Agricultural and Pastoral.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1639, 22 December 1874, Page 469

Agricultural and Pastoral.

THE ADAPTABILITY OF GRASSES TO THE VARIOUS SOILS OF THIS PROVINCE. The following paper "was read by Mr G. Peacock at a committee meeting of the Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society, held at Hastings on Friday, 18th December: — Mr Cuairmah and Gentlemen, —It was announced at our last quarterly meeting that I would contribute a paper on the adaptability of grasses to the various soils of this province. Although the subject was not chosen by me, it will afford nic none the less pleasure to initiate a discussion on the subject which all of us must feel we are far from proficient in. In addressing you on the subject, I am actuated more by a desire to evoke discussion, and elicit the experiences and observations of other members of this society than from any claim to a more than general knowledge of the subject under notice. Indeed, my aim will be rather directed to show how little wo really do know, and how much we have yet to learn, regarding the constituents of our soils, and their varied combinations, than to impart any reliable information. In treating of soils and grasses, it may not be out of place to take a brief glance at the past condition of our lands and system of sheep husbandry, and follow out the changes which have been effected down to the present time. In the early days of settlement most of our lands were under the domination of fern and scrub, through which the native grasses were but thinly interspersed. There were then, as there are now, belts of clear country covered more or less with native grasses, which were highly valued for sheep grazing purposes, and from which full and sound fleeces were obtained; and fortunate were those squatters then considered who obtained depasturing licences over such country. Their less fortunate brethren, who had to contend with the fern and scrub, held a less enviable position, and what with wild dogs harrassing and destroying their flocks, light clips, and difficulty of access to port of shipment, had altogether very hard times of of it. In discussing the value of country or runs in those days, the nature or quality of the soil was seldom considered, or even alluded to. Country was chosen more fiom its extent and appearance, its value being estimated by its proportion of clear grass country, natural boundaries, absence of wild dogs, and facility of getting wool to port of shipment. Any efforts at agriculture or tillage of the soil were only practised by the natives, who were usually to be found located on the most fertile spots. At this period no experiments had been tried to test the adaptability of the lands for the culture of artificial grasses, efforts being chiefly directed in opening out the country by burning off the fern in the hope of it being supplanted by native grasses, efforts which met with but indifferent success until the advent of the thistle plant, which about ten years ago was observed to be spreading rapidly in the southern district of the province, and was proving a more powerful adversary than the fire for the fern to cope with. Such being the state of our lands at that •time, we could havo but little reliable knowledge of the respective or comparative value of what I may designate our hill and upland country. Every one who had seen the Ahuriri Plains was, even in those days, quite satisfied as to their value. I will now follow on to the more immediate past, an era marked by the introduction, or rather prevalence of the thistle in our midst. I will not up the time of this meeting with a detailed acocunt of the wide-spread alarm created by the rapid advance of this plant, the spasmodic attempts to check its progress,

or the desire manifested to legislate for its expiration, Mr Nairn, senior, of Pourerere, being then its only advocate, predicting that it would prove a great boon to us instead of a valueless weed ; and it was not long ero it became apparent that this prediction was likely to become realized, as year by year the value pf this plant was more generally recognized and acknowledged as being a powerful ally in subjugating tlia fern, opening up and fertilizing the soil, and preparing it for the reception of grass seeds—hard, sour soils, which were deemed almost worthless, having been rendered highly fertile through its agency. Indeed, I may say there is no surer index of the latent fertility of our virgin soils than the degree of luxuriance this plant attains, and it is from this period that I date the marked improvement which our lands display, and any study or close attention devoted to the quality of our soils, and their adaptation to English grasses. It was observed that considerable tracts of country were being improved by the thistle, and that English grasses and clovers, where introduced, followed in its train. Some few of our more enterprising settlers experimented, in a small way, with English grasses, with varied success, some by ploughing, and others by surface-sowing, and were so far satisfied with the results as to extend their operations year by year with new-born zeal. At this time, be it remembered—and the same state of things obtains now—these experiments were not conducted in harmony with any recognized method or understood principle ; in some instances the land was ploughed once, harrowed immediately after, and sown with any rye grass and clover obtainable. In the meantime runs were being fenced in and subdivided, smaller blocks of land than the original large runs were taken possession of, and by subdivision into smaller enclosures, surface sowing of English grasses and judicious stocking, were brought more rapidly into a more remunerative state of pasturage, and it is to these smaller holders that we are most indebted for any knowledge we yet possess of the adaptation of our soils to more valuable grasses. Many of us cannot fail to perceive that certain districts or tracts of land which, some years ago, were under the undisputed sway of fern and scrub, being deemed almost worthless, and but faint hopes entertained of their being profitably occupied in our time, are now, by the process of fencing and surface sowing of grass seeds, some of our heaviest stocked and best sheep country. Although I am aware that this has taken years to accomplish, and has not been unattended with expense, I think it not inopportune to advert to the change, as allowing how little we knew of the respective merits or capabilities of our soils ; and this brings me more immediately to the subject of this paper, and the question naturally suggests itself, " How much more do we know now than we did then ?'' Well, I believe we do know a little more both of our soils and their adaptability to grow artificial grasses, but it must be obvious that we have still much to learn. What little knowledge we do possess has been acquired only within the past few years, and that only by observation, and while conceding that much valuable knowledge may be acquired by attentive and intelligent observation applied to soils and their products, it cannot be too much regretted that we have as yet little or no scientific knowledge suited to our local requirements. We have had no chemical analysis of our soils to guide us in determining the choice of grasses, or other crops best suited to particular soils and localities. Although the efforts at grass culture have been tried with more or less success in every district and variety of soil in the province, yet we are far from being in a position to determine, with any degree of accuracy, the soils and plants best suited to each other. Perennial rye grass and white clover, which appear to adapt themselves to nearly every variety of soil and climate, are almost the only grasses which have been used, simply because they have been the most readily procurable ; cocksfoot, timothy, poa pratensis, yarrow, and some of the varieties of fescue have also been tried with marked success. In the alluvial deposits and tracts, rich in lime, all introduced grasses, and especially clovers, luxuriate; whilst in some of the northern districts where the lime formation is not to be met with, clovers do not thrive so well. Our richest hill and upland country is, in my opinion, that situated south of the Tuki Tuki Eiver, and includes a large area of country, say from Cape Kidnappers, along the coast line to the southern boundary of the province, and thence skirting the Puketoe Bush line more or less, emerging at Pukekura to Tuki Tuki Eiver. Nine-tenths of the land within those boundaries is, as far as soil is concerned, what I consider firstclass wheat country, and, if ever tapped by railway, will probably afford our wheat supplies, the soil being a deep black loam resting upon a rich yellow clay. The lands of the northern district of the province are of a lighter nature, but for some miles inland from the coast line but little inferior to those of the southern district. There are, indeed, but few portions of the provice where the lands will not yield a handsome return for the cost of introducing more valuable grasses by surfacesowing. It is found that in attempting grass culture by surface sowing, that font

land is more readily grassed in this way than the clearer country partially in possession of the comparatively worthless native grasses. The most successful method of grassing fern country is probably known to most of the gentlemen present, but it may benefit some one if I briefly describe the process. To ensure complete and almost uniform success it is essential to have the run fenced and subdivided, and to burn off the fern about the middle of January, or in a dry season even earlier. The young fern will spring up ready for feeding in about four weeks after burning, when it must be heavily stocked, and kept so, to eat off the successive shoots of fern which will spring up till the beginning of winter. The grass seeds (not less than two bushels to the acre, and as many different species and varieties suited to the nature of the soil as can be procured) should if possible be sown from the middle of February to the end of April, and only kept lightly stocked during the winter. The young fern will again attempt to make headway in the following spring, about the beginning of November, or earlier on the coast line, when it will require to be again rather heavily stocked, and continued so to the end of summer, by which time the fern root will have been exhausted of its sap, or, in other words) the plant will have been bled to death. During the succeeding summer, if not too heavily stocked, enough grass and clovgiseeds will be shed to thicken the sole of the pasture, and the process is completeIf proper seeds have been sown, and care taken not to overstock, the pasture should improve year by year. Considerable portions of our fern country are being brought into grass by this process, and when completed carry from two to three sheep per acre. It is 'still a debatable question whether to sow fern lands the autumn after burning, or to wait till the next autumn and sow among the thistles, which will then have gained a good footing. I have tried botli plans, but prefer the former: the ashes, after burning, accelerating the germination of the seed, and assisting the growth of the plant, the ,'thistles, the following year, opening up, and fertilizing the soil. From the foregoing it will be obvious that, owing to the necessity of periodical heavy stocking, the fern should be burned off enclosure by enclosure, so Lml as many sheep as may be required nan be collected from the run and crowded in at the proper season. As to the question of the grasses best adapted to our soils and climate, and most relished by stock, it is a branch of husbandry which, although demanding the closest study, has been hitherto almost entirely disregarded. I do not think I will be far wide of the mark in estimating nine-tenths of our artificial pastures at the present time to have been formed of perennial rye-grass and white clover, and the result of practice proves that neither with those nor any other two species of grasses can a valuable and permanent pasture be formed. Individual plants of the same specie* will not grow close to each other for any length of time. Some die out and leave vacant spaces, which are left open for the reception of weeds or spurious grasses, and any pastures with only one or two varieties of herbage soon become distasteful to stock which are kept for any length of time on them. While admitting the value of a due proportion of rye grass in a pasture, its almost exclusive use in this province is producing results the reverse of desirable ; its laxative properties necessitating thefrequentdagging of sheep to keep them in anything like presentable form, and not unfrequcntly proving fatal to many of our young sheep and calves in the end of winter and early spring, whilst, in autumn, it produces staggers in all kinds of stock permitted to graze exclusively on it, not even the abundance of clover in most of our pastures being effectual in correcting this pernicious tendency. How much of the recognized unhealthiness of stock which are bred and kept for any length of time on our rich alluvial pastures, which stand such heavy stocking, may be due to the prevalence of rye-grass, and the consequent absence of a necessary variety of herbage, can only be conjectured. Whether the affection known to us as staggers is due, as is alleged, to the presence'of ergot in this grass I am notprepared to affirm, but that it is exhibited only in stock confined to rye-grass pastures is certain. I do not know whether the presence of ergot on the seed and leaves of the grass can be detected in its different stages of development without the aid of tho microscope, but I would commend a close scrutiny of the rye-grass during the present and following two months, and hope members will present us with the result of their examinations (and preserved specimens of the ergotized plant, if discovered) at cur next meeting. Most of the soils in this province are rich in lime, with a good clay subsoil, a combination eminently adapted to the culture of European grasses, but it would exceed the limits of a paper ot this description to attempt tho enumeration of the different species and varieties of grasses most likely to flourish on our soils; anyone can discern whether his soil is light or heavy, whether the subsoil is retentive or porous, whether the situation is moist or dry, sheltered or exposed, and will, from almost any of the numerous works published on farming and grass culture, bo able to acquire information to guide him aright in the choice of the

grasses best suited to his soil and locality. It must be borne in mind that in sowing our upland and hill country in grass, that it is a work which is probably meant for all time, as the process is not likely ever to be repeated, hence the greater importance of being specially caieful that a mixture of grasses of known value, and suited to the nature of the soil be used. A mixture of grasses may be chosen which will attain their greatest perfection at different, and almost opposite, seasons, some that will withstand longcontinued drought, and others long-con-tinued rain, a combination affording an almost continuous supply of now herbage throughout nearly the whole year. Rye grass and clover will certainly not fulfil these conditions. How common is it to hear people expatiate on the quantity of grass they have at certain seasons, and a few months afterwards or a few mouths previously complaining of the want of feed ; just so, the rye grass has its particular season when it is in its greatest vigor, as also its season of rest, and while it is enjoying the rest which it is entitled to, other species of grasses would be in their greatest perfection. How few if any, of our best pastures are to be seen wearing a fresh verdant hue throughout the whole year ? I feel assured that those who devote most attention and skill in laying down or forming permanent pastures, will, in a very few years, be amply repaid for the trifling additional cost of introducing valuable species of grasses in the increased carrying capacity of their pastures, and have the satisfication of seeing their stock healthy in all seasons, and in usefulness will rank far above those who, either from parsimony or indifference, scatter a few cheap seeds over their land and complacently think they have laid the foundation of a valuable permanent pasture. The future system of sheep and cattle husbandry may be as much changed as the present is from that practised in the early days of settlement, and as population increases will probably become more nearly assimilated to that of the old country, when we will have to depend more upon the productiveness of our pastures than to extensive areas of country, and surely their formation is deserving of more careful consideration and more liberal treatment then they have hitherto received.

In concluding this somewhat discursive paper, I will merely remark that the subject chosen for me presents a wide field for discussion, that I have but touched upon some of its more prominent features, and commend the continuation of the subject to other members of the society who may have a better knowledge of the queslious I have ventured to open up.