SUB. CLOVER

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 28, 3 February 1937, Page 12 (Supplement)

SUB. CLOVER

Widespread Interest In Possibilities VALUE IN HAWKE’S BAY At tlie 1936 conference of the New Zealand Grassland Association a group of four papers on subterranean mover was read by field officers of the Department of Agriculture, giving tfio experience with' this clover as a pasture species in North Auckland and South Auckland (excluding the lvingUountry, the pumice lands of the central plateau, and Bay of Plenty), Manawatu and west coast, and Hawke s day. DtXng the subsequent discussion ji the papers the position in Taranaki, vVairarapa, Poverty Bay, Bay of Plenty and other parts of the Auckand province, including the pumice .•ountry round Rotorua and Taupe, was udicated writes Mr 0. J. Hamblyn, n the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture General Characteristics. Subterranean clover is a etrongly growing and very palatable annual riover, which buries its seed in the mrface soil, ensuring its permanence /hen one© established in a sward. The oeds germinate with the autumn a ins, and the plant grows and develpa through the autumn and winter id comes away earlier than most usture species in the spring, giving .s maximum growth in the North .land from August to ,No vc mbcr. lowering takes place during the perd of maximum growth, and the plant left off with the approach of hot, dry, unimer weather. The seed which is uried as the plant develops lies dormant in the soil until the autumn ains come. An essential condition to free rojstablishment is the opening-up of tho sward to some extent through the summer, while essential conditions to ;ood early spring production are early Autumn establishment, freedom from water-logging in the winter, moisture And warmth in the spring, and, above ill, adequate phosphatic manuring. As .vith all pasture-plants, tho more fordo tho soil tho higher the produo ion, but subterranean clover has a urprisingly wide range in regard to ..oils, and, with adequate phosphate supplies, will easily outyield all ether annual clovers on most se- ond and •■h'rd-cU'Bs land. itecent Interest Though subterranean clover has been uown in certain districts of the North jlund for tho past fifty years, particuarly at Mangaro clover on the volcanic oils near Auckland and on similar soils n the vicinity of Whangarei, it is only a recent years, following its wider use aid extensive propaganda in Australia, hat a similar realisation of its possibilities in this country has been developed. While in the past subterranean clover has been mainly confined to lairy pastures and high-rainfall nrca3, it is in connection with sheep-farming and in districts of lower rainfall and dry summers that present interest is chiefly centred. It is undoubtedly in Hawke’s Bay, with its occasional very dry summers and vast areas of light freely draining ■loils extending from Woodvillo through Norsewood, Takapau, Maraekakaho, to Tutira, Putorino and Mohaka up to the Wairoa flats and beyond, that subterranean clover has especially demonstrated its wonderful potentialities as a valuable pasture species. Kight through this belt of country, estimated at upwards of 500,000 acres, the introduction of subterranean clover, whether it be by inclusion in the seed-mixture after ploughing, by surface-sowing with topdressing after severe harrowing of the existing sward, or by surface-sowing with fertiliser on open danthonia or brown-top turf, has resulted in a very definite increase in carrying-capacity. The response of tho subterranean clover to superphosphate has been remarkable, and the ability of this clover to proluce food for lamb-fattening just when equired is appreciated. Tho doubt a? o whether top-dressing pays on much >f tho rolling to steep hill country has been removed by tho introduction of lubterrancan clover, and in Hawke’s as in Manawatu, Wairarapa, and Poverty Bay districts, some outstanding increases in carrying-capacity have been recorded. Other country suitable to the exploitation of subterranean clover in Hawke’s Bay are the Takapau Plains, the lighter soils of the Hawke’s Bay fiats, much of tho limestone country which has shown reversion, and tho extensive area of coastal and southern hill country. It is indeed difficult to visualise the result of tho full exploitation of subterranean clover in the province. The quantity of seed being sown is rapidly increasing. Last season some 30 tons was used, sufficient at 41b per acre to sow over 15,000 acres. The fact that when fully utilised it gives its greatest rcsturns, that setstocki ug with ewes and lambs is a relatively simplo matter when once the carrying-capacity is gauged, further, that subterranean clover well utilised is helping to bring back rye<rass arid white clover, are points which •are likely to bring about a rapid extension of the area sown to this clover. Qe. some of Ihe lightest pumice country in the district increases from one dry sheep to the acre to five and sex ewes with all lambs away fat are recorded. East Coast Area. In both Wairarapa and Poverty Bay large quanties of - subterranean clove ieed are being sown. «’•« ; creasing rigidly each in lliw, Wairarapa, subterranean clover is being used with excellent results on tho lighter shingly soils of tho plains, and is having a very marked effect on the carrying-capacity both for dairying iftml sheep-farming, Recorded experi-