LIMING FOR WESTLAND SOILS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXVIII, Issue 1, 21 January 1924, Page 28

LIMING FOR WESTLAND SOILS.

2. TESTS ON THE HEAVIER LANDS.

C. S. DALGLIESH,

Fields Instructor, Hokitika,

In an article published in the Journal for May, 1923, the writer gave an account of experiments carried out at Waimaunga Experimental -Farm, on lands fairly representative of the lighter soils of the South Island west coast, which clearly demonstrated the marked improvement in root crops and subsequent pasture on such soils treated with lime, as against no lime or treatment with manures only. That this applies in equal degree to the heavier soils seems to be also clearly shown by tests carried out in other parts of the district, of which the following are examples. A GREY COUNTY EXPERIMENT. A trial with lime and manures was undertaken in February, 1920, on Mr. C. Balks farm, at Rotomanu. Mr. Ball had then been in possession for eighteen months, and the cultural history of the land up to that time was not reliably known. The land is heavy silt drained swamp, and ' at the time of taking possession was lying fallow, having previously been cropped to some extent. In the spring of 1920, under ideal weather conditions, ' the land was ploughed. and given good cultivation, and sown in oats together with a grass-mixture, 2 cwt. of superphosphate per acre being used as a fertilizer. The result was . a complete failure, the oats being patchy and stunted in. growth, while the grass, after brairding quite satisfactorily, rapidly died out. An area of 1 acre was then taken in hand for experimental purposes. After being ploughed in January, 1921, and well worked up, the land was sown in a grass-mixture of perennial rye-grass, 12 lb. ; Italian rye-grass, 8 lb. ; cocksfoot, 6 lb. ; timothy, 4 lb. ; cow-grass, 3 lb. ; alsike, 2 lb. ; white clover, . 1 lb. ; and Lotus major, 1 lb. : total, 37 lb. per acre. Lime and . manures .were applied according to the following scheme : —

Plots i,. 3,. and 6 were treated with manures as follows; each manure being applied at the rate of 3 cwt. per acre (a) basic slag, (6) superphosphate, (c) blood-and-bone, (d) basic superphosphate, (e) equal parts superphosphate and basic slag, (/) equal. parts superphosphate and blood-and-bone. The reason of the failure , of the previous sowing of grass and oats was very evidently the necessity, for ’lime. in the soil. All the limed plots in the test acre made vigorous growth from the commencement, and excellent pasture was . rapidly established on them. On the control plots, and . plots ■ with. manure only, the seed germinated" but made no further headway, and . the ground , soon became. covered with lesser bog-rush {Juncus uliginous). Plot 1, which received the smallest quantity (24 cwt.) of lime per acre, in comparison with the other limed plots was backward in growth for the first twelve months, but has made steady improvement, and is now equally as good. Plot 5 (3 tons lime per acre) equals in quality the limed, plots which received . lime and manure.. This is no doubt due to the heavy dressing applied. The control plots and'plots with manure only carried little else than the small rush for the first twelve months. Yorkshire fog and Lotus major have now taken, possession. Fig. 1 is representative of the limed plots', and Fig. 2 represents the control plots and plots .with manure only. The latter shows the growth of fog, while on the limed plots better grasses and clovers are abundant. The whole test area has been : consistently grazed, except when reserved for hay in. the summers of '1921 and 1922. The pasture is now very satisfactory, and well, ahead of grasslands sown about the same time on better-class land in the district.. The, remaining portion of the field lay. fallow from the time, of the failure of the pasture and oat crop in . the spring of 1920 until the spring of 1922. It was then ploughed during early October, cultivated, and sown to pasture in December, a mixture similar to that employed in the experimental trial being used. One ton of lime per acre was applied. One acre was reserved for a trial with Nauru raw rock phosphate, and .treated as follows : .Plot 1, | acre, 3 cwt. Nauru phosphate per acre j'plot 2, J acre, 1 ton , lime and 3 cwt., of Nauru, phosphate per acre ; plot- 3, acre, | -lime and 3 cwt. Nauru phosphate per acre. Weather conditions were very unfavourable both before and after the sowing.

\j~> Plot i (Nauru phosphate only) made a very poor showing; the seed germinated, but growth was poor, stunted, and a bad colour; the grass very soon completely died out, and sorrel is now in possession. Plot 2 and plot 3 (lime and Nauru phosphate) show a decidedly good pasture, which promises well and has been kept closely grazed. No difference is apparent between these two plots, but both show an improvement on the main field, which received lime at the rate of 1 ton per acre, but no fertilizer. Clovers are showing prominently to more advantage. . TEST AT WESTPORT. At Westport, in the . spring of 1918, two grass-mixtures were sown on river-flat formation. Lime was applied at the rate of 2 tons per acre, except | chain through the centre of the area, which was left unlimed. Since the time of sowing there has been a continuous first-class pasture,. hay being harvested every season. Lime in this instance showed no appreciable improvement until the summer of 1922-23, when the hay crop gave an increase yield of 17-6 per cent, on the land limed over the unlimed land. PASTURE TOP-DRESSING TRIAL IN SOUTH WESTLAND. At Waitaha, South Westland, : a trial in top-dressing old pasture was undertaken in the spring' of 1922-23. The test area comprises a twenty-three-year-old pasture originally sown in perennial rye-grass, cocksfoot, timothy, and clovers. At the time of top-dressing timothy was most prominent, and cocksfoot lightly distributed over the area, with rye-grass and clovers in places. The land is heavy, and carries a fair quantity of rushes, which were mown previous to top-dressing. The area was divided into three plots and treated as follows : Plot 1, 1 ton lime per acre ; plot 2, 5 cwt. Nauru rock phosphate per acre ; plot 3, 5 cwt. basic slag per acre. All dressings show an improvement on the old pasture. The limed plot shows to most advantage up to the present, and has given remarkably good results for the period. Basic slag comes next, but is not so pronounced as the lime. . Nauru phosphate shows an improvement, but not so marked as the slag. Stock have always shown a preference for the limed plot. These examples of the beneficial Jeffects of lime are, as already indicated, not isolated cases, but correspond to the experiences of many Westland farmers. The quantity, of lime that requires to be applied to the soils of the district, is by no means a. fixed one it greatly depends on the nature of the land. On the lighter lands | ton per acre will give profitable returns, while on the heavier lands this quantity is not sufficient. At. Waimaunga Experimental Farm, Grey Valley, limings' ranging from 5 cwt. to 1 ton per acre are being given a trial in the current season.

Lucerne Inoculation. — When procuring inoculated soil in connection with the establishment of lucerne, care should betaken that such soil, is well impregnated with the organisms (denoted by abundance of root-nodules), and preferably from a lucerne-stand not less than four or five years old.

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