SEASONAL NOTES

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 71, Issue 3, 15 September 1945, Page 299

SEASONAL NOTES

Silage

WITH the advent of spring every W opportunity should be taken to conserve as silage or hay any surplus pasture growth. The carrying capacity of any farm is governed .by winter carrying, and the foundation of high production of dairy products, meat, and wool is largely based on the provision that can be made over this period. Hay is a general requirement for supplementing low pasture production and for balancing rations of such fodders as roots and greenfeed cereals. However, silage has become a feature of intensive grassland management on many North Island dairy farms, as is indicated by the fact that of 53,000 acres of pasture ensiled in the Dominion in 1943-44, 96 per cent, was in the North Island. The making of hay and silage is essentially associated with pasture management, efficiency in control of spring growth of pasture, and also in levelling out pasture production 'to coincide more closely with the requirements of stock. Saving the earlier * surplus growth of pastures as silage avoids what may .become an embarrassing and wasteful sur- ' feit as the season advances, because in a humid climate, under damp soil conditions; with weather often unsettled, early haymaking may be a very risky proposition. On the dairy farm ensiling is easily carried ■ out between morning and afternoon milking periods as part of the farm routine. Extra, labour is not generally required, except on oneman farms, while the work. is not laborious if modern methods are used and suitable equipment is available. Ensiling should be commenced shortly with ■ growth from earliestclosed pastures, and work should be carried on steadily in order not only to conserve available material correctly and before it becomes too mature, but also as a measure . of pasture control and to - promote a strong aftermath growth for summer grazing. If pasture is allowed to become rank over summer, the sward tends to open up and growth later in the season is greatly reduced. Time to Cut The time for cutting pasture for silage is during that period when the majority of grasses are coming into flower. After flowering decline in quality is rapid. Because pastures are frequently cut at too late a stage of

maturity, the resultant silage is often not of sufficiently good quality as a producing fodder and cannot maintain milk production in late summer, being more suited for winter maintenance. The first cut of lucerne, which is usually weedy, is very suitable for converting into silage, along with surplus pasture growth. The first cut with established stands is usually ready during November, when the young shoots of the next growth appear on the lucerne crowns. Oats sown when cultivating old lucerne stands in the autumn improve the silage by balancing the high protein content of the lucerne. Ensiling Process Curing of the material will depend on the type of herbage utilised, maturity at cutting, the amount of wilting allowed after cutting, , satisfactory building with regard to even consolidation and regular additions of material, with finally sufficient earth for weighting and sealing. The aim is to produce fruity green-yellow silage with a minimum change- from the original material. However, fermentation and subsequent rises in temperature must occur, and are dependent on , the presence of air remaining with the material.' Added pressure excludes air in the bottom layers of material and lowers the

temperature. Silage will be sour unless the temperature is allowed to rise first in the bottom layer, before controlling the temperature by the additional weight of fresh material. After building the first layer to a height of about Bft., about 24 hours should be allowed with normal herbage for a suitable temperature to be reached. Subsequently building should be continued daily with an equal or greater amount of material to completion, .an average stack taking about four days to build. Consideration should be given to the moisture content of the material, a wise policy being to avoid building the bottom layer with very succulent herbage, at least without wilting, as the rise in temperature will be retarded and soluble nutrients oozing out of the silage will be lost. If possible more mature herbage should be used for the bottom layer. It should be borne in mind in building later layers that mature herbage, packs less tightly than young growth. Having more air but less moisture, such material will readily overheat, with formation of dark brown or sweet silage of inferior feeding value and palatability, unless building is rapid. Daily building tends to maintain chemical change of soluble carbohydrate at tne lactic acid stage without further breaking down. Molasses at about 1 to 2 gallons per ton mixed with an equal volume of water aids lactic acid formation, and may be used to advantage. Storage Silage is made in trenches, pits, silos, and' stacks. Convenience for

building and feeding out may determine the method adopted, but silage should not be made too close to the homestead or dairy. In undulating country trenches may be cut through ridges, or long shallow trenches scooped out on level ground, if drainage is satisfactory. Trenches may be made Bft. deep in the middle, by Bft. to 10ft. wide, allowing a batter of 1 in 8 for the walls, while the earth displaced may be used to build up the sides and for covering. Green material may be swept into the trench and dropped where required by driving over the material. Tumbler sweeps or a hay loader and truck cut down labour. Pits in hillsides or rises allow for easy filling from the top and later handling of the silage from a lower level. In many cases the round stack

may be the most convenient way of conserving the material, using sweeps and an elevating mast with boom and grab. If the watertable is sufficiently low, it is very convenient first to remove the soil down to about 3ft. for the site of the stack. This has several advantages and reduces waste. The stack is easier to build, being lower, cannot spread during building, and is more stable. The earth removed is convenient for placing on top of the stack and for filling manure bags required round the edge to keep the covering soil in place. In building the stack the sides should be kept firm and the centre level, but extra material must be added round the sides before covering. The earth should be put on immediately all material has been stacked.

U tilisation

Silage may be used after a month following ensiling when the temperature is normal, but, on the other hand, it will keep for several years without deterioration if properly made and sealed from the air. Up to 801 b. per day may be used by the dairy cow. Silage should be fed preferably after milking. As a winter supplement to ewes 2 to 31b. may be sufficient with grass, but a full ration is double this quantity and should be supplemented with hay or chaff.

Maize

THE target for this season’s maize crop for grain is 12,000 acres. Planting should take place from midOctober to mid-November, as the ground is warm and danger from frost is usually over by this time. As a long growing season is required, late sowings of high-yielding late varieties usually result in reduced yields - and pinched grain. Maize is a sub-tropical plant, thriving under warm, humid conditions, and prolonged spells of cold weather or unseasonable frost tend to affect yields seriously.

The main maize-growing areas are the Gisborne district and parts of the Bay of Plenty coastal strip where long warm summers are experienced.

The Gisborne district in 1943-44, with 53 per cent, of the maize acreage, threshed over 63 per cent, of the grain total. On the fertile Gisborne flats repeated cropping with maize is possible, but eventually the ground becomes weed infested, when a change should be made. Under such conditions spring-sown barley might be grown for grain, and the area sown down to pasture in the autumn.

Popular Varieties

Due to its general suitability the maize variety most popular in the Gisborne district in the past has been Horsetooth. This variety, however, has become largely crossed with Marigold. Being a late-maturing variety, it should be planted early enough to be sufficiently matured before the occurrence of autumn frosts. At the present time an imported variety from U.S.A, is used extensively. In the Bay of Plenty Horsetooth and Motiti are favoured in the early districts on the light, rolling pumice country, in the vicinity of Tauranga and Te Puke, while on the river silts and loams in the Whakatane and Opotiki districts, where the growing period is shorter, the earlier-maturing Early Butler is more generally planted. Silver Queen as an early variety is preferred to Early Butler at Gisborne, while Mari-

gold, which is rather earlier maturing than Horsetooth, is also popular, especially for rather wet paddocks liable to flooding. Sowing Methods The first essential for good yields is thorough preparation of the ground for a deep, well-prepared, even seedbed. Sowing methods vary in different localities. Planting is conveniently carried out with a maize planter drilling two rows at a time, 2ft. lOin. being a suitable spacing for cultivation and growth under good conditions.

About 141 b. of seed is required, with grain dropping about every inch in the rows. The seed is drilled 2in. to 4in. deep to be sufficiently well down in moist, warm soil, without being too deep. Check planting is advisable when weed competition is feared. This is carried out with an attachment on the maize planter, through which passes a wire stretched across the paddock. The wire is knotted at lOin. intervals, and, as the planter proceeds, each knot releases a spring allowing, three or four seeds to be planted. The wire is moved across 2ft. lOin. at each end alternately as the planter proceeds along the line left by the marker until planting is completed.

Fertiliser

On rich ground maize is usually planted without fertiliser, but in normal times superphosphate and blood and bone in equal parts, and sown at 2cwt. per acre, are frequently used on lighter land.

After Treatment

When the ground has been rolled before sowing, and is weedy, harrow

five to seven days after planting, or when the maize is starting to shoot. The ground may be rolled when maize is about 2in. high to break down clods, which, however, should not be present. Rolling may be followed by light harrowing to check germinating weeds and reduce evaporation of moisture. , Scarifying should commence about 10 days after the seedlings appear, and continue until the crop is about 2ft. high. Special maize scarifiers are

in common use and enable the ground to be cultivated close to the young plants. The first scarifying should only be sufficient to kill weeds without covering the young plants. Scarifying should be discontinued when the fibrous roots are showing extensively, and the last scarifying may only be down the centre between the rows. With check-planted crops weed control is simplified, while hand hoeing may have to be undertaken in other crops in weedy ground.

After the cobs have formed some growers stock their maize areas with a few cull lambs per acre. These eat the lower leaves, trample weeds, but also eat portions of the lower cobs.

U tilisation

The crop is very valuable to the dairy farmer in maize-growing districts, not only as a safeguard against an acute summer greenfeed shortage, but principally as grain for wintering pigs and for feeding farm poultry. The cobs are maturing up to May, and pulling is done by hand and at leisure without need of harvesting equipment. In favoured districts maize, cattle pumpkins, and a small patch of roots spread the labour and cover the winter feed requirements of the dairy herd and pigs in a very satisfactory manner. Small Areas of Maize While Poverty Bay and the Bay of Plenty are the recognised maize-grow-

ing districts in this country, the crop can be grown successfully in many other North Island districts. It is recommended that for a season or two at least dairy farmers .who run pigs as a sideline and poultry farmers should give consideration to planting a small area in maize. Feed grown on the farm is the cheapest feed in the long run, and a great deal could be achieved by a large number of small areas. Maize for Greenfeed A small amount of maize is grown

FLOODS, late blight, and inclement harvesting weather conditions have made the past season in many localities an unfortunate one for potato growers. This season 37,500 acres is the objective for the Dominion’s requirements of table and seed potatoes and for supply to the Pacific zone. v Main potato crops in many districts are suitably planted about mid-Octo-ber, coming through the ground when normally all danger from frost is past.

Main Crop Potatoes

for summer greenfeed in the North Island, although in the grain-growing areas the crop is harvested as much as possible for grain. A portion of the greenfeed crop may be used to keep up milk production in a dry season, while many farmers cut out suckers and blind stalks for cow feed. Hickory King and Horsetooth are the varieties commonly sown for greenfeed. Seeding should be at the rate of 80 to 901 b. per acre if broadcast, or 60 to 701 b. per acre through every coulter or second coulter of the grain drill.

Certified Seed Principally because of its cooler climate, potatoes propagated in the South Island remain freer from virus disease than potatoes grown in the North Island, where degeneration due to virus disease may be very rapid. For this reason certification of seed potatoes is almost entirely confined to the South Island. Canterbury grows over half the total Dominion acreage of potatoes, and regular North Island growers wisely obtain fresh stocks of southern. Certified seed each season.

Growers’ crops in the varieties certified are grouped into Certified Mother Seed and Certified Commercial seed, being classed according to cropping power and relative freedom from virus diseases. The highest classed. Mother Seed as listed by the Department of Agriculture should be procured by South Island growers for recertification, while the Certified Commercial lines are quite satisfactory for North Island seed requirements. In order that growers may obtain seed of a required size, grading figures indicating the size of the tubers are entered on the tag attached to each sack of ’Certified seed. These figures are arrived at by weighing the smallest 16 and the largest 16 .tubers of 100-tuber lots drawn at random from each grade of seed. A grading figure of 3-soz. indicates that the average weight of the smallest 16 tubers is 3oz. and of the largest 16 soz. The seed required per acre depend? on the size of seed planted, 3oz. seed (grade 2-40 z.) working out at 19cwt. per acre for 30in. rows with sets 18in. apart. A 2-4 oz. grade is suitable for the mechanical planter, but largersized seed is apt to be crushed, unless cut. Some varieties are less suitable than others for cutting, especially under dry conditions. Under-grade seed (l-20z.) from Certified Mother crops has been tagged, but again

under dry conditions may prove less satisfactory than a larger grade of seed. Soils and Preparation Potatoes , are grown on a variety of soils, deep, fertile sandy loams being best suited for the crop, while wet, poorly-drained land or heavy clays are unsuitable. If the ground is very weedy, stiff, or stony,- harvesting operations. may be difficult. The best place in the rotation is after grass, but ploughing must have been sufficiently early to allow for thorough disintegration of the turf. Although a deep, friable tilth is required, a fine condition of the surface is unnecessary at planting . time, but the seed must be well covered. Planting Potato planters are now in common use among commercial growers, but unless the ground has been worked deeply enough, the planter tends to leave the sets at too shallow a depth. When using the plough every third furrow is planted, making the rows approximately 30in. apart with sets 4in. to sin. deep and tubers spaced 15in. to 18in. apart in the rows. If a double moulder plough is used for planting, and the bottom is too consolidated, this should be loosened, when tubers will remain evenly spaced during hand planting and will root better. After planting the rows are either split with the same plough or the area harrowed across the rows. Harrow as soon as possible to prevent the soil from drying out in the open drills. After Cultivation About 10 days after planting harrow to kill germinating weeds and break any surface crust. Actually a last harrowing may be undertaken when

the crop is nearly 6in. high, after which regular cultivation between the rows with a suitable cultivator is necessary. As the plants develop the widths of cultivation must be narrowed to avoid injury. Moulding should be carried out gradually, commencing towards flowering time, with slight hilling of the rows for protection of the developing tubers. The final hilling may be carried out with the moulder attachment on the cultivator, or with a moulder plough when the tops are beginning to touch in the rows. The final moulding should have a fairly wide base, tapering to an edge at the top. Judgment is required as to the degree of moulding required. New tubers develop over the old set and unless sufficiently hilled will become exposed to the elements and attack from potato moth and infection from late blight spores washed off the foliage. Excessive hilling, on the other hand, tends to intensify the effects of dry weather and reduce the root system. Fertiliser The 3cwt. ration of superphosphate is adequate, but the addition of lcwt. of sulphate of ammonia or blood and bone may be warranted. Fertiliser should not be broadcast, but sown with the seed in the drills. Sulphate of potash is sometimes used, and is said to improve quality, but rarely has it been known to increase yields appreciably. Lime has a tendency to encourage scab diseases, and unless the soil is extremely acid, its use is not recommended. If the land is in really good heart, manure may have no effect. Main Crop Varieties

In the North Island Aucklander Short Top (Suttons Supreme) is the most popular variety. Being moderately early, the crop may be lifted at the end of March in time for autumn sowing of grass, an advantage not possessed by later-maturing varieties.

In the lighter Canterbury soils Aucklander Short Top and Dakota have proved their value. Inverness Favourite and Arran Chief are usually grown on the heavier soils. In Otago and Southland King Edward is a popular variety.

Spraying for Late Blight

Late blight was widespread towards the end of the growing period last season. Warm, muggy conditions favour the fungus, which may spread with surprising rapidity. In most districts the work involved disposes the majority of growers to take- the risk of blight without spraying, but

they carefully mould their crops to> reduce infection among the tubers.

Experience during the past season would indicate that in the moister districts spraying would be advisable to safeguard crops of certain varieties which are more susceptible to late blight attack, for example, Jersey Bennes and King Edward, especially when these are being kept for seed or for early marketing.

Cattle Pumpkins

PUMPKINS grow well under similar climatic conditions to maize. Both crops are very susceptible to frost, and should be planted only when this risk in the locality is past. Ground intended . for pumpkins should be well drained, early ploughed, and well supplied naturally with organic matter. If necessary, farmyard manure may be used in the hills, but 2cwt. of superphosphate per acre should be broadcast over the area to be planted. Pumpkins are planted in groups of 2 or 3 seeds Bin. to 12in. apart each way, about 21b. of seed per acre being required. Regular growers carefully select their seed from deep-fleshed, long-keeping pumpkins, but unfortunately school children collect seed without regard to these qualities. Seed should be obtained only from a reliable source.

In the early stages discing between rows will check weed growth, retain soil moisture, and assist secondary rooting of runners. Some cutting of runner tips is immaterial, but closer cultivation may be carried out by moving young runners aside. The secret of success is to ensure that the plants grow vigorously from their first appearance. The average yield is in the vicinity of 10 tons per acre, but yields of over 40 tons per acre are possible. The crop should not be gathered until the vines have

MANGOLDS are the highestyielding and most reliable of the root crops; they are excellent for winter and early spring feeding to supplement hay, which alone is apt to cause digestive troubles. Also under intensive grassland dairy farming a small area in mangolds is valuable in allowing winter spelling of grass for early-calving cows in spring. A small area on fertile ground is a wise investment on the dairy farm, provided the crop is conveniently placed for attention during the growing period. Every endeavour should be made to obtain heavy yields on

Mangolds and Sugar Beet

died down; also short stalks should be left attached to the pumpkins so that they will keep better. For dairy cows, pigs, and sheep, pumpkins are excellent as winter feed before mangolds, which will keep well into spring. An advantage with pumpkins is that they can be left out on grazing areas, and sufficient split daily for requirements of stock. When a pumpkin paddock is stocked by sheep the soft pumpkins, weeds, etc., are consumed first before daily splitting is required.

small areas, and several successive crops may be grown on the same ground utilising farmyard manure and fertilising well with basic superphosphate. A deep, mellow tilth and a fine, firm seed-bed are essential. The crop is preferably grown on ridges, especially on heavy soil. During cultivation earth and weeds are drawn away from the roots as the ridges disappear. Thinning and weeding unfortunately involve much hand work during early stages of growth. With more intensive grassland management and shortage of labour the area in mangolds

has declined by nearly 1,000 acres annually over the last few years. In 1943-44 61 per cent, of the crop was grown in Canterbury and Southland and 20 per cent, in the Wellington Province. The globe variety grows a satisfactory crop under a wider range of conditions than Long Red, which should be confined to the most fertile soils. Tankards have the lowest yields hut the highest dry matter content, Sugar beet is closely related to the

mangold and requires the same conditions. Early thinning is necessary for both crops, as several seeds are contained in each capsule. . ' Although the yield of sugar beet is only about half that of mangolds, the dry matter is twice as great, the heavy leafage has a high feeding value, and pitting of the roots is not required. The crop is excellent for pig feeding, a quarter acre per sow providing the bulk of feed required to winter autumn litters. Sugar beet is somewhat subject to mottled heart disease, and successive crops on the same ground should be avoided.

—E. M. BATES,

Instructor in

Agriculture, Alexandra.