FARM AND STATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 5

FARM AND STATION.

THE MANAGEMENT OF OLfr J PASTURES. There are hundreds of paddocks and thousands of acres of hill lands in Otago and elsewhere which are only yielding halt tha grass which could be produced if the land wei'e properly treated* and kept in better heart. fhe chief reason' for this arises from neglect and the mistaken idea that a pasture should be self-supporting. Farmers and occupiers of land - should banish the notion that because they are relieved for the time being from the expense of ploughing and doHivation^ it is ■unnecessary to make any return to the soil for alt that, is being taken from it in Che form of hay," milk, or meat. It must be obvious that in order to enable pasture lands to continue to yi,eld profitable pasture in the way of grasses, some eteps must be taken to supply manure. Careful grazing is, above all things, necessary - t The reason for this is that the small grasses; and .the clovers are struggling for a place, while the stronger grasses in the meantime are getting, the upper hand. By over-stocking the land the pastoraHst will find that in all probability the finer plants will either 'be trodden out or permanently checked. Another cause whereby the feeding value of graes land/ is lessened is the practice of taking off hay crops without giving any adequate return in the way of manurV All practical farmers ar« full} aware of the necessity for - treating land about to. bo- placed under grain or green crop, but, on the other hand, pasture which may have been carrying a heavy stocking ot cattle or sheep for several years is wrongly, deemed not to need the necessary manure to enable it to maintain its fertility and its full carrying capacity. Recent experiments carried out in Great Britain prove beyond doubt that several crops of hay may be taken off a pasture without injurious effect to the grasses, provided always that an adequate return in the form of top-dressings of manure or fertilisers is given to the land for what isUaken from it. Farmers should not forget that all mown grasses should every year receive this" dressing. Damaga ia often done to pasture by cutting hay late in the season, when many of the grasses have had time to rjpen their seeds. Nothing exhausts plants more quickly, #nd the finer grasses will not thrive when thus treated. There appears to be no obvious reason for the practice of late cutting of hay, because hay made from over-ripe grasses is not so profitable, nor is it so nourishing as that made when the crop has been cut on the #reen side, and if this practice of mowing grasses when fully ripe is persisted in the most valuable and nutritious plants' will in time become exterminated. With regard to manuring farmyard manure always forms the best basis for top-drees ing. It should be applied in the late winter or early spring, when it will be found to give good results ; but, unfortunately, it is not often available in suffi- " cient quantities to be co profitably applied as a top-dressing for old pasture, so that some substitute •in the form of artificial fertilisers must be looked for. Rothamsted Experimental Station advises that from 3cn r t to scwt of kainit should be applied in the winter, and the more potash that is used the richer the herbage will be in clovers and the better the feeding value of the hay. This is to be applied when farmyard manure is not available. Two to 3c\vt of superphosphates generally gives good results, but on heavy clay or peaty land basic slag should be applied in the first instance in a liberal dressing. The longer the land has been down in grass the more it will want phosphates, potash, and lime. In this way a certain amount of expenditure may save years during which the grass is not thriving too well, particularly if the fertiliser is applied when the pasture is only one or two years old, as it will keep the <lovers and grasses in active growth. It is well known that the herbage from the best of seed mixtures will degenerate and become weedy if the land becomes impoverished. From experiments at Rothamsted we learn that under ordinary conditions a farmer cannot do better than apply every year 3cwt to 4cwt to the acre of some good mixed manure containing about 4 per cent, of nitrogen, a similar percentage of potash, and 20 per cent, of phosphates to his permanent gaddock grass, when farmyard manure is not available. Well-drained land always yields grasses better than land that has been allowed to become waterlogged, sour, or unwholesome. Where grass has become thin a system Tecommended by good authority as certain to

show beneficial results is to sow a feyr pounds of grass and clovers to the acre. This practice is often carried out in Great Britain, and a case has been cited in England . where a farmer* every autumn makes a practice of sowing as much as 201b of grass seed per acre on old pasture, because he has found from experience that when he omits doing sotbere' is a "difference of a ton of .hay per acre in the cut j the following year. Probably the best time to fcdopt a similar practica in New Zealand . would be towards the end of August or the beginning of September, and then to put the roller over the ground. Mention should be made that before surface sowing grass seeds the turf should be dragged with heavy tare harrows, as the action of the teeth breaks "up the congested surface of the ground,, and promotes a healthy growth of the plants. For destroying^ moss a dressing of well-slaked lime will invariably be loond beneficial, and the tearing of the ground with the harrows, prevents" the > 'fbp-dresqjing applied from being washed away by heavy rains. The condition of pastures in New "Zealand is of the "greatest imtxwtance to farmers, . grazie^ and paetasalisto, and any*' favourable and practical ' scfieme for hn- % proving tfcem should be.' welcomed by all. The .experimental, in the North Island sse doing good work in experimenting; in this direction; but, unfortunately, the climatic conditions of the North Isfend are different to those of the South, and the quality of the soil on the whole is lighter there" than in Canterbury I and Otago, so that the Tesults of experiments" that are being carried out in the j northern parts of this Dominion cannot be absolutely relied upon as applicants to the South Island. For those reasons ,we ', can only hope that at no distant date a South Island experimental farm will be established, from which farmers and pastoralists will be able to obtain practical advice as to "what are the best and most economical methods of improving the pastures of the South Island.*