DOMINION GRASS SEED

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 85, 13 May 1929, Page 10

DOMINION GRASS SEED

■SOME BEMARKABLE DISCLOSURK.S. RED C-LOYER NO COOD. Tlioso farmers wlio are directlv in•erested in clover and grass-secd production, liave known for years tliat ull was not well. The very excellent vork Avliich lias heen nccomplished h.v Mr E. Bruce Levv. in connection witlt I pasture plants, has shown tliat in J n any cases — one might almost say in j Hie niajoritv of cases— seed has not | oeen kept true to type. One of the j n ost important johs ahead of tlio l Plant Research Station at Palmerston Nnrth is in connection witli this difli- i i nlt- jiroblem. for unless we can main- i tfiin our soed true to type. the demand will steadilv drop. For years our per-f-nnial ryegrass lias heen regarded as boing; tlie hest on the market. and it (oiues as a slior-k to bo to]d antlioritat:vely tliat mtirh of our ryegrass is not much hetter than ihe Ttnlian ryorruis.B. Very important statements liave 1-ren made recentlv by Mr T.cvy , and it niay he expected tliat ihe work , uoav heincr earried ouf at the Plant Rrsearfh Stntinn will revolut iunise soed prod'Ktion methods in Ihe near fi tnre. Once we ktunv definitelv tliat r-ur sends are fa'dtv. we must alter ' prnduetion methods in self-defenre. Tf i we don't do so. we leave onrselves at the merev of our eompot itors. PERKXN1AL RYfvS. The truth ahout our rye-Rrasscs is t! at hyhridisation lias heen going on ' | for years. and what appcar to he true ! perennials, are ryes with some Italian idood in theni. The experiments already aoeomplished sliow tliat to he the ease, and Mr J.evy stated tliat F'awke's Ihiv was ihe only listrict : yivin'r reliahlo perennial rye-grass. Of i the 22 plots of Hawke's Bay seed snwn i at the station. 1-5 showod up as perfect ! speeimens of perennial rve-gra.ss. This i cnntrasts with the Canterhury seed whore only thrce. lots mit of thirly 1 showed a perennial teudency. None of i the South Canterhurv samjiles proved ' true. Alroadv farminp; hodies in the south liave protested against publicai tion of these facts, hnt surely they are laking a sh-ort-sifthted view. The feature of most interest porhaps in A 1 r r.evy's report is tliat ho shows tliat althouuh tlio nosition lias develoned, there is a siniple remedy at liand. Y'ith the Hawke's Bav perennial rye-grass to draw npon. jrrotvers can he rcrtain of (orreetinsr ihe faults. The salient ]ioints wero explainod to a gatherinp: of farmers reeently, during: a tour of the Plant Research . Station. and ihe rosults wero readilv , apparent to the eye, the true tvpcs standing out in the plots ns against those where hyhridisation liad takou i laee. Four tvpes of rye-grass are ap- ; narent in Ihoso. tests. and three of ; these will have lo he eliminnted. : Svirelv it is hetter for farmer to kuow Ihe faets and remedy the trouble than i to go on in ignora noe and produee. an j inoren.singlv inferior seed each .seasou. AKAROA C'OCKSFOOT. Fortunately a different position ohtains with rogard to ooeksfoot, and i tlio Xew Zealand strain.s stand prei enn'nent. Akaroa cocksfoot lnis lon^ liad a rcjmtation oxtcnding far lieyo.ud our uivn sliores. and, judging; h.v the hipcli quality of the strain.s which • have heen tested out. we can maintain tliat reputat ion. New Zealand cocksfoot is iufinitely hetter thau the Dan- ; isli article and as sueh will alwavs eomniand its own market. At ihe ; Plant- Research Station tests are hoing ; made of all cocksfoot strains to test I their longcvitv under field eonditions. T iiere is nrohahly uo moro intcrestin": j seed produeiuq distriet in thc world I ihan Bank's Peninsula, which. during ; the hai'vestin.g poriod, i.^ a. rieli golden ' panorama, as far as the eye can see. XFAY ZEALAND C'LOYERS. | Our New Zealand white clover is hetter than any of the other varieties I tested, hut our rod clover can only io 1 c'eserihed as boiug very poor liideed in ecmpari.son with other strains. Tests 'made in England with our icd clover j ! liave shown it to he un.sati-sfactory. Itl j is of the opcn type, whereas tliat whieh ] i:- in most demand is the lato red 1 ; clover with shnrter and denser foliage. ; Mr Levv considcrs tliat we should | scrap tlio whole of our red clover and ; start again. and if furtlier tests con- / lirm these preliminarv results, it would i he hetter to do so, and tlius maintain 1 imr ]K>sitioii as a seed produeing couu- ' try. Our white clover is much moro jiermanent than most of the clo\er growu ( Isewhere. This is shown by our pastnres, and bv thc fsiet tliat elsewhere • r jv regardc'l as heing nf verv short (Liration. Her" again, the seed harM'sier] in Hawke's Bay is eonsiderod be amongst thc hest grown in New Zealand. These eMjeri ments. althongh direct(1 jirimarilv in tlie interests of those who are growing grasses and elovers j for seed nrodiietion. nctvally go a Miiig Wa v furtlier and will opou the 1 «nv to hetter utilisation of our pasture I rhints. Tn the future. with the luunvledge of sjains tliat will he avaJ'ahle. farmers who want to lay down fieh's of ! icd clover. o'- who w«sh to roimw thpir j pastures, will buv those strains that are certain to give them satisfaetory I resuRs. Oue very gront advantage of i the Plant Research Ftation heing at j Massey College. is that the experirionts can be earriod out under farm ' eonditions a.s well as on ordinary exj perimental linos. After tests have j heen made of the purity of strains. ! erazing ean he utilisccl to sliow lliose ! which stand up hest. I Red clover is a verv popular orop in scme distriels, and is reeognised as i lieiug a valuablc eron for the dairvj farmer for the produet ion of niilk. i There is 110 sense in growing a crop jlhnt is not produeing ihe maxiiiHiin jdiiantity of loafage. any more than jthero is sense in keeping the poor pr>jdueing eow, so that fariners will welJ coine all the iiiforiiiation they ean get n tlils important suhjeet. During reeent years more attention j has heen paid to pasture improvement 1 thuough tlie use of fertiliscrs than tt v ' im]irovcmont through utilisation of ! hetter and more prolilie strains of | grasses. Adetjuate usc of fertiliscrs is, | of course, esseutial : in faet it ean be isj.id that our present system of fagrming is hased on proper manuring. hut that doesn't mean that we should ne•>leet important mntters sueh ns tlie n".rity of the strain of our pasture ■hmts. The use of fertiliscrs has foreed n production to lutherto unheard- ! levels, aiul we are steadily nearing "'e noint wlien furtlier increased pro- • b-ction must come in other ways. Tmorovenient nf our grass straius, and ithe utilisation of proved prolific strains. is one of the hest wavs now j cpen to us for i ncreasing production.