GRASS LANDS

Hokitika Guardian, 15 May 1930, Page 8

GRASS LANDS

NEW ZEALAND’S GREATEST e ASSET. r v x 1 ADDRESS BY LORD BLEDISLOE, e ''''' 8 , AUCKLAND, May 12. 1 Speaking at a meeting of the Ros tary Club and . choosing as his subject, “The grass that grows under our feet,” the Governor-General, Lord 2 Bledisloe, said that of 42 occupations c represented in the club that of the 3 farmer, curiously enough, was not in- ■ eluded. 1 The bulk of New Zealand’s output, 3 said Lord Bledisloe, was directly def pendent upon the., grass that grew t under our feet. It had been said that without vision a nation would 5 perish. s ln the case of New Zealand ’ he might add “and grass.” Vision 1 and grass were iboth essential. From . her grass lands the Dominion at pre--2 sent received about £55,000,000. He . was confident that; without adding to the acreage the figures could quite easily fbe more than doubled. The , sour grass lands pf .New Zealand, irrespective of tussock pnd other country, represented more than 17,000,000 acres. These were capable of consid- , erable improvement in herbage when fertilisers were used. “Be sure,” he urged, “that youi; grasses and clovers are. of' a permanent character.” Unfortunately by a process of evolution and the demands of seedsmen, seeds had been .selected that would produce large quantities of seeds without sufficient regard to the quality of the plant itself. The leaf it must be remembered was the valuable part of all herbage, and the nitrogenous fertilisers used to develop the leaf should not be wasted on long spindly seed shoots. These remarks applied particularly to ryegrass. Considerable quantities of ryegrass had been sold as perennial which were really in the nature of Italian ryegrass. His experience in New Zealand was limited, but he was satisfied that in England where considerable adulteration had taken place, the present output of existing holdings might easily be quadrupled. This opened up a vista amongst the many concerned in the export trade as to how the output would get on in face of serious competition with other countries. One thing overlooked during the last fifty years in the Old Country was that grass was a crop which must be cultivated if it was to give its best results. „ His Excellency mentioned that on certain lands a minute' dose of iodine was wonderfully beneficial to cattle. Grass-fed animals were the best flav- | oured in the world. This was why AVelsh-mutton, Canterbury lamb, New Zealand honey, and Scottish beef held such high reputations. Only one plant, namely lucerne, compared with | grass, and on suitable land it was most valuable. After making commendatory refer- f euco to the research work being carried out by the.. Gawthron Institute, q his Excellency concluded with an ex- <• pression of hope that his address’ might have the effect of increasing sympathetic interest in New Zealand’s greatest asset, “her graiss lands.”