PASTURE AND CROP PRODUCTION

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 80, Issue 2, 15 February 1950, Page 183

PASTURE AND CROP PRODUCTION

SEASONAL NOTES Contributed by the EXTENSION DIVISION

CARMERS purchasing grass and clover seed for autumn *■ sowing are strongly advised to obtain Government Certified seed. Varieties to which the certification scheme applies are perennial ryegrass, Italian ryegrass, short-rotation (Hl) ryegrass, cocksfoot, timothy, Phalaris tuberosa, Montgomery red clover, cowgrass (broad red clover), white clover, and subterranean clover.

CLASSES OF CERTIFIED SEED

Farmers interested only in pasl ure purchase Certified Standard or Certified

Permanent Pasture seed. It is

cheaper than Certified Mother or Certified Pedigree seed and is just as suitable for establishing permanent pasture required only for grazing. If seed production is a possibility, Mother seed should be sown, while Pedigree seed should be used if the area is being sown specifically for seed production.

PURITY AND GERMINATION

All Certified grass and clover seeds are sold in sealed containers which bear an official label showing the

variety of seed in the bag, the certification class (Pedigree, Mother, Standard, or Permanent Pasture) and the identification number or numbers of the line. Seed certification as such is a guarantee only of the strain of the seed, while the purity and germination certificate gives necessary information on the percentage of living seeds and impurities. Buyers of Certified seed should insist on seeing the official purity and germination certificate covering the line and check the certificate number with the label number.

CHEAP SEED

Despite the growing demand for seeds of reliable strains and high purity and

germination, lines of “cheap seed mixtures” still appear on the market. Some of the lines may be genuine mixtures made up for specific purposes, but most of them consist of cleanings salvaged from the dressing plants. They consist of a wide range of seeds, some useful, some harmful, but in no pre-determined proportions. On the basis of quality and useful species “cheap seed mixtures” are generally dearer than a mixture of first-class seed made up for the specific purpose of grassing a particular class of land.

STUBBLES

Recent experimental work in Canterbury, though not completely answering the

question whether straw stubbles should be burnt or ploughed in, indicates that burning is at least not disadvantageous. Ploughed-in straw, though ultimately supplying organic matter, draws on the nitrogen reserves of the soil while decaying, and trials have shown definite responses from sulphate of ammonia (lewt.) on succeeding crops where the straw was ploughed in. Comprehensive trials of burning and ploughing in will be carried out at the Winchmore Irrigation Station.

GREENFEED CEREALS

In the lower-rainfall arable-farming districts catch crop green cereals are used for autumn, winter, and

spring feeding, but in the higherrainfall areas they are generally used for spring feeding only. Experiments conducted by the Extension Division in many parts of New Zealand during the past 3 years have shown that greenfeed oats gave the greatest production in most districts. The oat variety Russet was particularly outstanding in early growth, though it did not

's show good recovery after grazing. Cape barley and Algerian oats, though not the highest yielding, gave reasonably good early production as well as satisfactory recovery after grazing. Wong barley, a new introduction, gave low initial yields, but showed considerable ability to recover satisfactorily even after repeated grazings. Seed of this variety will not be available in commercial quantity for a year or so. The commercial ryecorn at present available was relatively low yielding, but a new strain from England which is being tried at present is giving yields comparable with the best barley and oat varieties.

CROP ROTATIONS AND WHEAT YIELDS

The results of a survey conducted by the Extension Division of ’ all wheat crops grown in certain districts near Christ-

church and Ashburton during the past 3 years have shown that the most important single factor affecting yields is the crop that was in the field immediately before the wheat crop. Average differences of up to 20 bushels per acre were found in the Christchurch area between wheat crops after a fallow or good grass and those following another cereal. In the Ashburton district wheat after run-out grass did poorly and yields on such fields were on the average less than where wheat followed another crop, even another cereal. Only in some seasons were autumn-sown crops markedly better than spring sown, though they were never worse. Soil differences within the districts affected the yields only when the growing season was either very wet or very dry.