Poaching of Land on Hauraki Plains

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 71, Issue 3, 15 September 1945, Page 253

Poaching of Land on Hauraki Plains

AT the present time, and for the next two months, the low-lying marine silts of the Hauraki Plains present a serious problem through their tendency to poach badly. This condition is brought about by certain factors. First, the natural drainage of this soil is not sufficient to permit of all winter rain to pass through it; second, the provision for removal of surplus water by surface drains is not always satisfactory; and third, the high summer carrying capacity of this land often means that it is called upon to bear heavy winter stocking when it is really too wet to stand up to such treatment. The result, then, is that the land cuts up very badly; much of the better pasture species is tramped out; rushes, pennyroyal, buttercup, arid inferior grasses establish; and a condition of progressive deterioration sets in.

C. WALKER,

By

Instructor in Agriculture, Thames.

POACHING has always presented a serious problem to farmers on this land; in lact, it has even been the cause of many farmers failing in their ventures on this country. Remedies of varying types have been tried with just as varying degrees of success. Land has been disced down in the late spring and resown; it has been heavily harrowed and left; and in other instances it has just been left in the rough state. None of these measures is fully satisfactory. Late spring is too late to expect any material success with resowing.

An alternative method of treatment, which involves rolling the land while it is wet and soft, has been tried in recent years, with marked success in most instances. For this purpose a tractor fitted with wheel extensions is used to draw a Cambridge , roller or a special concrete roller. Experience has shown that exceptional weight is quite unnecessary, and is often very detrimental in such a roller. As the object is merely to roll the land down to a smooth surface where the pasture re-unites, one should use a roller that is just sufficiently heavy to do this work. Very heavy rollers break through the turf, and often bury much of the grass, thus defeating the main purpose for which the roller is used.

This work should be carried out while the ground is soft, and as soon after the field has been grazed as one can get on it. Land dries out quite rapidly through the more even spread of surface water, but it should not be

assumed that rolling alone will overcome the problem of surface water disposal. In association with rolling there should be established a series of shallow surface drains for carrying away storm water to the main drains. These surface drains should not be deeper than say 9in. to 12in., but should be well battered back so that implements can pass over them. Such drain beds will also grass, and carry a certain amount of feed. A point of importance, where these shallow drains are provided, is that rolling should always be in a direction to pass over them and not parallel to them. By passing over them the shoulders, if any, of the drains will be rolled down so that water will pass quickly into them. Furthermore, by

rolling across the drains, they will be evenly “ironed out” by the roller. There is no time to waste. Most of the land is at present fairly wet. Much of it will be badly poached.. If it is to recover satisfactorily, it should be rolled out immediately, and then spelled for some weeks. If there are no surface channels provided, these . should be put in without delay. Both these operations will pay handsome dividends in the spring and summer. If they/are done now, the prospects of having good, level -pastures of excellent English grasses are practically assured. On the other hand, if there is any omission to perform this work on the poached country, buttercup, pennyroyal, rushes, and inferior grasses will be the legacy, which will pay the usual dividend of low butterfat returns for the approaching season. Our commitments overseas for dairy products are too great to have such rich land as the Hauraki Plains pulling only half its weight through faulty winter management. It therefore becomes a duty to all to see that winter management is improved by adopting the methods advocated. The accompanying photographs show what can happen to such land, and how poaching can be remedied; so there should be no hesitation in putting into effect these better practices.