PASTURE GROWTH

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 279, 20 July 1932, Page 6

PASTURE GROWTH

TIIE TDEAL OF REGULATING GROWTH TROUGHOUT THE YEAR. i PERIODIC TREATMENT. I 0 ' With an even growth of grass available through the twelve montlis of j the year, it would he an easy matter j to stock up to the full capacity of a 1 farm. Wastage of growth would cease, there would be no need to pur- i chase expensive hay and ensilage- j making machinery, and winter feed- j ing of stock would be a simple busi- j

ness. Unfortunately, this ideal state it not likely to he realised, but, at ! least, we have evidence to prove that ! something can be done in the way of equalising pasture growth. The application of fertilisers at the right time are most valuable in the control of pasture growth and there- j fore their judicious employment can- j not fail to prove economical. Writing in the November issue of the Journal of Agriculture, Mr. Hud- | son, crop experimentalist, shows that ' under normal conditions of growth, over a period covering three succes- . sive years, no less than. 85 per cent. ! of the total yearly growth of grass is produced from August to the end of February. j Where regular to-p dressing with j superphospliate had been carried out, it has had the effect of increasing total production by 50 per cent, but of even more importance perhaps is the discovery that the use of super ten.ls ; to equalise growth throughout the , year. Autumn and summer (Decem- , ber) applications of super caused the j vastures to yield 75 per cent. of their ' total growth during the SeptemberJanuary period and 25 per cent. — an incraa.se of 10 per cent. — during the A ugust-February period. Commanthig on this phase of topdressing, Mr. Hudson makes the following statement: — "The manures, espeeially super, gave th'eir greatest percentage incraases during low production periods. The effect of this is brought out in Ta]ile 4, where it is shown that a greater percentage of production for the year occups during the low period in the case of the manured plots and where 110 manura was used. The summer and autumn applications of super are defmitely superior in this respect to other super' treatments and to all slag treatments. Even during those times of poorar growth which fell in th'e high-production periods the relative effect of the manures was greater than when conditions were conducive to good growth. Herein lies a very valuable aspect of phosphate manuring."