LESS WATER,, MORE GRASS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 66, 21 April 1944, Page 2

LESS WATER,, MORE GRASS

j FARM DRAINAGE PARADOX "Pastures in paddocks which have been drained stood up to the. recent dry spell better than those areas which required drainage, but which were not so treated," was a statement by Mr A. "IV. Hudson, of Massey Agricultural College, in an interview. This well known expert on farm drainage added that the very dry suinifter following heavy rain in the spring had so hardened the topsoil of undrained paddocks that the burnt-up pastures received little or no benefit from any water shortage in the subsoil. On the other hand, the shattering of the soil crust by the mole plough and the' escape of surplus water liad encouraged grass roots to penetrate distances of up to two feet to the clay, where there was still moisture sufficient to maintain fair growth. "The strong roots of the grasses could clearly be seen in those mole drains opened up for inspection on the College farm," said Mr Hudson. The surplus, water taken away by the mole drains —amounting in one wet week 'in September to over 44,000 gallons per acre, or roughly 2in of rain per acre —had been conserved for. stock on several Avell-con-ducted farms where there was no steady supply of running water, by the use of dams in the unploughable gullies into which the mole outlets finally drained." Reasons advanced by Mr Hudson in support, of his conclusion were the deeper rooting ol the plants and more vigorous and better clover on the drained areas, where during the wet spring months, the pastures

showed markedly superior growth and an absence of pugging of soil and fouling of feed. The effect of pugging was now very much in evidence, in rough and caked surfaces and open swards on undrained land.