LIGHT LANDS OF LICHFIELD AND MARAETAI

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2473, 28 May 1915, Page 8

LIGHT LANDS OF LICHFIELD AND MARAETAI

{To the Editor.) ■Sir,—Having paid a visit recently to th< above district, I wi|p much impressei ,with its possibilities in tho future. Look ing at tho Maraotai ill its natural stat< one is not favourably impressed by thi downs and idains which are covered witl tussock, but when one sees some of tin .country which has been sown with clovei 'ono's views undergo a completo change 'like many others, in years gone by ] ■looked upon these immense tracts of tus j 6ock anil stunted fern country as abso ilutcly useless. Shrewder men than wo (however, took a different view, and in .■vested their money there. Their wisdoir ias been fully justified, for this despisec country is one of; the. finest, clover coun tries in New Zealand. It is easily worked, .■and after a few years in clover will produce good crops of oats and barley. 1 lhave seen Rood wheat grown ou Mr, Itutherford's fins farm at Lichfield, and ,'thh year he has harvested some very fine oats and barley, which, in spite of th.!,dry weather, have yielded very well Mr: Fleming, a near neighbour of his, ■.■wilf cut quiite two tons of chaff per acre ithis year. Both these gentlemen have 'ivcry • fine turnip crops, which give pro■misj of a heavy supply of winter feed. Indeed, I did Jiot seo a poor crop of (ur'mips in the district. One good feature of tha country is its ability to withstand drought, capillary action in such light soil being particularly good. In going from Waotu, which by the way is a -particularly desirable district, tho land being very good—l took a short cut over ■ the downs to Mr, W. 0. Rollet's estate. On my way to his homestead I rode through his swedes, and was much im- . ■prflssed by the promising crop. His paddocks have a very fine sole of grasses, ■showing what the land is capable of. ■Cocksfoot, which is our main standby in grasses, grows well on this land. In my opinion—l may be wrong—it is much better to lay down in cow grass, alsyke, ivhi to clover, and Italian on the raw country, •and after two or three years to plough in the clover and then lay down in permanent pasture, giving cocksfoot the pre'teedpnee. All these men are very optimistic as to the future of their country, <ui<£ justly so, for where holding paddocks for travelling atock were established as good sole of mixed grasses as anyone could desire is to be seen.- In years to conio (ill that country will be utilised as dairying and fattening farms, or when it is ' consolidated by the trampling of stock it twill carry mixed grasses well, and every farmer knows that a complex pasture is :best. The extensive Maraefai Block — which is bow being roaded—is exactly the same as the land referred to, and people |who go l on -to inspect it are so much impressed by what they see of the cultivated farms in the neighbourhood that -they readily buy sections. It. is without doubt it-he easiest worked country in New ■Zealand, easily fenced and easily roaded, ' •■and it offers excellent prospects to men l-flvho have capital to work it. Prom lh& . '.very Start red clover, alsyke, and whits • clover do wonderful well, and it amazed ime to see how splendid the growth of ■alsyke is wherever grown. 1 know of no othier country where oow grass holds jfor so jnaiiy years as in those districts. '■I am ofraid to say how many years it ■ iJasts, but in one place I saw it growing (y.i the road which was fenced oil' nine . '■{■ears previously, and as of courso no seed been sown in the meantime, had persisted for all that time. The best growth jif white clover I have ever seen w.-js on !. Messrs. IVest Bros/ farm, in the Tokoroa Block, and that is just a fair sample of what can bo grown almost anywhere in that country. Even, on the new land oil the-3laraetai a very good crop of oaits without manure was grown this season. No mannre as a rule is used when sowing the clovers, though I have no doubt tho application of about 3cwt. would bo of great value, as it is a well-known faofc •.that the "fatter" tho pasture the moro quickly will the 6tock fatten. As regards manures, no hard and fast tulo can be laid down, for while round Lichfield slag gave better results than super, or super and guano, oil at least one part of the Tokoroa, super was much the better of tho two as far as the while clover was concerned. My objection to the too free application of super is that it encourages sorrel, which, however, need not be feared in purely grass paddocks, ■but it is a very bad p<sst in cultivated land. Naturally in such country there is a deficiency of nitrogen. The growth of clovers, however, will soon remedy that, .ajid it seems ito me entirely desirable that experimenting with lime should be under- , taken. In any case, overy farmer should •jtest for himself the various phosphatic 'manures, such as super, bone, guano, and slag, separately and in combination, and ,whichever gives the best result he should use. In light couwh-y, sorrel always spreads with great rapidity, so that if ho ■finds super gives him the heaviest crop, :Imt at the same time encourages this .•weed, ho must find his corrective in lime, fjwhich will give the soil an alkaline re- • action, and so render tho conditions favourable for its growth. In conclusion, I strongly recommend when ploughing the country after it has been in clover for two or three years, Ito let the clover grow till it comes into bloom, and then plough it in to supply the much-needed humus.— I am, etc., B. W. ROCHE. P.S.—I omitted to mention another good jwint in these districts, viz., the wonderfully clear and pure air which is conducive to good health. People there rarely suffer from illness of any kind, and soma who have a tendency to consumption become strong and vigorous after a short residence on those high-lying lauds.