed ultimately delivered would be of* the same line as that from which the 1 sample was originally drawn.

Practically all seed-merchants at the present day know the germination of the seed they have in stock, and while they may charge a little more for their high-germinating lines, yet these are undoubtedly the best ones to buy. High germination means great vitality ;

high-vitality seeds come through the ground often several days before low-vitality ones, and the weakening influence of unfavourable conditions on the establishment of the former is not nearly so marked as it is on the lower-vitality seeds.* • .

It must be remembered that all seeds deteriorate in vitality on being stored. Some species are more susceptible to deterioration than others. Chewings fescue may lose its vitality in two years after harvesting, and this is a very important point to be considered in the buying of that seed ; current season’s seed should always be demanded. Meadow-fescue, in common with Chewings fescue, is also a ’ shortlived seed, and frequently seed arrives in New Zealand from America with a very low germination. Meadow-foxtail and Boa trivialis, two expensive seeds, demand attention in the buying, as there is at times low-germinating seed on the market. In purchasing paspalum,» also, the safest plan when buying without a knowledge of the germination is to stipulate. Australian-grown seed, for the New-Zealand-grown seed is often extremely low, and may, in fact, germinate nil or only as little as 3 or 4 per cent. Many failures to secure a strike of paspalurn are due to sowing this locally grown seed.

As far as the other pasture seeds are concerned, with reasonable care in buying only high-grade seed there should be little danger of failure through poor germination.f

PURITY OF SEEDS.

As far as the purity of the seeds is concerned there is no doubt that the. general well-machine-dressed lines of merchants are ■ quite satisfactory for sowing. There are, however, one or two noteworthy exceptions. Southern crested dogstail and imported alsike are likely to contain Californian thistle (Fig. 112). Auckland-grown Lotus major is likely to contain dodder and Lotus hispidus. This latter may have been purposely added as an adulterant, but frequently the, crops harvested are very mixed. Brown-top may contain red-top, the seed of which is almost identical and distinguishable only with, quite a high magnification of the microscope.

Owing to the resemblance of certain kinds of seeds to one another the practice of adulteration is not unknown, and while in certain cases substitution of one . seed for another may occur accidentally, one finds that in the case of mixed seeds resembling one another the mixture is usually sold at the figure of the higher-priced seed, indicating that there might have been something of method in the mixing. . It must be said, however, for the seed-merchants of New Zealand that wilful adulteration is now seldom practised, and having regard to the fact that ■it is so easy of accomplishment this certainly is to their credit. It still remains a fact, however, that all merchants are not so scrupulous as one might wish regarding the sale of seeds. As this article is written a sample of white clover offered to a farmer by a North Island merchant has been received into the Laboratory here from the farmer, concerned, and it .contains 60 per cent, of suckling-clover. The price

asked for the line is 2s. per pound., and in view of the fact that sucklingclover may be bought for 6d. per pound the line is extremely expensive: The real value of this line is is. 2|d. per pound, whereas the merchant was charging only 3d. per pound less than the present ruling market rate for white clover. The following seeds may be readily adulterated in the manner indicated, and' care should be exercised in buying them : White clover with suckling-clover, clustered • clover, or haresfoot trefoil; Lotus major with Lotus hispidus ; Poa trivialis with Poa pratensis ; brown-top with American red-top ; Western Wolths rye-grass with

Italian rye-grass; meadow-fescue with perennial rye-grass; lucerne with English trefoil. All these adulterations, with the exception of Western Wolths and Italian rye-grass, can be detected by the seed expert, and there is. no doubt that our seed-testing station, with its ready diagnostic methods, has played a very important part in reducing wilful adulteration. It would appear, however, from numerous analyses made in the laboratory that just so long as the farmer is prepared to use only well-machine-dressed seeds and to pay the ruling market rate the question of the . purity of seeds need scarcely cause him any worry ; but just so soon as he strives to strike a bargain, then should his. movements be very cautious.

% In undressed seeds there is likely to be a whole host of impurities. Danish cocksfoot as it lands in New Zealand is frequently infested with ox-eye daisy imported timothy and alsike may contain Californian thistle ; while imported red arid white clover frequently contain dodder.

This recommendation to sow only machine-dressed seed may seem unsound to many farmers on old arable land, where undoubtedly the weed-seed content of the soil is often enormous — much so that a few more added by way of the grass-seed mixture seems to be insignificant. In the Journal for January last, page 20, the writer records that in one single strike over fifteen million weed-seeds germinated per acre, representing a seeding of about 100 lb. The really great danger of sowing, impure ' seeds, however, lies in the fact that new extremely troublesome weeds may be introduced. Here, again, the merchant often gets blamed for supplying clients with impure seeds, when the root of the trouble lies in the seed or plants already in the farmer’s field. A very common complaint in many districts is the rapid appearance of Californian thistle in fields that have been ploughed out of grass and then resown. The merchant almost invariably gets blamed for the thistles, whereas realty in 99 cases out of 100 they are young, shoots from old worn-out plants regenerated by the cultivation.

From another aspect, however, the machine-dressed seeds are the ones to use, for, apart from any misgivings one who takes a pride in his farming might have in knowingly applying weed-seeds to the land, there is that one important attribute usually associated with machinedressed seeds — namely, their -capacity to grow. With machinedressed seed one is more certain of getting seeds that will grow than when buying undressed seeds. Nevertheless because seed is machinedressed it does not necessarily mean that it is of high germination. PLACE OF ORIGIN AND STRAIN OR TRUENESS TO TYPE. As far as our grasslands are concerned there has been virtually no selection work on the ordinary pasture plants, so that no definite strains have been worked up into marketable products. There is, however, a general consensus of opinion that the nationality or place of origin of our pasture seeds is very important, although not many definite tests made in New Zealand are available. A short consideration of some of the leading plants may serve to demonstrate this factor.

Perennial Rye-grass. — In those districts where perennial rye-grass remains permanent in the ' pasture over a long period the seed from crops grown there is looked upon as being superior to that grown in districts where, owing to the unsuitable soil conditions, rye-grass does not last for more than two or three years. Hawke’s Bay and Sandon rye-grass, for instance, commands a price much in excess of that commanded by Canterbury or Southern rye-grass. x In a price-list before me Hawke’s Bay rye-grass is quoted at 7|d., Sandon 6Jd., Southern 4|d., and Canterbury qfd. per pound respectively. Whether or not the' persistence of the Hawke’s Bay and the Sandon rye-grass is due to some inherent quality of these strains, or whether the soil' conditions alone are responsible, it is extremely difficult to say. If the plants of those soils have some inherent quality by which they. can persist,

then these strains are undoubtedly worth the extra money ; but if soil conditions alone govern their persistence, then the Canterbury. or Southern seed is a far better proposition at the price, provided always that the germination capacity of each is more or less the. same. For all short-rotation pastures Canterbury or Southern rye-grass at the above prices should undoubtedly be used, but there are certain indications that for truly permanent pastures Sandon or Hawke's Bay rye-grass is, preferable, although we have very little definite experimental work to support this recommendation.

In England the indigenous (Native) forms of perennial, rye-grass are looked upon as being superior to any of the other nationalities. This indigenous form is a close dense one which bears, proportionately to seed-heads, a great number of barren shoots shoots that do .not run up to form seed-heads. Practically all the other forms are not dense and tufted, and nearly all their shoots run up into seed-heads. Thus with these is produced a mass of seed-heads and virtually no “ bottom.” Whether or not the Hawke's Bay and Sandon rye-grass is after the style of the indigenous forms of England only research work can prove, but undoubtedly, such is the type we require in New Zealand for our truly permanent pastures.

Cocksfoot. — There are' four more or less distinct strains of cocksfoot available to -the New Zealand farmer — Akaroa, Canterbury Plains, North Island, and Danish. The Akaroa. cocksfoot is of old repute, and undoubtedly it is a good strain, but of later years the seed has been comparatively light,, and the germination is often low for cocksfoot. The small seed, however,.. seems to be a definite character, of this strain, for Stapleton* records from his harvest of cocksfoot . grown from Akaroa seed that a thousand seeds of this strain weighed 0-95 grains, as against 1-30 grains for a thousand seeds from a crop of Danish origin. Stapleton’s experiments on our Akaroa cocksfoot are extremely interesting and important. Akaroa cocksfoot agrees in nearly all details with the indigenous cocksfoot of England, which the English farmer looks upon as the best cocksfoot he can procure. Akaroa cocksfoot is like it in two essential respectsfirstly in its dense bottom growth, and secondly in its resistance to frost injury. Danish cocksfoot in Stapleton’s. trials was more open in the bottom and was extremely subject to frost injury. This is extremely important to farmers in the South Island or in districts subject to heavy frosts. Danish cocksfoot, in view of its big seed, its usually high germination, and its comparative cheapness, is very tempting to use. With regard to the other cocksfoot .strains in New Zealand the writer has no information to offer, except that when buying Canterbury Plains seed the purchaser should see that the proportion of perennial rye-grass in it is not unduly high.

Crested Dogstail.—-There are two 'main districts in New Zealand producing crested dogstail—southern Otago and Southland, and Sandon. To any farmer who is afraid of introducing Californian thistle, on to his place the use of Sandon seed is strongly recommended. The respective merits of the two strains have not been worked out.

■ Paspalum.— Having regard to the poor germination of the New-Zealand-grown paspalum, Australian seed should be used, unless the farmer is buying on a knowledge of the germination of the line. There is no doubt that good seed could be produced in New Zealand, but the methods of harvesting would have to be considerably modified. This low germination of the • New Zealand seed is particularly disappointing, for it would appear that in almost all seeds there arises a certain strain of what may be looked upon as acclimatized plants, and the seed from these should be better fitted for conditions in that district or. country. It would therefore seem reasonable to expect that in the course of time certain strains ■ of • paspalum could be produced in New Zealand by acclimatization that were much more resistant to frost injury. The introduction and sowing of Australian seed is certainly unsound from this point of view, but until better harvesting methods are adopted in the North the sowing of the bettergerminating Australian seed must be recommended.

White Clover.—- With regard to the seed of white clover, undoubtedly none other than the New-Zealand-grown seed should be used. The superiority of the New Zealand seed over the commercial imported is beyond question, particularly from a duration-of-life point of view. The imported white will produce well for the first year or so, and then it will go. out. Plots laid down by ,the writer at the Central Development Farm, Weraroa, were sown with imported white clover, and within two years there was not a single plant left, whereas in the same area where only pure grass sowings were made white clover from seed already in the soil established itself and spread out over the plots, and lasted well until the plots were dug up several years later.. Most of the white-clover seed harvested in New Zealand is either from old pastures or , from land, like the wheat-stubbles of Canterbury, where the clover comes in naturally after the wheat crop has been harvested. Trials in Wales by Stapleton (Z.c.) go to show that our New Zealand white clover is in very many important respects similar to the wild white clover of England, but at the time of writing they ’ had not been going sufficiently long to prove the lasting-qualities of our seed compared with wild white. • • . •

Red Clover or Cow-grass.— -There can be little doubt that so far as the New Zealand trade is concerned the seed of cow-grass and of red clover are one and the same. A large-seeded line is almost invariably well polished and sold as cow-grass, for which 2d. per pound more is charged. The smaller seed is usually not polished, and is sold as red clover. In every case it is probably. best to buy the . cow-grass even although the price is a little more, for a big robust seed , of its kind nearly always indicates that a vigorous seedling will arise from it. The New-Zealand-grown seed is undoubtedly of very fine quality, and according to Stapleton’s trials in Wales (£.c.) comes into the group known as the cow-grass or Broad Red type. From the point of view of persistence, however, these trials go to show that certain English strains, such as . the English Late 'Flowering and -Montgomery Red, are superior to our strain. In Denmark, also, our red-clover seed is not looked upon as being particularly hardy. There is no doubt that New Zealand can . grow wonderfully fine red-clover seed, and it certainly does look as if our strain is capable of improvement for

persistence and hardiness. With respect to all our pasture plants, however, the call for the plant-breeder is insistent, and unquestionably there is scope in our grasslands for an immense amount of selection work. Strains of seeds, also, from all over the world should be tried out and the best perpetuated by an efficient mother-seed-growing establishment. The plant-breeder alone is of comparatively little use ; theie must also be some seed-growing organization to carry the strain on from the nursery stage.

PREPARATION OF THE SEED-BED AND METHOD OF APPLYING THE SEED TO THE LAND.

It may be claimed almost without exception that our pasture plants prefer a well-consolidated seed-bed for their - establishment, and as a rule they do not require to be deeply buried, particularly the clovers. Il may be put down as a fairly general rule that the optimum depth for most seeds varies according to size, and as a rule the seeds should be buried some two and a half times their longest axis, neglecting the external appendages such as the husks and glumes of grasses and cereals. In the case of rye-grass and cocksfoot, &c., this would give a depth of between fin. and Jin., and with oats, prairiegrass, &c., i in. to if in.; while with ,the finer grasses like crested dogstail and timothy approximately in. would suffice. In the case of the clovers, white clover and seeds of a similar size would be buried | in. to & in. deep, while red clover, lucerne, &c., would vary from in. to fin. A good deal, however, depends on the soil. In heavy soil the depths specified should not be much exceeded, but on lighter sandy or loamy soils a greater depth can be approached with advantage.' In a mixed sowing it is only possible to regulate the depth to suit in an average way the whole mixture, but the necessity of not burying the seed too deeply must here be stressed. In spring sowings on light land likely to dry out in the early summer fairly deep sowings should be made ; up to | in. or even J in. is not too deep. The land should be well worked and a good tilth prepared, but this must be consolidated by the roller before the seed is applied.

There are several methods of applying the seed. The old-fashioned broadcasting by hand is still in vogue, and is about the only successful method for the sowing of bush-burns and the like. Undoubtedly the most efficient broadcasters on ploughable country are the specially constructed grass-seed distributors or' the drill, the spouts having been removed . and the seed dropping from the box on to the land. Special grass-seed boxes are attached to the better and more modern makes of drills. Whether the seed is broadcasted by hand or sown by the drill or distributor it should fall on a Cambridge-rolled surface, or else the roller should follow the drill. - Often the seed sown is simply rolled in, but the hard-rolled bare surface is not good from a moisture-conservation point of view, and undoubtedly this surface should be roughened by the use of the chain harrow. If the seed is sown on a Cambridge-rolled surface the chain harrow should be used to cover, and is usually quite sufficient. The tine harrow is frequently used to cover the seed, but there can be little doubt that the tine harrow does bury a large proportion of the seeds too deeply.

On light land seed is usually drilled.through the coulters, as by this means a greater cover can be secured for the seed. . The disadvantage of this method, however, lies in the fact that the seeds are all crowded together in rows 7 in. apart, and very frequently the plants never meet between the drills ; consequently a great deal of bare ground is frequently present in fields sown down in this way. This difficulty can be largely got over by drilling half the seed one way, and then drilling the other half of the . seed across the first drills. By this means a very much better distribution of the seed is effected without any corresponding defect in the cover secured for the seed. The sowing, however, takes twice as long.

In the sowing of small seeds it is a frequent practice to mix the seed with the manure, and drill through the coulters or broadcast from the box. This practice is quite good provided the mixture of seed and manure is sown the same day they are mixed. If seed is mixed with manure, particularly superphosphate, some days before sowing the germination is very likely to be seriously damaged.

CONCLUSION.

>, In concluding this series of articles on pasture-establishment in New Zealand the writer feels that he has but touched on the fringe of the subject. More and more research work is needed before we can learn just exactly how our soils may be made to produce that wealth of grassland which is actually the chief support of this country. The writer will be content if the series has given the farmer some guidance for thought, for it is only by reflection and inquiry that the why . and wherefore of things is made plain. Moreover, the. reader should not be content to accept all that has been here written as incontrovertible fact, but should himself delve and probe into a subject which is of such prime utility and interest.

PROTECTION OF MARKS FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

A provision which should assist producers in the protection of marks used by them on wool-bales and produce generally is embodied in the Patents, Designs, and Trade-marks Act, 1921-22. Formerly, many such marks actually in use were, debarred from registration as not containing the constituents of a trade-mark within the meaning of the Act. In the 1921-22 Act, however, the Register of Trade-marks is divided into two sections : Part A consists of fully protected marks which comply with all the requirements of the Act as before, while Part B is open for entry of any trade-mark which for two years has been in bona fide use in New Zealand in connection with any goods for the purpose of indicating that they are the goods of the proprietor of the mark by virtue of manufacture, selection, certification, dealing with, or offering for sale. While not affording the full protection granted under Part A, registration of a trade-mark under Part B is prima facie evidence of the proprietor’s right to the exclusive use of such mark, and any person charged with infringement must, satisfy the Court that there was no intention to deceive or to lead to the belief that the goods marked were those of the owner of the trade-mark. Registration may be effected at the Patent Office, Wellington, or at any local Patent Office.

* The same mixture is shown semi-diagrammatically, in greater detail, on page 166 of the Journal for September, 1918.

* See photograph of turnip-seed on page 96 of Journal for August, 1918. . ■ f For germination of agricultural seeds in 1921. and 1922, see tabulation by Nelson R. Foy in Journal for April, 1923, page 250.

* Preliminary -Investigations with Herbage-plants, Welsh Plant-breeding Station, University College of Wales, Aberystywth, Series H No. 1, 1922.