HAYMAKING.

Putaruru Press, 5 January 1928, Page 6

HAYMAKING.

CORRECT METHODS. Lecture by Mr. G. W. Wild. Of interest to farmers is tlie following reprint of an article on haymaking that appeared in the Morrinsville Star last June:— “ A tremendous amount of the hay in the Thames Valley and Waikato districts is only second grade, and a lot of that harvested is not fit to feed to stock,” stated Mr. G. W. Wild, agricultural instructor, of Hamilton, in the course of an address to members of the Morrinsville branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union on correct ways of making hay and ensilage.

It all went back to the weather question, said Mr. Wild. In the Piako county, which was the largest dairying county in the Dominion, there were 13,330 acres of hay harvested annually for 54,000 cows. That meant that there was one acre of hay for every four cows. If fed to cows alone, the ration for each animal for the winter would be XOcwt, on a low estimate. Two tons of hay to theacre was the average figure, although on paspalum country up to six tons an acre were secured. The winter was reckoned from June to about half-way through September, a period of 3i months, during which it was necessary to give extra fodder to keep the cows in condition for the flush of the milking season. A cow required from 151 b to 201 b of hay a day. The question of how to produce a better quality of hay and more than two tons to the acre had occupied the attention of the Agricultural Department for some time. In the speaker’s opinion temporary pastures produced the best type of hay, but there was' only a small acreage in this county at the present time. Of the 13,330 acres saved most was from permanent pastures. Under the ordinary system of grass management pastures tended to deteriorate. After four or five years they were in a bad state, and required to be liberally topdressed to save the sward. Two dressings were necessary; otherwise the sward would open and permit weeds to grow. To Mr. Wild’s mind the best system was to feed the root crops and hay to the cattle in the spring on the paddock that it was proposed to shut up for hay. The roots should be spread in lines evenly across the paddock. The area should then be drastically tripod-harrowed to drag out the bad grass and spread the droppings. Under the present system of grazing a paddock for two or three days, and then giving it a spell, if a drastic harrowing were given the paddock could not be used again under a month. But with the hay pasture it was different. When it was shut up at the end of September, if harrowed as he suggested the ground would be well aerated. Any sticks, stones and rubble that might hinder the mower should he cleared off.

A good crop of English grasses should give 28 tons of hay to the acre, or eight tons green weight. The size of the stack could be adjusted accordingly. A rough guide of the dimensions could be got if a yard in length was allowed for every acre of hay, making the width half the length.

The past season had been exceptional in that there had been rain throughout the spring and well into the summer. This made for an abnormal amount of feed, but much of this had been lost. The speaker put the blame for this on the group system of harvesting. Three or four farmers would work together and they would he tied down to a programme. This meant that a good deal of hay was of necessity put in that was not in a fit condition to be stacked. However, the group system had come to stay, for despite this fault it had many advantages. Another reason put forward for the loss of stacks through fire was that the continual use of superphosphate resulted in the grass being more impregnated with phosphorous, making it prone to more readily ignite spontaneously. However, there was no chemical foundation for this theory. The more general use of the swathe-turner was advocated by Mr. Wild. This implement luffed up the hay so that the air penetration was more general and the curing more satisfactory. It was of great importance not to get the hay wet after

it had been windrowed or in the stack. If the stack was not finished at night it should be hearted up and roofed. Thatching of stocks has now practically gone out of use, and roofing of the finished stack was more general. The roofs had everything to recommend them. If done thoroughly and wired down they would last for many years, justifying the preliminary expense. The lecturer also touched on the practice of putting salt in the stack. This was a good plan, he said, as it made the hay more palatable to the stock. About five or six pounds to the ton were all that were necessary. The business of haymaking was not finished when the stack was up, however. The fertility of the pasture must be kept up to enable it to give another crop. It was usual to graze off the bite. From then the paddock should be manured as soon as the first rains were likely to appear. If crops were fed it should be remembered to do so on the hay pasture, otherwise it would take weeds.