Hill Pasture Renewal

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 91, Issue 6, 15 December 1955, Page 546

Hill Pasture Renewal

IN the Gisborne-East Coast area there are thousands of acres of easy hill country under degenerated pasture which could and should be resown. The turf should be broken in January or February with a double cut of the giant discs followed by sufficient tandem discing to break the clods into a fine tilth. This should be followed in March by another tandem discing if turf and weeds are showing strong growth. If little or no growth has occurred, the area should be harrowed to kill seedlings and consolidated by tramping with large mobs of sheep or cattle. These must be driven over and over the area until it is quite firm.

A S soon as the ground is firm, thousand-headed kale should be sown at the rate of 21b. per acre if drilled or 31b. if broadcast. However, kale will not germinate satisfactorily on these hill soils unless the ground is well consolidated. It is a waste of time and money to sow in loose soil. Provided the tramping before sowing has been thoroughly done, the seed can be covered by use of a brush harrow. Tine harrows or heavy chains should not be used on light soils. It is generally safer to put sheep over the paddock again after sowing and brush harrowing. Cattle should not be used at this stage, because if showers have made the soil soft, the seed will be buried too deeply. Manure at the rate of 2cwt. of serpentine superphosphate should be applied at the time of sowing. It should not be mixed with the seed. If it is necessary to mix manure with the seed, use reverted superphosphate, and even then the seed must be mixed and sown straight away. Barley the Second Crop When the kale has been eaten off the paddock should be tandem disced about September and broadcast with 3 bushels of Cape barley and lcwt. of superphosphate per acre, the seed being lightly harrowed in. The resulting greenfeed crop of barley should not be set-stocked but should be grazed off at suitable intervals by sizable mobs of sheep until January. The stubbles should be tandem disced again and then left fallow until March or April, according to the season, when

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they should be harrowed to kill weeds and once again tramped with sheep before sowing. Seed Mixture All discable country in the area will grow good ryegrass and red and white clovers provided at least 3cwt. of superphosphate is sown at seeding time and the sward is regularly topdressed in the following years. In case of early frosts Italian ryegrass should be used in the mixture on the lighter ash soils and short-rotation ryegrass on the heavier ones. A recommended seed mixture is 151 b. of Certified Italian ryegrass or short-rotation ryegrass, 151 b. of Certified perennial ryegrass, 21b. of Certified white clover, and 41b. of Certified Montgomery red clover per acre. After Care The resultant first-class pasture should not be ruined by set-stocking. The pasture should be grazed with large concentrations of stock and at least lin. of growth should be left on the plants. This management plus annual topdressing will ensure that the pasture is kept in first-class condition for several years, and if the extra feed is used efficiently, the increased production in stock will pay a large dividend

on outlay.

—H. de O. CHAMBERLAIN, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Gisborne -☆

edition, which has now appeared, brings the text generally in line with recent advances in soil science. It includes a very useful introduction to the classification of New Zealand soils and draws attention to the growing importance of minor elements in soil improvement practices. This revised edition provides a useful guide to general readers who seek an initial understanding of New Zealand’s soil fertility and soil management problems. —P.W.S. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd. 9s. 6d.