NEW ZEALAND’S PASTURES

Hokitika Guardian, 15 August 1929, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND’S PASTURES

BRITISH RESEARCH WORK ON VITAL POINTS. (By Gilbert .13. Hunter.) / Throughout the world, and especially in certain parts of the British Empire, a greater demand for food, clothing and the other necessities of life, is being created by the evergrowing population. This demand can only be satisfied by an increased productivity of the soil, or w hat amounts to the same thing, by the more extensive uae of chemical fertilisers, '.especially nitrogenous ones, for nitrogen is the element that is lacking in the majority of soils. In other Words, the ever-increasing population of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa and other parts of the British Empire means an ever-inareasmg intensity of soil cultivation and incidentally, an everincreasing demand for nitrogenous plant foods. Scientists have demonstrated to us that no two plots of earth are alike in all respects, nor are the climatic conditions to which they are submitted always similar. This means that farmers should employ fertilisers, particularly suited to their “earth conditionsand which incidentally afford the best economic results. As it was pointed out at the last International Nitrogen Conference, “No fertiliser can be said to he superior to another under all eircum stances.” Imperial Chemical Lulus--tries Ltd. are for this reason carrying out exhaustive trials with different kinds of'fertilisers in all parts of the Empire, and by this means compiling considerable data for the benefit of farmers in all climes.

. The increasing .extension of its field of research activities has made it neoessary for Imperial Chemical Industries to decide upon a. central station where all research work can be co-ordinated. Their choice has been Jealott’s Hill, the research station of Nitram Ltd., situated on the south bank of The Thames thirty miles from London

The Jealott’s Hill Research Station was formally opened by the Rt. Hon. J. H. Thqmas, (Lord Drivy Seal) on the 28th June, 1929. ;It consists of two. adjoining farms— Jealott’s Hill .and Nuptown. The former has an . acreage of 4.00.. ql' which 160 are under the plough, while the latter, a grass holding, has an acreage of 76.

It is the intention of the Company that Jealott’s Hill shall become the control station of a research staff and an advisory organisation, which has the 'Empire as its: province. Its aim will, be. to -bring the resources of industry to supply The needs of agriculture in Britain and throughout the Empire. Jealott’s Hill Research Station and Experimental Farm is fully equipped on the most up-to-date lines to investigate soil fertility in all its aspects in both temperate and tropical countries and in relation to all croph iof economic importance.Amongst the problems being investigated are: The relative effectiveness of such fertilisers as sulphate of ammonia, nitro-chalk, ammonium chloride, urea;, nitrate of lime, ammonium phosphate and nitrophoska; the manurial requirements of arable crops; the manuring and management of grassland; the economics of manuring; animal nutrition; grass .preservation; and land improvement.

The total number of plots under field experiments at Jealott’s Hill in 1929 in connection with the above investigations, amounts to 1,204. Of this number 350 are on cereals, 25G on root crops, 547 on pasture land, and 61 miscellaneous.

The work being done at Jealott’s Hill on these problems is being supplemented by experimental work at centres scattered over the whole British Isles and overseas Colonies and Dominions.

Agricultural work in New Zealand is carried opt in conjunction with the Agricultural Department of the New Zealand Government. In addition to experiments on wheat and rice, an extensive .series of experiments on the application of the intensive system of grassland management in New Zealand is in progress. New Zealand is, of course, first and foremost a pastoral country. It has been estimated that “grass is the raw material of 94 per cent of the Whole (exports of New Zealand/’ According to Dr A. H. Cockayne, Director of the Fields Division of Agriculture, “the desire of the New Zealand dairy farmer is to make grassland itself self supporting throughout the year by increasing both total and seasonal production, and with hay and ensilage derived from the grassland itself to bring down to a minimum the production of annual sown crops.” In his view, the co-operation of Imperial Chemical Industries with the New Zealand Government marks what will in later years be regarded as one of the historic milestones in the progress of New Zealand grassland farming. At the beginning of August, 1928, it will be remembered that Mr R. Lindsay Robb, of Imperial Chemical Industries’ Research Organisation, visited New Zealand and placed himself at the disposal of the Government to investigate the intensive system of grassland management in that country. He came homo three and a half months later only to returne in 1929 to carry on the v» ork begun.

As a result of his first visit 00 trials of the intensive' system were laid down at selected farms and institutions. In Canterbury, 180 sinall-.-jcaje trials were also begun. Furthermore numerous investigations with the following objects were inaugurated at the... Marton experimental farm:

1, To discover what . effects different form and quantities of nitrogenous fertilisers have on poor pasture.of the Brown Top type,, and on good pastures composed principally pf perennial rye grass and white clover.

2. To ascertain the relation in sheep carrying capacity of two pastures, one manured with (phosphates alone and the other manured, with phosphates and nitrogen salts, and also to discover how the botanical flora oi the pastures treated reacted to intensive manuring and controlled grazing.

3. To'determine the value of mowing as a means of measuring the growth of pastures. 4. To discover the pierjod of maximum production as influenced by the time 'of application of. superphosphate and siags applied in spring, sumlmer autumn and winter. '! he application of .intensive- methods in dairy farms, it appeal’s, will not only increase the amount of winter feed, but will also add a month to the grazing season in the spring of the year. ...

In the district of Havvera, 1 aranaki, 47 acres of intensively treated pasture lands gave a profit of ‘.’s ild per acre; while in the New Plymouth district 40 acres intensively, managed yielded a profit of 17s 3d per nere. These exceptionally good results were obtained in spite of the fact that nitrogen was applied too late—lrom the middle to the .end of July—to, get the full benefits of early grass. There is one warning to be given in regard to the application of the intensive system, that is, it is not advisable to attempt intensive methods on poor quality pasture—these must first of all be improved by the application of phosphates, and by controlled grazing. Otherwise, money spent on nitrogen is money thrown away.

An outcome of the intensive si si cm of grassland management is the desir-ability-of being able to preserve grass in a form suitable for feeding dining the dry period of the productive season. Investigations on grass drying, and the alternative mehod of making silage from grass is ’being studied at Jealott’s Hill Research Station. .

Work in 19.28 was devoted to the investigation of various types of driers and ah examination of similar processes for the dry i'llg of short grass. An axperimenthl band dner has been designed and corits'tructed at’Jealott’s Hill Farm and much useful in formation lias been' obtained as a result. Feeding trials' have also been carried out on the', dried product'. Digestibility experiments with ‘some clover dried by tile Jealott’s Hill Experimental plant have shown that the digestibility of the dried .1 odder was as high as thaT of fresh green clover and very much 'higher than that of clover hay.

According to work canned out at Jealott’s Hill it is likely - that - the most suitable types of' ’driers' will be (a) a simple tray drier for use of a small farmer, • (b) a band drier for use on a. large scale. ’• Some work has also been done at Jealott’s Hill on the compression of dried grass. -For small farmers this is not considered necessary. It is cheaper in their case to stock the dried material in a covered building. A large farmer would probably find baling the most satisfactory means of compression' before storing. From a commercial point of view, however,- compressed grasss in the form of cakes is cheaper in the long run as it is an attractive product easy to transport. 1 The total cost of making grass concentrate as estimated by the Jealott’s Hill staff ranges between. 106 and 127 shillings per ton. This includes depreciation hut not interest on capital. The extra cost of briquetting would be about 4s per ton. The grass drying method and the alternative method •of preserving yolung grass the making of silage ai e again being thoroughly investigated this year at Jealott’s Hill. It seems likely that in the near future pastoral countries like New Zealand and Great Britain will have a flourishing export trade in concentrates, unless of course they lose the lead they have already gained in grassland management.