OUR PASTURES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5490, 21 October 1929, Page 3

OUR PASTURES.

BRITISH RESEARCH WORK. VITAL POINTS INVESTIGATED. 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 ever-growing population. This demand can only be satisfied by an increased productivity of the soil, or, what amounts to the same thing, by the more extensive use of chemical fertilisers, especially nitrogenous ones, for nitrogen is the element that is lacking in the majority of soils. In other words, the everincreasing population of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and other parts of the British Empire means an ever-increasing intensity of soil cultivation, and, incidentally, an ever-increasing demand for nitrogenout 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 conditions,” and which incidentally afford the best economic results. . The increasing extension of its field of research activities has made it necessary for a British company to decide upon a central station where all research work can be co-ordinated. The choice has been Jealott’s Hill, situated on the 'south bank of the Thames 30 miles from London. The Jealott’s Hill research station was formally opened by the Rt. Hon. J. H. Thomas (Lord Privy Seal), on June 28, 1929. It consists of two adjoining farms —Jealott’s Hill and Nuptown. The former has an acreage of 400, of which 160 are under the plough, while the latter, a grass holding, has an acreage of 76. This station 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 crops of 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 1204. Of this number 360 are on cereals, 256 on root crops,' 547 on pasture land, and 61 miscellaneous.

The work being done at this station 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 out 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 the Dominion 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.” At the beginning of August, 1928, Mr R. Lindsay Robb visited New Zealand and placed himself at the disposal of the Government to investigate the intensive system of grassland management in this country. He went Home three and a half months later, only to return in 1929 to carry on the work begun. As a result of his first visit 90 trials of the intensive system were laid down at selected farms and institutions. In Canterbury 180 small-scale trials were also begun. Futhermore, numerous investigations with the following objects were inaugurated at the Marton experimental farm : (1) To discover what effects different forms and quantities of nitrogenous fertilisers have on poor pastures of the Brown Top type, and on good pastures composed principally of 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 of 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 period of maximum production as influenced by the time of application of superphosphate and slags applied in spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

The application of intensive methods in dairy farms, it appears, 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 Hawera district 47 acres of intensively treated pasture lands gave a profit of 7s lid per acre, while in the New Plymouth district 40 acres intensively managed yielded a profit of 17s 3d per acre. These exceptionally good results were obtained in spite of the fact that nitrogen was applied too late—from the middle to the end of j u ly—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 n.trogen is money thrown away. An outcome of the intensive system of grassland management is the desirability of being able to preserve grass in a form suitable for feeding during the dry period of the productive season. Investigations on grass drying, and the alternative method of making silage from grass, is being studied at Jealott’s Hill research station. Work in 1928 was devoted to the investigation of various types of driers and an examination of similar processes for the drying of short grass. An experimental band drier has been designed and constructed at Jealott’s Hill farm, and much useful information has been obtained as a result. Feeding trials have also been carried out on the dried product. Digestibility experiments with some clover dried by the Jealott’s Hill experimental plant have shown that the digestibility of the dried fodder was as high as that of fresh green clover and very much higher than that of clover hay. According to the work carried out it is likely that the most suitable types of driers will be (a) a simple tray drier for use by a small farmer, and (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 grass in the form of cakes is cheaper in the long run, as it is an attractive product easy to transport. The total cost of making grass concentrate as estimated by the Jealott’s Hill staff ranges between 106 and 127 shillings per ton. This included depreciation, but 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 young grasss in the making of silage are again being thoroughly investigated this year. It seems likely that in the near future pastoral countries like New Zealand will have a flourishing export trade in grass concentrates, unless, of course, they lose the lead they have already gained in grassland management.