Don’t Gamble With Your Pastures.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 58, Issue 2, 20 February 1939, Page 123

Don’t Gamble With Your Pastures.

Only Certified Strains of Grass and Clovers Will Give Good Results.

A. C. BURGESS,

Assistant Experimentalist, Ruakura.

I U U I I U I II U 111 I IU I ' - | In these days of more inten- | | sive farming methods a | | farmer cannot afford to | gamble with his pastures. | Strain trials carried out at | Ruakuraduring the past four | years have shown conclu- | sively that only if certified | seeds are sown can good | results be obtained in permanent pasture. I I "111 I I 11 I U K H I till mu U H I U I I -p

BEFORE the seed-certification scheme was inaugurated by the Department of Agriculture a few years ago farmers had no guarantee that any seed they bought would resist in a permanent pasture. The best they could do was to buy their seed from an area such as Hawke’s Bay, which had a reputation for good seed. However, pasture-seeds can now be purchased with a certificate bearing a guarantee that the seeds are harvested from truly - permanent pastures, and if these certified seeds are sown one can be sure that the pasture will last many years under reasonable management. In these days of more intensive farming methods a farmer cannot afford to gamble with his pastures. If he is sowing down an area in new pasture he must be sure that the result will be a highly productive long-lived sward and not one that will thin out and give way to weeds after the first year or two. Yet there are still farmers who, although they spare no effort to get a good seed-bed and apply liberal amounts of fertilizer with their seed, will sow uncertified seeds merely to save expense. • Saving money in using poor, uncertified seed is false economy. A pasture sown

with good certified seeds can be expected to last for ten to fifteen years, while the same pasture similarly treated but sown with uncertified seed will probably be a good pasture for only about one season, and in a few years will have to be ploughed and resown. Strain Trial at Ruakura. A trial carried out at the Ruakura Farm Training College over the past four years has - shown conclusively that for permanent pasture good results can be obtained only if certified seeds are sown.

The area was ploughed out of pasture and sown down in March, 1934, and throughout the period of the trial all plots have received exactly the same manurial treatment and management. Certified perennial strains of rye-grass were compared with good South Island strains, British commercial, and ' massselected station-bred lines. False perennial types were also included. After the first six or nine months of the trial the uncertified (South Island) and imported strains began to show much poorer recovery after grazing, and did not make such vigorous growth as the certified and station-selected lines.

These points were based on the amount and vigour of perennial rye-grass in the sward. The station-selection lines have proved slightly better than the certified mother seed. It is from lines selected and bred at the Plant Research Station that our pedigree seed is derived, and this seed is the highest quality available. Nevertheless certified mother seed and certified permanent-pasture seed can be relied upon to provide a truly permanent pasture if climatic conditions and management are suitable. It will be seen from the points given above that, at their best, - the uncertified types have been showing only fair results. New Zealand strains of cocksfoot were compared with Aberystwyth (Wales) and Danish lines. During the early period of the trial New Zealand certified Akaroa cocksfoot was superior to all imported lines. After about twelve months the cocksfoot began to be less in evidence, and was replaced by weeds. Timothy seed grown in New Zealand was compared with American-bred lines, but this species did not at any time provide much feed, and it is doubtful whether timothy, or even cocksfoot, can be considered as very valuable components of Waikato pastures under normal grazing conditions. Cocksfoot is undoubtedly a most valuable grass under certain conditions, but in high rainfall areas, where the pasture is managed to suit rye-grass and white clover, cocksfoot will not readily thrive. Clover. Certified and uncertified strains of New Zealand white clover were sown in comparison with imported Kentish and Danish seed and a ■ Plant Research Station selection. These plots have given • very interesting results. Although all strains grew well during the first season, the imported Danish strains soon began to thin out and were not nearly as vigorous

as the certified types. Imported Kentish seed continued to make quite dense growth, but it is a small-leaved type and much lower in production than the New Zealand types. As the trial progressed the most persistent and highly productive strains were the certified strains, with a station-selection line outstanding. The differences between various strains of red clover were never very marked, although a line bred at the Plant Research Station appeared slightly better than the others. It appears very doubtful whether red clover is a necessary or valuable constituent of first-class mixtures on high fertility land such as that on which the trial was carried out. Undoubtedly it holds a very important place in mixtures on poorer land, where it gives a large bulk of feed in the early life of the pasture and builds up the fertility of the soil.

Subterranean clover strains were compared, but here again, although subterranean clover plays .an important part in building up the fertility of light land and under low rainfall conditions, it cannot compete with vigorous white clover in the Waikato. Simple Mixtures. A series was sown containing as a basal mixture 25 lb. certified perennial ryegrass, 10 lb. certified Akaroa cocksfoot, and 3 lb. certified white clover. To this mixture one of the following species was added in each plot and the swards of each compared: Crested dogstail, timothy, Poa trivialis, paspalum, Italian rye-grass, Western Wolths rye-grass, Alsyke clover, broad red clover, Mont gomery red clover, Lotus major, and subterranean clover. Each of these added species has shown up to some extent, but it can safely be said that none has improved the existing rye-grass - white clover sward, with the . possible exception of paspalum which, however, was slow to establish and was not much in evidence during the first two seasons. During last summer the paspalum produced more green feed than the other plots and demonstrated the value of this grass under dry conditions. Probably the most interesting series in the trial was the one in which different strains of the rye-grass - cocksfoot - white clover base were sown. Three selected strains of rye-grass were used Akaroa and Aberystwyth cocksfoots, New Zealand No. 1, and Kentish and certified permanent pasture white clovers. The main differences have been in the growth and persistency of the rye-grass in each plot.

Type 1 rye-grass proved to be a highproducing truly permanent strain, type 3 was a poorer type of a more temporary nature, while type 5 appeared to be a purely temporary type and disappeared from the sward almost completely. A point analysis was made of the pasture on each of these plots in October, 1935, when the trial had been in progress eighteen months. On type 1 plots the average rye-grass content was 95 per cent., while on type 3 and type 5 plots it was 72 per cent, and 41 per cent, respectively. The New Zealand certified types of white clover have been more productive than the Kentish, which has also been replaced to some extent by volunteer growth. Well-balanced Mixture. A mixture was sown containing perennial rye - grass, cocksfoot, white clover, red clover, Italian rye-grass, timothy, paspalum, and crested dogstail. Varying amounts of rye-grass, white clover, red clover, cocksfoot, and Italian rye-grass were sown in turn to study the effects of different quantities of each on the establishment and subsequent growth of other species, and to determine the best quantity of each to sow. Very small quantities of rye-grass in the mixture produced a poor sward, and the plots containing 10 lb. and 15 lb. per acre of rye-grass were always noticeably poorer and thinner than those receiving more seed. Rye-grass at .25 lb. to 30 lb. per acre appears to have given as good

results as any other, and heavier seedings than this have not been of any more value. Very little difference could be seen between the varying amounts of cocksfoot sown, but not more than 8 lb. to 10 lb. per acre should be included in a mixture. No extra benefit could be detected from adding more than 2 lb. to 3 lb. of white clover to the mixture, and, provided the seed-bed is firm and suited to the establishment of white clover, 2 lb.

to 3 lb. will be sufficient to form a good cover of clover and a dense sward in association with, rye-grass. Red clover provided but little feed in the pasture, and differences between plots receiving varying amounts of seed were very small. Varying rates of Italian rye-grass showed that, although it provides early feed in the first season, too large a quantity of this species is liable to cause the resulting pasture to be thin and open. Where it is used, io lb. per acre should be quite sufficient, and again it is probably not advisable to include it in Waikato permanent pasture mixtures. Conclusion. From the results of this trial certain points are important. (1) In the rye-grass and white-clover strains the New Zealand certified types have produced more feed and lasted longer in the pasture than the uncertified and imported types. (2) Cocksfoot, red clover, timothy, subterranean clover, crested dogstail, Poa trivialis, Lotus major, paspalum, and Italian rye-grass have all been included in mixtures, but they have not really contributed much to the sward. Under dairying conditions cocksfoot and red clover may be quite valuable components of the mixture, especially where grazing is not too severe, but under sheep grazing or close and continuous grazing with cattle even these species will not thrive. (3) For a good rye-grass - white-clover pasture not less than 20 lb. to 25 lb. of rye-grass per acre should be sown. ■> <•

Points. Italian rye-grass x .. o Western Wolths rye-grass 0 Certified perennial rye-grass (mother seed) 7 Bad false perennial i South Island perennial .. .. 3i-4 Certified perennial (first harvest) .. 6-61 South Island perennial .. . • .. 4 Bad false perennial .. .. . IIStation selection perennial 8 Irish perennial 3 Certified perennial (mother seed) .. 8 Station selection .... IO

Points Table. The following table shows the average number of points given to each plot at each inspection (maximum 10) :-