WINTER GRASSES.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20278, 21 August 1937, Page 26 (Supplement)

WINTER GRASSES.

PHALARIS TUBEROBA. AGRICULTURAL VALUE. The agricultural value of phalaris tuberosa, a grass which has been sown' on a number of properties In Canterbury and probably elsewhere during the past two years, was the subject of a paper by Mr I. D. Blair,

of Canterbury Agricultural College, at the New Zealand Grassland Association’s Conference. This grass is being cultivated with considerable success in Australia, and its principal values are Its high degree of drought resistance and Its development during the autumn and early winter, when permanent grasses are dormant.

Mr Blair said that a feature of phalaris tuberosa was its ability to persist on coils of a wide range of fertility. This oharacterstio had not yet been fully tested in Canterbury, but It had shown goood seedling development on

the light dry plains near Burnham and I at Aylesbury, when sown on a fali lowed and well prepared seed bed. I Under Australian conditions it had i been found to thrive w T ell on areas of . | 17 to 30 Inches of rainfall or over, ; and at altitudes up to 4000 feet. One f | of the outstanding features of the i grass, its high degree of drought re- ■ sistance, accounted for some of Its I popularity under certain Australian conditions, and, although the need of

a drought-enduring grass was not 01 such concern In 'New Zealand, this attribute, plus the fact that the grass grew \Vell on light soils, at least suggested the usefulness of phalaris tuberosa on some of the dry plains land. The germination capacity of the seed was usually only moderate, and it had been found that “after-ripen-ing” was usually necessary with phalaris tuberosa seed, especially when a seed crop had been grown In a cool, moist district or harvested under damp conditions. The seedling development was vigorous as compared with such a grass as oocksfoot, but not so vigorous as ryegrass in the Needling year. The chief reason for past failures of the grass In New Zealand lay in the faot that the susceptibility of the species to competition in the seedling year had not been generally appreciated. The presence of any form of competition, perhaps due to the sowing of this grass in a seed mixture or through the presence of weeds, was a serious detriment to good seedling establishment.

Critical Period of Life. A very critical period in the life of a newly-sown plialaris area was during the first year after sowing. Plant? which survived this period and were in vigorous condition were likely to remain permanent. With this in mind grazing during this period should be adopted solely in the interests of developing the phalarls plants rather than from the point of view of seeking a high return from the pasture. The phalaris plants should be firmly established by the second autumn, provided careful grazing had been practised in the seedling year. It was from then on that the great value of the grass was evident, namely the vigorous, productive growth during autumn and early winter. The grass had been aptly described as the “king of winter grasses,” on account of the remarkable development which commenced during the autumn and early winter, while other permanent grasses became dormant. Growth records were being kept of six-year-old ryegrass, cocksfoot and phalaris tuberosa plants. So far such records had not been completed over a period of a year, but the relative growths during the early part of this year indicated that during the months of March, April, May, June and July, the phalaris tuberosa was in a high yielding, green and succulent condition compared with partially dormant ryegrass and cocksfoot. In the management and utilisation of phalaris tuberosa, the important points to be. noted were: (1) The use of good viable seed —preferably seed harvested during Ihe year preceding sowing. Seed certified by the Department of Agriculture was now available. (2) Proper cultivation of the seed bed. As for any permanent pasture the ideal was for a seed bed which was firm, moist, weed-free and fertile—conditions obtained after early cultivation and a summer fallow'.

(3) Shallow sowing of the seed early in autumn. The seed should not be sown more than half an inch deep.

With such a slow establishing plant, the advantages of sowing early and with the seed and manure in close contact, needed no emphasis. (4) The avoidance of anything but very light grazing In the seedling year, better establishment would be obtained I ■f grazing were avoided in this first! year.

Provision of Nitrogen. Mr Blair said that the sowing of clover (white or subterranean at the rate of 2 to 3 lb per acre) would probably prove necessary to provide nitrogen which would be needed especially In later years. The clover might be introduced at the time of sowing, but the phalaris would have a better chance if the clover were Introduced by broadcasting without manure after the phalaris had beer drilled. Once the phalaris was established, It would not be affected by the clover, but would respond to the nitrogen sifpplied. Management of established phalaris tuberosa should be In keeping with the two recognised features of th« grass—productivity in autumn and winter, persistence and • drought resistance. Phalaris tuberosa was particularly susceptible to defoliation In the spring and early summer. The inference then was (1) for intermittent grazing for autumn and spring, (2) complete spelling during the spring and early summer when there was an abundance of feed from the main pastures, (3) utilisation of the final development as (a) hay—cut at the early heading Mages, (d) for seed production, or (c) as mature standing herbage. Any decrease in fertility should be overcome toy annual topdressing In the winter with 1 owt. per acre of superphosphate and i ton lime in addition every two or three years, depending upon the nature of the soil. After a time the grass might tend to beoom* sod hound and there might appear to be a lack of persistence. This applieo particularly to cases on light land. The sod bound condition was to he avoided by mechanical renovation using disks in the early autumn and by the further introduction of subterranean clover on light land or white clover on the heavier land. At this stage these should be drilled with manure at the rate of 3-4 lb. on a surface which had been disced or grubbed.

Growth on Light Land. " On medium to good land this grass should be of some value when sown alone in one field of the farm, to be used for green feed for all classes of stock during autumn and winter, when the main holding fields are unproductive,” said Mr Blair. “ When suitably sown on light dry land the grass certainly grows well in the seedling stage as evidenced in the fields growing at Burnham and Aylesbury in Canterbury. The ability of the grass to withstand dry conditions also points to Its possibilities on light land. Then again it grows well in association with subterranean clover.

“ However, in spite of the fact that phalaris tuberosa is successful on the light lands of Australia and although Its early growth on the light lands of Canterbury has been good so far, it Is felt that this early promise on light land may not be maintained. On such land with the alluvial shingle very near the surface the mature development of the grass Is not likely to be so good as In the case of many of the Australian dry land areas in which there is deep silt and sand over a clay subsoil.

“ The grass has not been growing under New Zealand conditions for a sufficiently long time to allow for marked enthusiasm concerning its future. In spite of the .unfavourable but unjustified impressions obtained from the evidence of the local areas which have been described above, the attributes and features of agricultural value of the grass have been accepted and proved. , If phalaris tuberosa is managed along the lines suggested it seems likely that this grass will occupy a most useful even if limited place in our grassland economy.”