PASTURE LANDS

Hokitika Guardian, 23 August 1927, Page 4

PASTURE LANDS

TOP-DRESSING RESULTS. WELLINGTON, Aug. 20. The campaign of the Department o; Agriculture against (lie slipping hack of pasture lands in the Dominion lias already h; on fruitful in results, says Air C. Cockayne, Directin' ol Hie fields Division. Air Cockayne declares that the response of the better class of lands to phosphatic top-dressing augurs well for the Department's efforts.

Fertilisers have heeii first employed in tlie attempt to arrest the deterioration and the first dilTiciilty of the department has been to determine on just what classes of country quite heavy expenditure on top-dressing will be profitable. New Zealand's experience in i'and deterioration lias been quite unique inasmuch as the type of forest that we leave been grassing has not been sown with grass in any other temperate region in the world. Without data from abroad the Department took up tlie problem and the progress made hasbeen satisfactory.

“ The problem became acute as soon as each individual bolding possessed no further bush to burn." said Mr Cockayne, to-day. " As long as each farm bold bush (ountrv the farmer could

obtain more acreage and the equivalent of top-dressed grass by burning it. When the whole farm was in grass tne older portions began to go hack, there was no fresh young grass and the farm was turned from wet stock country to dry stock country, and the posiiu.ni became acute because it was imperative that the farm should be continued on a wet stock basis. Rush country which was farmed would often run three sheep to the acre and a small holding ol goo acres might he a vert nice thing in those conditions, hut was very diflerent when it was running about three-quarters of a sheep to the acre.’’

The method being adopted in the campaign, stated the Fields Division director, was to encourage the farmer to treat his host land first. With the encouraging results which have [icon seen so far this treatment has spread and the Department's policy is gradually to extend the treatment to the remainder of the farm, and at the same time to get, the farmer to increase the number of stock on the rest of the land to keep down second growth. “ It is a long business,” said Air Cockayne, “hut there are very hopeful signs indeed.”