GENERAL NOTES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 599, 2 August 1933, Page 2

GENERAL NOTES

PASTURES AND CROPS. SUPPLEMENTARY SUPLIES. It is not desirable to delay much further the planning of supplementary crop production, says the Agrieultural Journal for July. Dairy-farmers generally should plan to obtain a supply of fresh young non-woody feed to supplement the relatively scant supply availahle from pastures from about Christmas onwards for several weeks. Frequently the special provision made for the period becomes ready too late — it is not always realised that the summer shortage of fresh feed begins so early as it normally does. Frequently the shortage is reflected in the reduced hutter-fat production soon after Christmas. This may be avoided hy having availahle (1) soft turnips obtained by sowing early a quicklymaturing variety, "(2) a fresh aftermath of grass on a paddock on whiph early ensilage was practised, and (3) young green lucerne following a first cut of the crop removed in good time. For the special provision of winter feed several courses are open. Despite substantial recent advances in the popularity of ensilage, there remains much scope for its extended adoption, especially in sheep-farming. On many farms on which1 ensilage already has been practised it could with advantage be practised more extensively. Many would find it profitahle to prepare.at this season pits or trenches for use in ensilage in the coming summer. The Mangel The mangel as a source of winter and early spring feed is not employed nearly as extensively as its merits warrant. In planning for it, it is well to note that it responds especially well to high fertility and good treatment, and, conversely, it yields very indifferent results under indifferent conditions. Those farmers who consistently produce crops of 60 tons an acre and over, under widely varying conditions, provide striking testimony that the mangel can be made a very cheap source of feed by suitahle management. In this management two of the main features are (1) the use of land of relatively high fertility, which if not natural is provided by the adequate use of farm or artificial manure, and (2) the early and thorough preparation of the seed-bed, which at times could well be commenced at this season.

Grass Harrowing, Eetc. On fields on which the accumulated manure has not been thoroughly : broken up and distributed the spring pasture growth is likely to be very uneven, because of the development of rank patches in the vicinity where droppings were undisturbed for a considerable period. Such rank growth militates against good grazing management in the summer. On farms carrying sufficient store stock which it is not desired to fatten immediately such stock may be forced to eat out the rank growth, hut on farms supporting principally "wet" stock it is not at all easy to deal satisfactorily with the rank patches. On such farms it is particularly desirable to avoid them by timely and thorough grass harrowing. Hence harrowing in July ; and August is likely to be specially serviceahle. Young pastures, and particularly those originating from the use of permanent pasture seed mixtures, should be treated with special care during winter and early spring. Two faults to avoid are undergrazing and overgrazing. Undergrazing is specially undesirable if there is present a considerahle amount of Italian rye-grass, which, if allowed, will read'ily outgrow and weaken more persistent species in a permanent pasture. Lucerne. Dealing also with the supplementary food question, Mr. W. Alexander, Agricultural Adviser to Messrs. Kempthorne and Co., Ltd., says. — I would place lucerne an easy first for any farm where suitable soil conditions can he found. Lucerne, cut green, wilted for a day and then fed out to cows during the dry weather period will keep them up to their job in a way that no other fodder crop will do. It has always struck me as strange that nearly all lucerne grown in the north is cut and made into hay or ensilage. It certainly makes the best of hay and even very good ensilage hut undoubtedly its best use is fed out green to animals in milk. It - is quite possible for those of you who have never attempted to grow lucerne to do so in time to have at least a light crop availahle for next summer. Select a piece of land' with adequate drainage, where the subsoil is free and open and where the water-table is not too near the surface — say not less than 4 to 6 feet down. Get the plough into this land as soon as pos sible now;, turn over a good deep furrow- — 6 to 8 inches deep, burying all the top growth and leave that land turned up to the weather. An occasional working with' a cultivator or harrows to keep down weeds will be necessary and care should he taken that such working he done whilst the land is fairly dry. November is a very suitahle time for sowing lucerne, hut there is no reason why it should not he sown the month before if the 'land is really ready. Lucerne sown in 'October or November will probably i require cutting early in the New Year and that is when the feed is most likely to be wanted. ' Those who already have good stands 'pf lucerne, and they are fairly numerous, should seriously consider using the January and February growths for feeding out direct to stock. A load or two a day would go a very long way towards supplying the complete needs of dairy cows and it would not take many acres in lucerne to keep a fairly hig herd going throughout a dry summer. The recovery after cutting is so rapid that it would only he a matter of three weeks hetween cuts. Starting at one side of the area and taking out a load or two a day, by the time the far side is reached, the first cut lot would -be ready for cutting again. With. such a orapid growin"^ l crop,- yielding seyeral distinct cuts m one season, a large area is not required and I would strongly advise anyone

going in for lucerne for the first time to try a smali area of say. two acres . for a start. If the initial effiort is successful then the area can with more confidence he extended to meet the total requirements of the herd. Utilising Turnip Land. There are many acres of land on which turnips or swedes have been grown and which will he cleared off within the next month or two. It is not usually considered advisable to sow such areas out to permanent pasture until the autumn and the question arises as to whqt should he done with these areas in the meantime, continues Mr. Alexander. I would say use them for a supplementary fodder crop. Here is an excellent opportunity of putting in a crop of oats and peas to be converted into either hay or ensilage. Work the land up quickly tas soon as it is clear of roots and sow out two hushels of Garton oats with II hushels of grey partridge peas along with 3cwt super per acre and everything should be favqurable for a. heavy crop. This crop should he drilled through every coulter of the drill and the job completed hy giving the paddock a stroke of the tine harrows. Where the topdresser has to be used for sowing, it may be necessary to run over the area with the discs later to cover the seed. ground and keep the weed growth in check. The actual utilisation of the crop may he left for later decision, but either as hay or ensilage it will certainly be popular.

Kye and Clover. Another very usefuj crop1 that one could sow out on lately used turnip land is Italian rye and red clover. This crop could be cut for hay or ensilagqf or at could he grazed. Again the land wants to be worked up quickly and two hushels of Italian with 4 or 51b. of red clover per acre sown out along with 2cwt. super and lcwt. blood and bone. Six weeks after sowing, providing the season is a normal one, should see the young crop ready for stock. From that time onwards it could be grazed periodically until the autumn when the land could he turned over again and made ready for sowing out dn -permanent pasture. If the size of the field in Italian rye and red clover warranted, it might he divided into two or more breaks with some temporary fencing as then one can secure far better results in the way of utilisation of feed. Soft Turnips Amongst the many fodder crops that may he grown for supplementing the feed during the dry months of the year, soft turnips must be -given an important place. Soft turnips will grow at least moderately well on almost any type pf soil and under a wide range of climatic conditions. I thmk it would he safer to make a practice of growing soft turnips right out of lea, rather than let them follow a ro. tatiion of other crops. I realise it is diffieult to give any very definite reason for making this statement but somehow or other my experience leads me to helieve that the best results are secured with turnips on lea land. That being the case I would strongly advise ploughing* early and ploughing deeply in preparation for sowing out early in November. There is nothing like a good fallow for improvmg both the physical condition and the fertility of land intended for chopping; if you can get it turned over in time to get the frost on the furrows, do so hy all means, the following crop will he all the better for dt. Most crop failures can be traced to late ploughing or badly worked land or both. There " are several varieties of soft turnips suitahle for early sowing and conseq"iently for early feeding. Any seed merchant will carry supplies so that there is little to he gained by going over lists of names at this stage, but one or two varieties that stand well up on the list are Devonshire Greystone, Red Paragon and Lincoln Red. There are some who object to growing turnips for feeding to dairy cows on account of the danger of imparting turnip flavours to milk or cream. Certainly there is that risk, hut if the turnips are fed out directly after milking morndng and night the risk is greatly minimised. In any case, almost any green fodder crop will impart flavours, especially if fcd too close up to milking time so that soft turnips are little worse in this respect than any other crop.