Good Clover Is Essential

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 59, Issue 3, 15 September 1939, Page 237

Good Clover Is Essential

ALTHOUGH very few grassland, farmers when ordering seeds for sowing down pastures fail to include the best strains of grasses in the mixture, many overlook the importance of the rapid establishment of equally good clovers. While the value of a well-balanced grass and clover sward is generally recognised, it is surprising to hear the opinion freely expressed and transmitted into farm practice that as clover establishes naturally its inclusion in' the seed mixture is not necessary. Critical examination of swards in areas in both light and heavy rainfall districts . where,-'', clover establishes

naturally reveals the fact that this clover is generally of a short-lived, low-production type, and definitely inferior to a certified strain included at sowing down. While it is admitted that in some cases the local volunteer white clover is apt to reduce or definitely suppress the certified lines in the early stages of growth under certain conditions, a little extra spent in fertilisers and lime . to maintain the good type is amply worth while. Again, the cover from the volunteer type is generally slower, and this is important not only from the, point of view of weed control, but also in its relationship - to

the vigour and general value of the sward as a grazing proposition. Observations on sown fields as well as on strains trials throughout the Dominion have amply -demonstrated the fact that the better types of white clover are able to retain vigour and

produce feed under adverse weather conditions to a much greater extent than are the volunteer types, and this is of extreme importance, especially under low rainfall. .

The illustrations provide an interesting comparison of the value of a rapid establishment in an area sown with a good strain of white clover as compared with another where reliance was placed on a volunteer. From the many available comparisons in the field throughout the grassland farming districts the value of the early establishment of a good strain of white clover has been so efficiently demonstrated that it can be confidently recommended.

—A. G. ELLIOTT, Crop Experimentalist, Wellington.