CHEAP GRASS SEEDS DO NOT PAY

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 69, Issue 2, 15 August 1944, Page 139

CHEAP GRASS SEEDS DO NOT PAY

By

A. V. ALLO,

Instructor in Agriculture, Thames.

“Why Sow Rubbish?” an article giving a brief account of experience obtained from three experimental plots in which areas sown with certified pasture seeds were laid down alongside areas sown with cheap seed, appeared in the “Journal of Agriculture” for February, 1942. These same trials were visited in June of this year, three years after they were laid down, and the results are so striking that it is felt that they would be of interest to all who contemplate sowing down pasture. '

CO much has been said and written ° about the necessity for using high-quality seeds that one would be apt to think that the lesson has by now been driven home. . Nevertheless, one can still read advertisements in the Press offering lines of cheap seed, while one still meets farmers who are using such seed when sowing down new pastures. It is thus considered that, even at the risk of repetition, a further warning against the use of cheap seed in pasture establishment is justified. . Tempting, but Uneconomic It must be admitted that to the farmer who is not too well off financially the price of 4d to 6d per pound is very tempting. Human nature is such that anything cheap is attractive and the' cheap seed merchant, in taking advantage of this weakness, has caused many farmers serious financial loss. At the same time the use of such seed has meant a serious loss of production on much of the lands sown with this class of seed. At a time when we are being asked to produce to a . maximum it is obvious that this practice would nullify much of the labour and money spent by a farmer in an endeavour to respond to the call for increased production. The farmer who is often tempted to use such seed is usually the very man who can least afford to do so. As mentioned above, a man with limited finance finds the low price . of such seed very attractive and is inclined, often against his better judgment, to risk it in the hope that he may be,', fortunate enough to obtain a decent w

sample of seed. He rarely does so, for such seed seldom, if ever, gives a really satisfactory sward, and he ends up with a poor pasture that does not produce anywhere near sufficient feed to fill his requirements. _ His returns are, therefore, lower than' they would have been had good seed been used, while in these ■ times of fertilisershortage it is well-nigh impossible to improve such a sward by topdressing and' good management. Weed Seed Present A further point to remember is that cheap seed mixtures nearly always contain a goodly proportion of weed seed. The farmer using such seed is risking introducing many new weeds into his country.

in the three trials under review, laid down in the autumn of 1941, the writer purchased a line of cheap seed on the open market from a firm which extensively advertises such seed. The analysis of this seed was as follows:

Pure GerminSeed. ation. Per cent. Per cent. Perennial ryegrass 63.6 64 Red clover .. 10.9 46 White clover •• 8.3 20 + 33% hard seed Italian ryegrass 4.5 60 Timothy .. ..2.6 90 Cocksfoot ..2.2 50 Crested dogstail .. 1.6 27 Browntop .. 1.0 57 Suckling clover ... 1.5 31 + 60% hard seed Also trace of lucerne and yarrow. Weed seeds (ribgrass, hairgrass, soft brome, and sweet vernal) .. 1.1 Straw, chaff, etc. 1.7

In his report on the seed sample the seed analyst advised that the ryegrass was of a poor temporary type and the white clover of a fair type. Trials Laid Down Each trial consisted of three plots. Plot A was sown with a standard mixture of certified seed sown at the rate of 401 b per acre; Plot B with 401 b per acre of the above cheap seed mixture, and Plot C with 201 b per acre of the same mixture as Plot A. Conditions were very good at the time the plots were laid down, and all three plots struck well in each trial. At the end of nine months Plot A had rapidly developed a dense ryegrass-

white clover sward of a really good type. Plot C, with half the seeding given to Plot A, was much thinner, demonstrating the necessity of using an adequate seeding. Plot B, the cheap seed plot, was markedly inferior to the other two. Ryegrass was weak and spindly and yellowish in colour, clovers sparse, and bare ground and weeds plentiful. Three Years Later Let us now consider the picture three years later. On every trial the certified seed plot sown at 401 b per acre (Plot A) has given a really good high-producing sward. Ryegrass, cocksfoot, and white clover are well balanced and thriving, and one would have no hesitation in pointing out this plot as an ideal dairying pasture. Plot C (half in seeding rate of certified seed) 1 also shows up well in each trial, although the sward is still rather too open for a first-class pasture. These plots demonstrate clearly the necessity for sowing sufficient seed to give an adequate covering of the ground. Alongside these plots the cheap seed plot presents in every case a dismal appearance. The sward is thin and open, with many weeds. Suckling clover is the dominant pasture species, with ryegrass and white clover almost completely absent. The contrast between cheap and certified seed is really striking. Cannot be Built Up One >of the arguments brought forward by those who advocate the use of cheap seed is that pastures sown with such seed can soon be built up with proper management and topdressing. In one of the trials discussed above the farmer has liberally manured the area each year since the trial was laid down, while his management has been particularly good. In spite of this, the cheap seed plot is still a blot on an otherwise excellent paddock. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, nor can one develop economically a productive sward unless the foundation of an adequate sowing of good quality seed is there. Remember always. that the only one who makes a profit out of cheap seed is the man who sells it. The problem during certain seasons of the year of the provision of suitable succulent green leafage for stock is competently , treated in “Cereals foi Greenfeed,” Bulletin No. 208, which is available free from offices of the Department of Agriculture. The sowing, recommended seed varieties, and utilisation of oats, maize, barley, wheat, ryecorn, millet, and sorghum are discussed in a way which cannot fail to be of interest to the farmer who places due value on green feeds.