YOUNG FARMERS’ CLUBS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 November 1940, Page 9

YOUNG FARMERS’ CLUBS

ESSAY COMPETITION. FIRST PRIZE WINNER. The following is the first prize winning essay in the Wairarapa district Young Farmers’ Clubs recent competition, the writer being A. Cruickshank. of Masterion, and the title "The Development of the Flat Farming Lands of the Wairarapa”: — The flat farming lands of the Wairarapa, being of a highly diversified nature, the development of each type is therefore an entirely different process. The many types are proved by the fact that all classes of farming are carried out in this district. The first type of land to be considered is the heavy clay land. This type of land probably requires the most work to bring it into production, but when in production makes ideal dairying land. The thing of paramount importance is drainage. By efficient tile and mole draining the wettest of paddocks can be kept quite dry all the year round. Mole draining, done on a constant slope (to ensure the drains not scouring) will last from 15 up to 25 years, so compared to the price of tile draining all the paddock, it is well worth it. The big rushes, if subsisting in any quantity are best dug out and stacked in heaps where they can be burnt when dry. The smaller rushes can easily be turned in with a swamp plough. When the paddock has been worked down (after ploughing) a crop of rape could be sown, the comparatively heavy stocking which the rape could take would be beneficial to the soil. The next spring grass could be sown down. The following would be a very suitable mixture. Perennial rye, 301bs, sub. clover lib, Montgomery red clover 21bs, white clover 41bs, crested dogstail' 21bs. The next autumn a ton of burnt lime per acre should be applied. The grass will need careful management and any sign of “yellowness” in the pasture is a sign that the drains are not functioning properly. The soil will still be inclined to be acidy so to turn it to an alkaline soil lime must be applied regularly. When this land is in production topdressing and winter grass harrowing is always a paying proposition. The next type of land is the shingle and light clay, loam. This type, if it had been neglected for a few years, would be growing a mixture of danthonia. brown top and an. occasional rye-grass plant. The land should be ploughed in the spring before it gets too dry. One discing and harrowing should suffice to keep the,weeds down and keep the moisture in till just before Christmas when the paddock should be worked down preparatory to taking a* crop of swedes. Between Christmas and New Year is quite early enough for swedes in the Wairarapa, as -the plants have too much leaf on when the usual dry spell comes, when sown earlier. The comparatively heavy stocking during the winter will improve the nitrogen content of the soil. In the* spring after a fairly early ploughing the paddock should be got ready for the grass mixture as follows: Perennial rye 301bs. sub. clover 41bs, crested dogstail 21bs. It must be stressed that cheap seeds are the dearest in the long run. The certified seeds which are for sale today are tested for germination and purity. The extra money spent on the best seed is many times repaid in later years.

Subterranean clover is the clover which has increased the carrying capacity of light ground tremendously. It comes away in the spring and for six months provides an abundance of feed. It seeds about November and then when the autumn rains come it germinates. Although not growing so speedily as in the spring it provides a moderate amount of feed well into the winter- when it lies dormant till the spring. The Mount Barker strain seems to be best suited to Wairarapa conditions. These light loam and shingly soils usually have a low-carrying capacity. If the soil could be increased in fertility the carrying capacity could be improved a great deal. It is very noticeable where a temporary sheep yard has been put up on a second class pasture. The droppings from the stock, concentrated on a small area, benefits the pasture materially. That is why sub. clover is so valuable on light class land. The sub. clover grows and besides providing feed for a heavy carrying capacity (the heavy stocking building up the soil) it in turn, being a legume, returns nitrogen to the soil. Of course, liming must be carried out regularly, besides keeping the ground sweet, it also improves the bone of stock grazing on it. The third type to consider is the degp loamy river flats. It is a very valuable type as it does not bum up in the driest of summers and provides feed when it is scarcest. Before being developed this type of land was probably covered with "cutty" grass. The level of the ground is probably fairly rough and if so would be better ploughed with a swamp plough. The land is usually full of weed seeds which when turned up to the light germinate. It is, therefore, - advisable to cultivate and leave it, then cultivate again until the land is reasonably clean of weeds. On this type of land any winter crop could be sowni'swedes would be very suitable. About 12 ounces per acre would be quite enough seed. Next spring rape and grass would be a good crop to sow. A seed mixture of the following would be suitable: Perennial rye 301bs, white ■ clover 41bs, sub. clover 21bs, cowgrass 21bs. Liming in the autumn has a I marked improvement on the grass. i The fourth type of land to consider I is the bush-cleared land which has I been burnt. The land growing bush i is generally very fertile as scrub takes charge of the infertile land. It is therefore well worth stumping. When slumped and ploughed the paddock would need to lie fallow for a while as nothing but weeds would grow where it had been burnt if the ground was cultivated. When worked up it should be left for a while while the weeds germinate and then cultivated again till the ground is reasonably clean. A crop of kale could be sown which would provide good feed for hoggets. The following spring after ploughing peas and grass would be a good crop to sow as peas return nitrogen to the ground. Depending on whether the ground was light clay or more inclined to be a heavy clay the following grass mixture would suffice: Rye 301bs, Montgomery red clover 41bs. white clover 41bs, dogstail Bibs. If the land is light clay 4 lbs of sub. clover could be substituted for the Montgomery red clover. Conclusively it must be said that all grasses must be looked after and harrowed when they appear to be getting tufty and weedy, especially if cattle are running on them. The light land,

always the first to dry up in the dryspell, will-not be so apt to do so if a good sole of grass is kept on them till well after Christmas to protect the actual grass "crown” from the sun.