SEASONAL NOTES.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 53, Issue 4, 20 October 1936, Page 240

SEASONAL NOTES.

THE FARM. Forage Cropping of General Importance. A fairly common mode of reasoning is exemplified in the following statement: During the past ten years or so Mr. X has changed from a sick to a strong man ; during that period Mr. X has consumed no milk or eggs, therefore milk and eggs are of no value in promoting strength. This serves to illustrate the fact that correct conclusions are not always drawn from correct information. Of this same fact farming provides an illustration which is of interest at present. On certain farms during the past ten years or so production has increased greatly, cost of production has decreased appreciably, and during the same period there has been a decrease in the amount of special forage cropping carried out on these farms. From these facts it has been concluded that forage cropping should not be carried out. From these facts such a conclusion is quite unjustified. There may, of course, be other facts which justify the conclusion, but the facts given certainly do not do so, although they seem to be the facts upon which some come to a decision. Just as eggs and milk may have made Mr. X still stronger, so additional special forage cropping may make certain efficient farms still more efficient. The special-forage-crop position warrants consideration largely because of the success which has attended such practices as top-dressing, silage, and systematic grazing. Recent years have been marked by increased knowledge of and better application of our increased knowledge in regard to grassland, and it is highly desirable that our efficiency in respect to grassland be not only maintained, but also improved. To recognize the value of other crops which give assistance in grass-farming is in no way inconsistent with an appreciation of the truly dominant role of pastures in our farming. Top-dressing, suitably controlled grazing, ensilage, all are of great proved value, but to obtain the greatest possible benefit from them it frequently is necessary to adopt other practices such as special forage cropping short, there are several links in the chain of factors which, acting together, tend to beget the fullest efficiency. Special Forage Crops not always Advisable. While the forage cropping of the Dominion profitably could be increased greatly, it needs to be kept in mind that it may not be advisable at times to grow special forage crops to supplement the pastures ; some farmers work under disabilities, and these disabilities may be such as to make the growing of special forage crops of doubtful value. In the main, these disabilities relate to one or more of the following matters : Soil in respect to either its texture or its surface, weed-invasion, and, occasionally, but not as often as seems generally to be believed, labour. For instance, all of a farmer’s land may be so heavy in texture and so poorly drained that he has no assurance of being able to provide a satisfactory seed-bed at the time when it is required for success. To take the other extreme, the soil may be so sandy as to be subject to the danger or erosion of “blowing ” during windy weather. Again, in a few unfortunate districts the Californian thistle may be so strongly entrenched as to make ordinary forage cropping inadvisable. And, again, some farms are so broken in surface as to be without suitable arable areas. These may be taken as typical of the main disabilities which at times rule out the economic success of arable forage crops. Fortunately these disabilities are not of such frequent occurrence as casual

consideration may seem to indicate ; for instance, adequate areas eminently suitable for special cropping are often to be found on farms consisting chiefly of either very sandy soils subject to blowing or heavy poorly drained soils. That good farmers working under disabilities relative to arable cropping realize that they are handicapped at times is rather well illustrated by the instances in which they obtain, sometimes with considerable difficulty, areas suitable for arable cropping to be used as one farming-unit in conjunction with their properties on which arable cropping is so difficult as to be impracticable. An Alternative to Arable Cropping— and Haymaking. An important matter that requires careful consideration is the possible alternative to arable cropping consisting in the conservation of enough silage and hay from permanent pastures to suffice for the needs of stock during seasons in which the feed directly available from permanent pastures is inadequate. Undoubtedly on some farms this alternative course is preferable. Indeed, one may go to the extent of saying that on some farms arable cropping, haymaking, and ensilage all may quite well be ruled out because of the particular circumstances.. . Certain aspects of a well carried out all-grass programme, including ensilage and haymaking, are of considerable practical importance. Incidentally, but a very small proportion of farmers carry out well the all-grass programme even in the districts in which it probably would be of the greatest value. This apparently is due primarily to the fact that its practically general application in any farming community is not altogether easy under the present organization of farming. On this point an examination of the position in a particular district certainly suggests that the general adoption of an all-grass programme well carried out would necessitate some substantial changes in the position relative to farm labour, assuming the present supply of labour on farms is efficiently employed in the summer under current practice.

A summary of the Auckland position may be given thus : For its dairy needs alone Auckland, under an all-grass programme, should harvest at lease 1,000,000 acres of hay and silage annually. Against this is to be set the fact that the present areas of hay and silage harvested for all the needs of Auckland annually is about 250,000 acres, and in this connection it is to be noted that, in addition to one million dairy cows, Auckland supports about three-quarters of a million other cattle and two and three-quarter millions of sheep, to both of which some special feed might be fed with advantage. That Auckland should save 1,000,000 acres annually for dairying under an all-grass programme is based on the following considerations : Customarily about 52 per cent, of the whole year’s production of permanent pasture occurs in the three months October, November, and December, whereas only about 30 per cent, of the feed-consumption in dairying takes place in the same period. Hence, to deal with the surplus feed, about half the total dairying acreage would need to be utilized for hay or silage during the same three months. The total dairying acreage is about 2,000,000 acres' — are a million cows for which provision has to be made, and it takes about 2 acres to support a cow. Possibly the utilization of labour-saving equipment and practices would to a large extent enable the area of hay and silage to be increased four-fold, but practical experience on this seems somewhat scant. Apart from any possible difficulty in respect to labour, a matter of some moment is that silage and hay of the sort usually saved is not suitable for all purposes for which special crops are of value. For instance, silage ordinarily is too fibrous to serve effectively as an alternative to soft turnips and crops of somewhat similar nutritive character for dairy cows in summer. Likewise, silage is not suitable as an alternative to roots, peas, and cereal grains for use by pigs during periods when dairy by-products

and leafy pasture-growth are in short supply. Just whether silage of a less fibrous nature should be saved more generally seems as yet not to have been established. Another matter deserving of some attention is that the adoption of the all-grass programme tends to eliminate the direct improvement of pastures by the traditional procedure of ploughing up poor swards, growing special forage crops, and eventual renewal of the pastures. The growing of special forage crops is not a necessary intermediate step between the breakingup and the renewal of pastures ; indeed, at times it may be advantageous to omit it as an intermediate step. But, in general, some judicious forage cropping between the breaking-up of poor pastures and their replacement by good ones has been for many years, and is to-day, associated with much successful farming. Against this it may be stated that in the hands of some men and in some circumstances success has not attended forage 'cropping. But similarly in the hands of some farmers and in some circumstances success has not attended phosphatic top-dressing, a fact which certainly does not disprove the general advisability of phosphatic top- . dressing. From the preceding summary of the position the question that arises naturally is “ How in practice can one distinguish between farms on which an all-grass programme is advisable and ones on which it is not advisable ? ” This question cannot be answered satisfactorily in a way which would give information always applicable on individual farms. Knowledge of the circumstances on the farm is necessary as the basis of a reliable answer relative to a specific farm. But some general guidance is provided in the following facts : ’ . i ' • In the first place, generally it will prove definitely advisable to use the plough and to grow special crops such as mangels, turnips, and cereals whenever substantial improvement of some of the pastures on the farm could be obtained by ploughing them down and eventually resowing a permanent pasture. The development during the last decade, under official seedcertification, of assured supplies of superior strains of plants important in permanent pastures has added to the number of farms on which the use of the plough is profitable as a step - towards improved swards. Before assured supplies of persistent strains of such important pastureplants as perennial rye-grass, cocksfoot, and clovers became obtainable there was always a danger of a new pasture not for long being superior to the poor one which it displaced. But this danger can now be avoided by the use of certified seed : inferior open pastures can, with practical certainty, be replaced quickly by good ones of reasonably long life by ploughing, sowing good strains of permanent plants, and suitably maintaining fertility by such measures as top-dressing. As a legacy in some measure from the time when assured supplies of persistent strains of the principal pasture-plants were not obtainable, there is still a tendency to repair pastures when ploughing should be the firsts step to their renewal. While it may be possible to repair a pasture by top-dressing, harrowing, and surface-sowing of seed, the quicker and more thorough result obtained- by renewal often makes the renewal economically preferable. It is also generally advisable to grow arable crops such as mangels, swedes, chou moellier, &c., when this can be done without any substantial direct outlay in equipment and labour. And this applies usually even to farms the pastures of which are not especially in need of renewal. In short, if cropping can be carried out without neglect of some of the necessary routine work of a farm and without necessitating the employment of much additional labour, then it is probable that cropping should be done. Expansion in Ensilage advisable. The fact that on many farms there is a strong case for expansion of special forage cropping does not justify the conclusion that ensilage already

is being carried out as much as is desirable. Actually there is wide scope for profitable expansion in ensilage, firstly by the adoption of ensilage by many of the considerable number of farmers who have not yet resorted to it, and secondly by the expansion of the area of ensilage on many farms on which it is carried out regularly. In many circumstances the most suitable farming programme is the one which gives a place to both special arable cropping and to ensilage, together with haymaking when the weather favours the making of good hay. Special Long-term Crops. The increasing attention being given to certain crops is worthy of mention. These crops under suitable conditions serve for many years as a direct supply of feed during periods when the feed directly available from pastures is scant. Lucerne for summer use and subterranean clover are outstanding examples. Such crops minimize the role of both special arable crops and ensilage, and it seems desirable that they play a much bigger part in the future than they have played so far. Main Factors governing Yield of Arable Forage Crops. One of the key factors in successful arable cropping is adequate cultivation ; the best possible returns are not obtained from judicious expenditure in other matters such as seed and manure unless such expenditure is associated with cultivation thorough enough to give throughout the growing-season of the crop a good supply of moisture and air in the soil, together with conditions, for the development of a good root system. The preparatory cultivation for forage crops is often markedly below the full possible requirements of the crop, and so a poor crop may be foretold even though liberal manuring and the use of the best seed is practised. When an arable crop follows old pasture a common and grave weakness is failure to break down the old turf enough to ensure not only free movement of soil moisture, but also free development of roots, both of which may be checked by the pockets of air often to be found below a buried turf which has not been well broken down. Skim-ploughing or disking of a turf before ploughing it down is at times of assistance in breaking it up sufficiently. Another important factor in good yields is the use of good seed. Commonly a small saving in seed is correlated with poor germination or low vigour of seed or with poor type or strain of plants. There is evidence that some of the complete or partial failures, such as poor “ strikes,” which have been attributed to unfavourable weather, pests, &c., are due essentially to poor seed. A further factor, often of importance, is liberal manuring to give enough plant-food material to ensure that the supply of such material is not an unduly limiting factor in yield. The error of under-manuring is widespread : this may be realized from the fact that, while the value of i ton of even the least nutritious of forage crops is more than sufficient to pay for i cwt. of the fertilizer commonly used with them, it is but seldom that i cwt. of manure does not give an increase in yield of considerably more than i ton an acre. The Mangel. Good treatment of the mangel is particularly advisablein the absence of a fine firm seed-bed such as is most easily obtainable by early and thorough cultivation, poor yields may readily result. Over wide areas, November sowing is suitable, and as wet or cold conditions tend to lead to loss or stunting of seedlings sowing should be deferred until warm soils may be expected. Standard practice is to sow about 6 lb. of seed an acre in rows 26 in. to 28 in. apart. Based on its tonnage an acre, Prizewinner Yellow Globe is the most popular variety, but considerable areas of other varieties of known value such as Red Intermediate, Long Red, Golden

Tankard, and Jersey Queen are grown; While manurial requirements vary considerably according to soil and climate, field experience shows that good results may be expected over wide areas 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. Kainit, which contains 14 per cent, of potash as well as a considerable amount of common salt, may be added when there is evidence that the mangel crop would benefit from potash. bn<

— R. P. Connell,

Fields Division, Palmerston North