FARM NOTES

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 137, 17 June 1926, Page 6

FARM NOTES

ROOT CROPS OR PASTURES.

WHICH ARE BEST? Ideas From Taranaki. At a meeting of the Manaia Farmers’ Union (states the Hawera Star), members discussed a subject which has been the theme of much argument, whether or not farmers in the surrounding district should plough every year to secure root crops, or should, cutting out such crops, depend on ensilage, hay, lucerne and their grass pastures, kept continually improved by topdressing. Both sides number many of the most progressive farmers of the district, all of whom believe they have the soundest grounds for belief in their own methods. Their good all-round results show that both have achieved much success, and their opinions are therefore entitled to the utmost respect. Three of those present took the trouble to put their ideas and their thoughts into writing. A reproduction of these remarks will be of value, we believe, and they are therefore quoted here. IN FAVOUR OF ANNUAL CROP'S. Mr. O. T. Parry said the question was : “ Dairy farming without root crops—does it pay ? ” Labour was a dear item, and he considered that to grow roots required a lot of labour and expense, and was very risky, especially in the case of swedes and turnips. They were the cheapest to grow but were quite out of the question these days because of the frequent occurrence of various diseases. The choice therefore was carrots and mangolds and chou moellier, and he considered the expense did not warrant the growing of these crops. If, however, a man had first-class laiid and all in English grasses, he considered it better to topdress his land and make ensilage to take the place of roots. It would be far more economical and involves less labour and less expense than growing root crops, for it cost only £4 3s per acre to sow down in English grasses, including manure. In addition all the good land in this district would grow lucerne if given fair treatment, and with about an acre of good lucerne to every five cows a dairy farmer should do better than with root crops. Twelve acres of ensilage and four of hay would feed 45 cows for 3j) months. The manure required would be 2cwt of slag and 501 b of potash. It had been proved that ensilage

contained more fat value than roots and that cows would milk just as well, if not better, on good ensilage, as it is their natural food and its value and benefit would be evidenced by the nice silky coats of the animals. '< Referring to pastures, Mr. Parry said that if a man had some of his paddocks which had been cropped and not sown with English grasses rit was quite useless topdressing expecting to get a good sole of grass, because he never would. He must first sow the best seed and then feed it to get the best results. If, he said, a “ day ” paddock had deteriorated, a good method to get it into good heart was to stock heavily in the winter while feeding . the cows and then give it a good harrowing and topdress. “ But what I have,” he added, “ most of all against cropping is the certain introduction of noxious weeds, especial’y Californian thistle, which I am sure is making great headway. In fine I consider it by far a better method of farming and more profitable and needing less labour to topdress, use lucerne, hay and ensilage, than to grow root crops.” IN FAVOUR OF ROOTS. Mr. J. Dakers said he was in favour of root growing and believed that no piece of land returned a bigger profit than that growing crops. If done well, mangolds jvould yield 60 tons, carrots 40 to 50 tons and swedes 40 tons per acre, and this year after year, and the value would be about 20s per ton. His own crops, he said, were always above these figures. Dealing with the cost of preparation,

This would leave a balance of over £25, estimating the value of the crop stated at about £4O. The resowing of the land could be spread over two years.

If the land were worked well under the plough it was put into better heart, and, when put into grass, the farmer got a better sole of g-rass. Feeding cattle on roots brought them in in better condition, and if they were fed well all the time they would all 'do better. He quoted one case told him by an old farmer where the cows, fed on swedes, milked remarkably well and came in “ as fat as mud,” to make his point. They gave up to five gallons per day for months. He maintained that if they had had no roots they could not have done this. Then the new grass, he said, had plenty of clovers and responded quickly to topdressing and was in every way better than old pastures. Referring to ensilage, he said that some farmers’ experience was that cows scoured on this fodder and were not in the best condition when spring came along, and they needed this condition. Regarding: lucerne, he believed it was good, but all was not grown equally well, and he understood Mr. Parry had more cuts than anyone about and bigger crops. He maintained that soft turnips with lucerne would make an ideal ration. The difficulty of growing swedes had been overstated, and this year the crops were better than ever and would, he hoped, continue to show this improvement. It was wise not to use the same land for crops too often in succession. Disease would then not spread. Mangolds and swedes should be alternated on different parts of the farm, and better results could be got by the change. With them he would advocate some ' green oats in the spring time. Regarding the contention that the land got dirty, he said that if it was worked well and .looked after care- ' fully it would not get weeds, and that he saw many on old pastures—Californian thistles on pastures that had been down 30 years. On ploughed land this weed would not grow too much and take possession. He agreed with those who advocated growing as much lucerne as they possibly could, but he would also urge the growing of crops as supplementary winter feed. They would still further increase the good results. Then, he added, there was pleasure for the farmer in growing and knowing that he could grow the roots. No matter what class the land was, even on that of exceptional quality, the farmer could still do with the roots, and if it should happen that he had too many he could always find others who would be glad to get them. ROOT CRO-PS NOT NECESSARY. Mr. J. T. Clague said if the farm was in good condition and heavy pasture it was not profitable-, to grow roots, and the farmer could scrap his plough. Farming was a business, to be run purely on business lines, and he was confident root crops did not show .sufficient returns for the expenditure of ploughing, working, sowing seed, manuring, cost of seed, weeding, loss of pasture for the season. The uncertainty of the crop and the high cost of renewing the pasture were serious items to consider. It took practica'ly two years to get a good sole of grass, and in addition the soil was deteriorated after growing two crops,. and 'this was proved by the presence of sorrel and other local weeds. “ I maintain,” he added, “ our soil is too light to -grow root crops year after year, even if one has adopted the system of ploughing in a catch crop or carting stockyard manure on that area. Besides, every furrow one now turns over is a seed bed-for noxious weeds. The only two root crops that we can call any way reliable are carrots and mangolds, ! and even these two crops have shown ! signs of disease.

“ I maintain that the most profitable feed to save on a dairy farm is silage and hay, about two acres of hay to every seven of silage, this being what we term a balanced ration. It is also a natural food for cattle, not a substitute. Besides, as silage and hay are heating in the cold weather, it must take more of cold roots to keep the system up. Hay or silage alone containing fibrous matter will not affect the digestion. For instance, you can feed out more of these two at any time of the year and the oows are quite safe, but try feeding out more roots than cattle can consume. What is the verdict ? Indigestion sets up straight away and more often than not ends fatally, to your sorrow. Again, silage is a very valuable fodder for autumn feeding, in case of a drought : being a succulent fe-clder, the cows not only milk well but keep the condition on also. One very noticeable feature in the feeding of roots is that, in a dry sea-

son, where one farmer is feeding out as much soft turnips as he thinks safe, he still complains of the milk supply easing off, besides his cows going down and poor. Then take a wet season—the milk supply is O.K. Is this not sufficient proof?

“ Well, to get down to bedrock, take a first-class farm of 50 acres, which carries 30 milking cows. I maintain that from October 1 to December 20 these cows can be grassed during that .time on 30 acres, so that, after allowing for a horse or two, 17 acres are now available to save enough fodder In the way of silage and hay to carry the stock through hard times, and bearing in mind that after December 20, instead of one acre of pasture to each cow, we have new an acre and a-half, which is very much to the cow’s advantage, or rather, perhaps the milk supply. Also, now that lucerne is establish-d on every up-to-date farm, we find that the second cut is now ready for feeding, out, or otherwise, with a liberal rainfall, this is another asset for the winter in the way of hay. “ Cutting pasture for ensilage has an advantage over hay, as for silage the crop is cut before matured, generally about the end of Novc'nber, after which the pasture throws a good fresh growth for the remainder of the season. Besides the 30 acres having been grazed short if a much better pasture for milking cows. I consider working on this system that topdressing with 2cwt of manure every year will keep all pastures in first-class order. Averaging manures at £6 per ton for a 50-acre farm, this works out at £3O a year for manure. “ Now to make a comparison in the two systems. For the same acreage and number of cows one would require at least 7 acres of hay and 11 acres of carrots, or that area of carrots and mangolds to safeguard his stock through the winter and spring months, and 11 acres of roots will cost £ls to grow, saying nothing cf the risk of the undertaking. An average crop of carrots, covering a number of years, will weigh around 40 tons to the acre, actually costing 5s a ton. Now, I think you are all aware that harvesting pasture for ensilage is a long way from this mark. And if on a small dairy farm your root crops fail, where are you and what are you going to do ? ” ROOT CROPS PROFITABLE. Mr. L. Stoddart read the following short paper on the subject. He said:—

“ It has been my experience that it; does pay to break up land to growroots in the Manaia district, providing the roots are mangolds or carrots.. Swedes I consider are too risky a crop except on virgin land. Carrots. I believe to be the best all-round cropto grow, as they are relished by all kinds of stock and are considered to be great tonic to newly-calved cows,, as well as being a great milk producer. They seem to be free from disease and easy to grow. However, a great many farmers make hard work of growing roots by sowing the rows too close together, so that the horse hoe cannot be used. Roots grown in close rows take much longer to weed and much longer to feed out, so that it is no wonder- that these farmers do not care aDout growing them. Also a mistake that is oftenmade in growing roots is putting in too large an area. For' a herd of 50 cows, one acre of roots, hpjf of carrots and half mangolds, should be sufficient, providing they have plenty of good hay.

“ Although I believe in breaking up a piece of the farm for roots, still I do not think it wise or profitable to break up good pasture each year for roots. It is often hard to get *e sole of grass back again without the addition of a patch of Californian thistle ; also the time and expense of resowing are to be considered. It seems to me that the best way is to break up a convenient piece of ground and keep it specially for roots. This, however, cannot be done except by using smother crops of green manure to check the growth of sorrel, couch and other weeds ; also to build up the soil, which would otherwise soon run out in spite of artificial manures. A farmer may also have an abundance of vegetables for autumn, winter and spring use by sowing them with his root crop. Such vegetables as lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, parsnips, table carrots, peas and beans, etc., do remarkably well. Under these conditions I shou’d certainly say that it did pay to break upland in the Manaia district for root growing.”

he set this down as follows:— £ S. d Working Land . . 2 0 0 Manure . . 2 0 0 Seed . . 0 10 0 Interest on Land . . 4 0 0 Labour, etc. . . 5 0 0 Total . . 13 10 0