THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 540, 8 February 1913, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

WINTER FEED. THE FAILURE OF MAIZE. Just as dairy farmers were adopting on a large scale the cultivation of maize for feeding in a green stage to their milk in stock in the warmer months of the year, when the pastures naturally fail, a season has been experienced when the crops of this excellent milk producing food has failed. Maize demands warm growing conditions and in the absence of these the maize has failed to respond even where all other conditions, such as a well prepared seed bed has been prepared, have been present. Even in what has been regaried as an ideal environment, in the Bay of Plenty, the maize crops on the whole, are most disappointing, though here and there fair crops are to be seen. There however, the maize is grown for its grain. The experience with maize this season will naturally induce farmers to turn their attention to other green crops which can be grown with greater surety of success. An ideal green food which is not appreciated as it should be, is oats or barley grown with tares. The milkproducing quality of such combinations is undoubted, and they can be grown at practically any time. Essentially they are crops which suit New Zealand conditions. Maize is an exhausting crop, though, naturally, when used in the green stage it takes less out of the soil, than when grown for grain. On the other hand, any of the grain crops mentioned, when grown with tares make little drain on the soil, and is one of the easiest of crops to grow, though like all other plants it will repay good cultivation and careful management. Such ci. : op3 also make capital hay or ensilage. It is a common mistake to think that good silage can be made from any matsrial stocked in a green state. Obviously, the better the material the better the silage. It would be hard to find a better allround crop for the milk production than the crops in question. There is, however, an exception to this statement lucerne. A good field of lucerne should make the dairy farmer independent of weather conditions, and there is now little excuse for the farmer failing to take advantage of,? this great fodder, for it is being conclusively proved that it will flourish under a much wider variety of conoitions than was formerly supposed would be possible. Providing the soil is not subject to being waterlogged, and that it is well cultivated and made into a clean seed-bed, lucerne should do well on the great majority of dairy farms in this country. There is little doubt that a lucerne field will, before long, be considered indispensible, by all prorgessive dairy farmers. All the Government experimental stations are attaching considerable importance to this plant, and are experimenting with all the varieties available, in order to determine the most suitable kind for New Zealand conditions. It is probable that a special type will be discovered, or bred, which will be more suitable for this country than any yet known to commerce.