ITALIAN RYEGRASS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 794, 18 April 1910, Page 10

ITALIAN RYEGRASS.

ITS _ disadvantages. . '• 5 Vr.: / • - ' .'.Mr. 'Reimie, -Doyleston, writes to ..a.Qanterbui-j'-^aper':— ■—*£6 Italian >y'egj;4s s has been Loomed, by Lowrßpitid others for the past few. years,. our young farmers look upon... it new fodder suitable for all classes of soil and locality. I have" been growing Italian ryegrass. off and on 4 for. the, past forty, ; 'years, ■ and my opinion is that; except* when'wanted for seed, 'it should not be sown by itself except'in very good land. It requires ■t6' , >bp,;:sown, after a.-fallow and wiih a, good mixture of clover. It grows- luxuriantly, the firgt year quickly, exhausts 'tho; manurial- ingredients, of- the soil /and -dies, out. • It is. a very risky ■. crof»''ttf''gS»wt.for v seed, aii'd , rinless -rit is cut on' ! the"green side it readily shakes 0ut,.., J|alia,n, makes a good mixture with • perennial f ryegrass, and' should be sown , in: the proportion of 51b. ■to 151b. witlrplerity'of clover and cocks-' foot. and Timothy; .the, quantity must be gauged by. the state bf.;thei soil.-. .-Aft. "experienced practical farmer told me before I loft Home, fifty years ago, that Itajianrye was the best crop to grow 'at 1 'the^endjgfj a;i|ease, .and within, six, iweeks -of the end ,of- 'the leaso, by applying; a. liberal amount of nitrate of soda, ho'Could;;take out all ;that' was in tlio land and . leave it-exhausted.' I have myself taken.''two :.crops" of rye oil in one season, but the same land did not produce much for the two following years.,.,,, Italian rye is recommended for -early.'.feed, for. ewes : aiid lambs, but oats and tares are, in my opinion, much better, and improve the land for the next crop. A common practice now is to:sow Algerian.oats-for ;spring ~feed,'_ which, after 1 being, fed- off' once ,or: twice;, is/.allowed; to:run to-a crop.' If properly managed, and not grazed when wet, this returns a good "yield of oats, which come in early and are harvested before the main harvest is ready.|