FERTILITY OF FARM LAND

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 February 1939, Page 10 (Supplement)

FERTILITY OF FARM LAND

DETERIORATION IN BRITAIN. “We have been told in England that New Zealand is not only maintaining the fertility of its grasslands, but is improving them, and I have come here io study the methods followed, because in England we have been faced with a serious deterioration of our farm lands,” said Dr Harold H. Mann, of,the Rotharnsted Experimental Station, of England. Dr Mann, who arrived in Invercargill last week, said he was much impressed by the spectacular success of farming in New Zealand, and he believed he had learned much of great value in dealing with the maintenance of grassland fertility on which he was working at Rotharnsted. “The good reports we have received of New Zealand farming certainly do not appear to have been exaggerated,” Dr Mann said. “The farms I have seen in Southland are in excellent condition, and they are carrying more stock than I expected, and apparently without deterioration of the land.” In Great Britain farm lands had been in use for centuries, and there had been a marked and serious deterioration during the last 50 years. This was causing very general concern, particularly because there was a strong feeling that Britain should expand its home production to reduce its dependence on foreign countries for foodstuffs. The probability of a national emergency shutting off some of the present normal supplies was very serious, and the general opinion was that there was urgent need for raising production within the country.

“The first need in this programme is to improve the fertility of the farm lands, which has fallen to a marked extent,” he said. “There has been comparatively little top-dressing of grasslands done in England, but great quanties of fertilisers have been used on arable land. Much encouragement has been given in recent years for the use of lime, which is supplied to the farmers at half cost, so that greater quantities will be used. Until about 100 years ago huge quantities of lime were used on the soil in Britain, but its use fell away very substantially, and very little has been used during the last century.”

From appearances of the vegetation it seemed to him that the soil in most parts of Britain was less acidic than m Southland, and it was probable that the good effects of the heavy liming m past years in England had been retained for many years,. This probably accounted for the spectacularly successful results achieved with the use of lime in Southland, but it appeared that in Britain this alone would not be sufficient to build up again the fertility to the extent' that was desired. “We have various schools of thought on the question of what should be done to improve fertility,” Dr Mann said. “Some authorities contend that it is impossible to maintain the fertility of grasslands without ploughing it up every few years and resowing. Others say fertility can be maintained by the frequent use of fertilisers in top-dressing and in the use of a big amount of lime. Still others claim that the question of fertility depends on how the land is stocked and grazed. It is probable that there is a good deal to be said for all these theories, but the greatest need is to ascertain the best features of each method and establish a practice which will be completely successful incorporating the results of experience in other lands.”