SEASONAL NOTES.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 49, Issue 4, 20 October 1934, Page 240

SEASONAL NOTES.

THE FARM.

Control of Pastures in Summer.

During November and December pasture utilization should be designed to avoid as far as possible the development of flowering or coarse growth on pasture under grazing ; as grass growth becomes more mature it becomes correspondingly more fibrous, less nutritious, and less digestible. In addition, bottom sward-forming species, such as white clover, may be hampered seriously. And, further, the more pastures are allowed to become tall and stemmy the more do they fall off in respect to their output of leafy herbage during a considerable and. critical portion of the producing season — i.e., during late summer and early autumn — pastures which have not developed to the flowering-stage are characterized by a more continuous and greater production of leafy feed.

Much of the undue development of coarse summer growth of pastures would be obviated were ensilage exploited to the optimum extent. But even really judicious action relative to ensilage will not always give completely satisfactory control of the growth of pastures. Frequently, in practice, it proves impossible to assess exactly the area of grass sufficient to provide the feed required by stock. Farmers who rightly believe in good feeding prefer to have some feed to spare instead of being short of feed. A quantity of surplus feed that may arise in this way may not be sufficient to justify its being saved in the form of silage, but still it may be sufficient, if not dealt with, to lead to unsatisfactory control of the growth of the pastures. When this is so, the most satisfactory course is to check the development of coarse and stemmy parts in a field by topping of the pastures — mowing the field to remove flower-heads. Often such topping is delayed until it is far too late to obtain the maximum benefit from it. Indeed, if topping is carried out close to the approach of the dry summer period customary in many districts, and if it leaves such a short stubble that increased drying-out of the soil is fostered during, fine weather, then topping may have an undesirable result. Essentially, the purpose of topping is to remove flower-stalks and coarse growth, and it should lead to as little as possible mowing of fresh leafy growth suited for milk-production. Further, topping is to be looked upon as an emergency rather than as a routine measure—the occasion for it arises because more feed becomes available than was counted upon. From this it follows that if a substantial portion of a farm calls for topping, then judgment was astray earlier in the year in that sufficient of the grassland was not closed for hay and silage. As the feed available is governed to a considerable extent by weather conditions, which cannot be forecast, the necessity for topping may quite well arise even under highly efficient management. Normally, because of its stemmy nature, the topped growth is not of high value for milk-production. Dry stock often may be employed advantageously to remove such growth, which stock consume readily when it has become partly wilted, although they neglect it before it is mown. Even if it is impossible to provide for the consumption of the wilted, topped growth, it is sound practice in the interests of the future production of the sward to carry out topping made advisable by the nature of the growth. Topping may prove of distinct value in reducing the shading effect of tall weeds, which at times become established as the result of the breaking of the sward in the manner that is likely to occur in a wet winter or spring.

For thoroughly efficient control of the growth of pastures in summer ensilage and. topping usually have to be linked suitably with systematic grazing. That suitable systematic grazing is not. at all intricate may be gauged from the fact that the essential steps in effective grazing on many farms are the following simple ones : — 1. Rapid grazing of fields by relatively heavy stocking. Stocking at the rate of from six cows an acre upwards for periods of from one to three days has in practice given excellent results. 2. Subsequent complete “ spelling ” of the pastures to allow of recovery sufficient to give the amount of grazing already specified. According to the season of the year spells of from seven to fourteen days’ duration have given good results. Relatively hard grazing of the pastures is at no stage necessaryindeed, it is undesirable. Hence, systematic effective grazing does not call for punishing treatment of either 'the' stock or the pastures. Intensive subdivision is not needed. Splendid results are being obtained on farms on which nine to twelve paddocks are under grazing. Of practical moment is the further fact that on many farms on which the subdivision is as good or better than this the results in respect to pasture utilization are far from satisfactory. These latter farms provide instances of unexploited facilities, of outlay from which potential returns are not obtained. On such farms, which are numerous, better utilization and increased consequent revenue could be obtained without any expenditure.

Ensilage.

Probably some who should practice ensilage still hesitate to do so because of the belief that it is either unduly laborious or that it calls for special experience. While it can be made laborious, it also can be made a light task, and a main objective should be the elimination of all tedious, unnecessary effort. The work relative to ensilage can be lightened greatly by intelligent preparation, for which there is still ample time on many farms. Conveniently located ensilage pits or trenches may yet be made. It is significant that in leading grass-farming districts trenches have grown in popularity in recent years. This is because suitable locations for trenches, which are really, modified shallow pits, can be found on most farms. Experience shows that drainage is not of special moment in selecting sites for trenches, although, of course, a really badly drained site should be avoided. Trenches appeal to many because they can be made so readily and cheaply with horse labour. Further, not only do trenches, reduce the labour of handling the heavy greeh material, but they allow of its being so well compacted by trampling, &c., that the wastage is reduced to a practically negligible quantity. Detailed information about the construction of trenches is available from local officers of the Fields Division. Ensilage, far from being an intricate process, is considered by those with experience of it to be as a rule simpler and productive of much less worry than is haymaking. After very little experience it is possible to dispense with the taking of temperatures in determining the progress that it is advisable to make ; additional green material should be added to that already gathered as soon as the latter commences to sink in height because of the ensiling process. If this rule is followed, temperatures in the vicinity of ioo° F. will develop and silage of a greenish to a yellowish tint usually will result. To follow this rule when the stack system is employed, if the weather is mild and there is not excessive water associated with the green material, it is usually necessary to proceed daily with the ensilage, but if the weather is cold and the green material contains much moisture because of either the weather or the stage of its growth, then it is likely to be advisable to refrain from bringing in green material on occasional days, especially in the early stages.

In pits and trenches where the partial exclusion of air may check the rate of the ensiling process, slower gathering of the green material than is advisable in the stack system is likely to be suitable. The production of the greenish to yellowish type of silage involves less loss in nutritive value in the actual ensiling process and results in a more digestible type of forage than does the production of brown to black silage. Even when care is exercised, late harvesting of the crop is likely to beget undesirably dark silage, unless the work is speeded up relatively to the procedure which suits for green succulent material. Late ensilage is further undesirable because it leads to—

(1) Less likelihood of a substantial leafy aftermath, which is usually of especial value in midsummer : (2) Increased harm to permanent pastures due to prolongation of the shading effect of the tall growth : (3) Unduly woody silage, which, irrespective of the curing process, is associated with the poor balance in the supply of nutriment and the poor digestibility that characterize any overmature pasture growth. Early ensilage is specially advisable in the first cut of the season from a lucerne area. This is so because the first cut often contains a considerable proportion of weeds, and the longer such weeds are left unmown the more they weaken the lucerne-plants. To sum up, inefficient ensilage commonly results in the presence of one or more of the following conditions : —- (1) Working at excessively high temperatures, which results in avoidable loss in quality. This may be remedied by more speedy work. Partial wilting of the material may also lead to excessively high temperatures, though in dealing with very succulent material partial wilting may be advisable. (2) Too late cutting of the green material, which normally begets a falling-off in quality that outweighs any increase in quantity. (3) Insufficient exclusion of air, which begets wastage due to decay ; this may be remedied by more thorough packing in the pit or trench and by a more adequate covering of earth or other sealing material, which, to minimize wastage, should normally be placed in position practically as soon as all the green material has been gathered.

The Supplementary Crop Position.

At this season more and better work should be carried out in respect to such important supplementary crops as mangels, swedes, turnips, lucerne, chou moellier, and carrots. Top-dressing, ensilage, systematic' grazing, all are of great known value, but for maximum success it is frequently necessary to reinforce them by judicious forage cropping. It is often asked to what extent should the plough be used on farms on which grass is the dominant crop. Relative to this matter detailed guidance capable of general application cannot be given with any measure of safety, but as a rule arable cropping should be given a place when two commonly occurring circumstances are present.

In the first place, generally, it will prove advisable when some of the pastures on a farm could be improved economically by ploughing, growing intermediate crops, and eventually resowing to pasture. In the second place, it is generally advisable to grow arable crops such as mangels, chou moellier, &c., when this can be done without necessitating a substantial direct outlay in equipment or labour. And this will apply as a rule even to farms the pastures of which are not badly in need of improvement by means of renewal. In short, if the work involved can be done without

detrimentally affecting the routine farm work and without necessitating the employment of additional labour, then almost certainly cropping should be carried out. Many farmers err not by omitting supplementary cropping altogether, but by not doing enough to meet properly the feed requirements of the stock during periods of shortage of feed from pastures.

Factors in Successful Cropping.

Despite the fact that the value of cultivation has been stressed through the centuries from classical times, poor cultivation is probably the most potent underlying cause of unnecessarily and unprofitably low yields. Expenditure on good seed and suitable fertilizer is at times at least partially ineffective because of lack of cultivation. Preparatory cultivation, which is of prime current importance, should provide for most arable crops a layer of soil fine, firm, and mellow to the full depth disturbed by the plough. Only by beginning the preparatory cultivation in good time can this be obtained economically. To some extent potatoes are an exception, in that they are favoured by a loose condition of the soil.

The saving of a few shillings and even a few pence an acre on seed sometimes is welcomed ; almost always it really is parsimony instead of economy. Usually the small saving is associated with one or all of the following : Poor germination, low vigour, poor type or strain. Complete or partial failures of crops which it is customary to attribute to unfavourable weather or to attacks of pests have been traced to low germination or to impaired vitality, leading to puny seedlings that succumb under . adverse conditions that strong seedlings would withstand. .

It may be taken as a practical rule in cropping that high production is dependent on high fertility, and consequently that liberal manuring is frequently advisable. In general, while the overmanuring of forage crops is practically unknown, the undermanuring of them is commonplace. Probably manuring of forage crops would generally be more liberal were it more widely realized that the value of i ton of even the least nutritious of ordinary forage crops is more than the cost of i cwt. of the fertilizer commonly used with them, and the response to fertilizer is certainly abnormally meagre if it does not lead to an increase in yield in excess of i ton an acre.

Root Crops.

The mangel is especially reliable both because it can withstand a period of dry weather relatively well and because it is not subject as yet in New Zealand to any serious disease or pest. Over wide areas, as the result of suitable treatment, crops of 60 tons or more an acre are frequently grown. Good treatment for the mangel is particularly desirable, and thorough preparatory cultivation to produce a fine, firm, seed-bed is an important feature of such treatment.

As the result of yields noted in the field the variety Prizewinner Yellow Globe deserves its outstanding popularity. ' Other varieties of known value are Red Intermediate, White Sugar, and Jersey Queen. Current practice which generally gives good results is to sow about 6 lb. of seed an acre in rows 26 in. to 28 in. apart. Over wide areas November sowing is suitable. In wet, cold conditions, which tend to cause loss or stunting of seedlings, sowing should be deferred until warm conditions obtain.

Though knowledge of the manurial requirements of the mangel is imperfect, it has been established that as a rule good results may be expected from a dressing of 5 cwt. to 6 cwt. an acre of a mixture consisting of equal parts of superphosphate and blood and bone or three parts of superphosphate to two parts of blood and bone. It is significant that in farmers’ field competitions outstanding yields are so frequently linked with very rich soils— e.g., old pig-yards, &c. -

On free-working loams the field carrot, given good cultivation, is capable of heavy yields—ones of approximately 70 tons an acre have been recorded. It is usually profitable to apply 3 cwt. to 5 cwt. an acre of a fertilizer mixture consisting of two parts of superphosphate to one part of blood and bone. Varieties which have been consistently popular are Matchless White, Barriball, White Belgian, and Guerande. Guerande, which is a very suitable variety for sheep, is grown successfully, without thinning, in rows 21 in. to 26 in. apart, i| lb. of seed per acre being used. With other varieties good results are commonly obtained by hand-thinning and cultivating crops sown in drills 21 in. to 26 in. apart, but sowing in drills 14 in. apart also gives heavy yields. Sowing 1 lb. to i|lb. of seed an acre in November usually gives good results.

Lucerne.

Rapid and vigorous growth of lucerne seedlings is desirable, and isfavoured by warmth. Because of this, best results are usually obtained by sowing during the latter part of November or in early December. It isgood practice to sow through every coulter of the grain drill 12 lb. to 18 lb. an acre of Marlborough seed. Alternatively, the seed may be broadcast and covered by light harrowing. A fine firm seed-bed is required for fullest success with this valuable crop. As a rule, lime may be applied advantageously before the final cultivation preceding seed-sowing. Treatment of the seed with suitable cultures, which are obtainable at a small cost from the Department of Agriculture, is advisable. Full information about this and lucerne culture generally is contained in Bulletin No. 155, which is available for free distribution.

R. P. Connell,

Fields Division, Palmerston North.