Control of Facial Eczema by Farm Management.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 58, Issue 2, 20 February 1939, Page 100

Control of Facial Eczema by Farm Management.

Features of Closed-fields Plan at Ruakura Farm of Instruction.

P. W. SMALLFIELD,

, Fields Superintendent, Hamilton.

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IN early December the Facial Eczema Management Committee published advice on pasture-management for the control of facial eczema in sheep and cattle.. The suggested management plan was to provide mature feed for the maintenance of sheep and cattle should a dangerous flush of grass occur in the late summer or autumn. The committee advised that sheep-farmers in particular should close up from a quarter to a third of their farms in December, and that the areas to be closed should consist of at least four fields, so that the fields could be closed and utilized in rotation.- ' Fields closed on this plan at the Ruakura Farm of Instruction now show certain interesting features, and the management methods adopted at Ruakura to preserve this mature feed will prove of interest to farmers.

Closing the Fields. The fields closed at Ruakura are situated on the Hamilton clay loam soil on the undulating land of the Waikato, and consist of pastures in which .perennial rye-grass and white and subterranean

clovers are dominant. . Other grasses present are cocksfoot, fog, Poa annua, goose-grass, and sweet vernal. Field i was closed on the 9th December, field 2 on the 16th December, field 3 on the 23rd December, and field 4 on the 30th December. Before being closed the fields were evenly grazed off with sheep and cattle, and by the nth January excellent feed was available in fields 1 and 2. Field 1 (Fig. 1) showed a dense bottom growth 7 in. to 8 in. high of clover and grass surmounted by a light growth of seed-stalk. Field 2 (Fig. .2) had a 3 in. to 4 in. growth of clover and grass, and also showed , a good deal of seed-head. Field 3 .(Fig. 3) was just freshening, with a 2 in. to 3 in. growth, and field 4 (Fig. 4) had made practically no growth since closing.

To maintain a .fresh, even growth on fields 1 and 2 and to preserve the feed for later utilization the fields .were topped with the mower on the 12th January (Figs. 5 and 6). The mower-knife was set high to cut the seed-stalks just above the dense clover bottom,, and as the seed-stalk, growth was light the clippings were left in the field. With periodical topping it is expected that i the saved grass “ will be maintained to an even, fresh growth until required for grazing.

Management of Mature Grass. The high topping of fields of mature grass which is being done at Ruakura is a practice that could be generally applied by. sheep-farmers. In the recommendations issued by the Facial Eczema Management Committee it was suggested that if good growing weather were experienced after December early closed fields might become rank and require grazing off with cattle and then shutting up again. As the growth on fields shut up in late December has not been good, the grass

saved in the earlier closed fields should be maintained by high topping and no fields grazed off completely by cattle until a satisfactory reserve growth has been secured on the later closed fields. Grazing off will be warranted only if exceptionally good growing weather is experienced ; otherwise the field should be held and maintained in a satisfactory state of high topping. A heavy growth of seed-stalk may require raking off the field if it is likely to smother the bottom growth.

Eradication of Goat’s Rue.

“ Dairyman ” (Levin) : Will you please give me what information you can about goat’s rue and its eradication on a small place well grassed and with river alluvial formation f Fields Division : Where pastures are infested with old plants of goat’s rue the best method of dealing with it is to scythe or cut with the mower. Old plants which have grown to the stage of having hollow stems generally die on being cut.

With young seedling plants the best and quickest treatment is to spray with a 2-per-cent. solution of arsenic pentoxide —that is, 2 lb. of arsenic pentoxide dissolved in io gallons of water. The solution should be applied through a very fine nozzle to the plants when they are up to 6 in. high, when little more than a whiff of the spray is sufficient to kill them. Spraying with a 3-per-cent. or 4-per-cent. solution is required for older plants,

but the treatment is not , altogether economical, mowing being cheaper. Where seedlings tend to come in, it will be found that the sward is open in the early autumn, and top-dressing to bring in an early growth of clover will do much to prevent invasion of the pastures. Grubbing of odd old plants and hand-pulling of scattered seedlings is effective when the goat’s rue is not thick or in dense clumps. •? <■ ■S 3