MORE GRASS SEED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20128, 23 December 1939, Page 8

MORE GRASS SEED

1100 ACRES INCREASE DECLINE IN MANAWATU “The grass seed growers of Hawke’s Bay, Poverty Bay, and the Manawatu are making a worthy effort to increase production of one of the essentials for further pasture improvement and farmland development,” said Mr. C. J. Hamblyn, fields superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, in outlining the effort being made this year to increase the grass seed harvest. “The entries of perennial ryegrass for certification show an increase of 1100 acres or 15 per cent on the figures for last year and almost double the area harvested in the 1937-38 season. Hawke’s Bay shows an increased area of 1000 acres and Poverty Bay an increase of GOO. In the Manawatu there has been a reduction in area of 500 acres, but the total in this district of nearly 1100 acres closed for seed certification is an excellent effort when the very dry conditions of this spring and early summer are taken into consideration.

“With the good rains of recent weeks and an increased feed supply in sight for the large numbers of sheep and dairy cows carried on these seed producing farms, there is no doubt that many hundreds of acres in the Manawatu will be harvested for commercial certification as an addition to the areas so tar recorded. “The conditions tor a good white clover yield are evident in all districts. Grass seed, particularly perennial ryegrass, cocksfoot, and white clover, will be required by those farmers with large areas under the plough, and the grass seed grower is a very important link in providing the means for other farmers to maintain and increase production.”