Heavy Land Research Articles

Effects of irrigation, N fertilizer, cutting frequency and pesticides on ryegrass, ryegrass–clover mixtures, clover and lucerne grown on heavy and light land

SummaryThe effects of irrigation, nitrogen fertilizer, cutting three or six times per year and a combined pesticide treatment that included aldicarb, phorate, benomyl and methiocarb on ryegrass (Lolium perenne) cv. S.23, either alone or in mixtures with white clover (Trifolium repens) cvs S.I00 or Blanca, and on lucerne (Medicago sativa) cv. Vertus grown on a silty clay–loam at Rothamsted and a sandy loam at Woburn were studied in 1977–81.Benefits from irrigation were greater for six-cut than three-cut swards, with pesticides than without, for ryegrass with clover S. 100 than ryegrass with Blanca and at Woburnthan at Rothamsted. Lucerne did not benefit.Responses of ryegrass to fertilizer N were best fitted by the model y = a + b/1+cx+dx2; and those of ryegrass–clover by the model y = a+bx (where y = yield, x = amount of N; a, b, c and d are constants). Without N, yields of ryegrass–Blanca clover mixtures considerably exceeded those of ryegrass–S.100. The former gave yields equivalent to those of ryegrass given 270 kg N/ha at Rothamsted and 330 kg N/ha at Woburn.Lucerne without irrigation, N or pesticides gave yields in excess of all other unirrigated crops, even when these received pesticides and maximum N. Yields from three cuts of ryegrass greatly exceeded those from six cuts but yields of ryegrass–Blanca were greater from the six-cut regime.Pesticides substantially improved the yields of ryegrass and clover, whether grown separately or mixed, but not those of lucerne. Pesticides not only controlled pests and diseases but also increased the incidence of vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizas. The relative magnitude of yields of the different swards at the two sites differed, depending on treatment with irrigation, N fertilizer and pesticides. Differences between sites were removed or reversed by appropriate combinations of treatments.Ryegrass–Blanca given no N fertilizer and cut six times removed 300 kg N/ha, an amount that was increased by irrigation and decreased by less frequent cutting; ryegrass–S.100 clover contained less N. Removals of P and K. often exceeded 35 and 300 kg/ha, respectively, each year. Herbage containing Blanca clover had much more Ca than that containing S.100 but at comparable yields all swards contained similar amounts of Mg.

Drainage Coefficients for Heavy Land

Due to the impeding nature of the subsoil, drainage discharge from heavy land predominantly takes the forms of lateral interflow through the more permeable toplayer and of overland flow. Evidence is presented that this type of “shallow drainage” discharge can be described by the linear reservoir type rainfall‐discharge model. Procedures and guidelines are given, detailing how this model can be used to derive drainage coefficients for heavy land. Results are evaluated by comparison with other methods of deriving drainage coefficients and with commonly used design standards. It is concluded that the presented method is reliable and universally applicable.

Evaluation of field drainage discharge from heavy land in the tropics

Abstract Drainage discharges were measured in a sugarcane field in Tanzania. Field drainage consisted of an in-field system of shallow ditches intercepting drainage flow in the cane furrows ( row drainage ). Observed hydrographs are compared with discharge predictions of three relevant rainfall-discharge models, i.e. a linear storage model, a travelling time model (rational formula) and the curve number/synthetic unit hydrograph model of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. Very good agreement is obtained with the linear storage model although, in this case, the linearity between discharge rate ( q ) and dynamic storage ( S ) appeared to be somewhat incidental, being promoted by the particular row drainage layout of the field.

An economic comparison of methods of cultivating and planting cereals, sugar beet and potatoes and their interaction with harvesting, timeliness and available labour by linear programming

The farm gross margins resulting from different cultivation techniques with arable crop rotations of all-cereals or cereals and root crops are compared using a linear programming model. This determines the labour, machinery, crops and optimum times for harvesting, cultivating and planting which give the best farm gross margin for a given set of conditions. The gross margins achieved with other machinery are then compared with this optimum. The model shows the following (see the table below). Direct drilling gives the best gross margin whenever available labour restricts winter cultivations such as on an all-cereal heavy land farm. Irrespective of the primary cultivation system used, secondary cultivation by a linked spring tine/drill instead of a multi-pass harrow and drill produces a £15/ha greater gross margin on all-cereal heavy land. The difference is reduced by mixed cropping and on all cereal light land the difference is £6/ha. The linked system enables all winter wheat to be grown in all cases. Rotary digging and shallow ploughing are the primary cultivations which give the highest farm gross margins. Deep ploughing gives the lowest farm gross margin. Farm gross margins for some cultivation methods with four cropping systems, £/ha Method All-cereal heavy land All-cereal light land Cereal/sugar beet heavy land Cereal/potato heavy land Direct drilling 140 148 Not applicable With linked spring tine/drill Rotary digging 135 157 140 114 Shallow ploughing 135 157 Not applicable Chisel ploughing 126 152 131 111 Deep ploughing 114 149 120 100 With multipass-harrow and drill Rotary digging 121 151 129 107 Shallow ploughing 120 151 Not applicable Chisel ploughing 111 146 119 101 Deep ploughing 99 143 109 89

Chapter One: Land Reform

The area of present-day July 1 People's Commune is a rich and beautiful countryside of rice paddies and well-stocked rivers. Every inch of this fertile soil was opened up for farming and worked arduously by the poor peasants for generations, and it was irrigated with their sweat. During the seemingly endless time before Liberation, however, by far the greatest portion of the land was usurped by the landlord class, who cruelly exploited the peasants economically, oppressed them politically, and made them live poor and bitter lives like slaves. "Three knives hang over the peasants' heads: a heavy land rent payable in rice, high interest rates, and countless extortive levies and taxes." This popular saying accurately describes the miserable life of the peasant masses.

Some effects of growing winter wheat continuously

SummaryAn experiment comparing the yield at various stages of continuous wheat growing on heavy land, using two varieties and two rates of application of nitrogenous fertilizer, is described and the results from 1963 to 1974 discussed.The yield of the second wheat crop was substantially less than that of the first following oats which followed beans, but there were no consistent yield differences between the second and later crops.The major disease present was eyespot, but the differences in yield between Cappelle-Desprez and Hybrid 46 were little affected as wheat growing continued.Increasing nitrogen application from 63 to 126 kg N/ha did not reduce the differences between first and later wheat crops.

Effect of cultivation implements on tractor ride vibration and implications for implement control

The effect of implements on tractor ride vibration is not well understood. Nor is the effect of tractor ride vibration on control of the implement. Previous work on tractor ride dynamics has concentrated on motion of the tractor alone. A four degree of freedom model of a medium power tractor and three furrow plough with soil forces acting on it was developed. The model indicated that the plough exerted considerable damping on the tractor pitch and bounce. As forward speed and tractor vibration levels increased, the damping was likely to become more important. Field results confirmed these predictions. Tractor vertical ride vibration levels, measured with the N.I.A.E. ridemeter were reduced by up to 50% in heavy land and 30% in light land. A five furrow plough reduced tractor ride vibration level in the vertical direction more than a three furrow plough, because the soil forces acting on it were greater. These results have two important implications. Attempts to predict tractor ride vibration should include the effect of the implement or trailer. The damping forces are transmitted to the tractor by the tractor linkage and since conventional draught controls sense linkage force, they receive spurious signals due to the damping forces. These force fluctuations are in the same frequency range as those due to changes in implement depth and cannot therefore be filtered out. The problem increases with speed and if high ploughing speeds i.e. above 2·2 m/s (5 mile/h) are used in the future, an alternative to conventional linkage force sensing controls must be provided.

THE ROLE OF GRASSLAND IN MANAGEMENT

THIS PAPER will describe the role of grassland in the management of an intensive, heavy land, mixed cropping unit farmed in conjunction with a block of light land three miles away. The homestead block of 276 acres was part of the Longbeach estate and was bought by the Crown in 1950. The writer began farming it in March, 1951. The soil is a Temuka heavy silt loam with 5 to 8 in. of topsoil on 15 to 30 in. of clay over shingle and clay. It is extensively tile-drained by the original Longbeach system but still has wet gullies which are difficult to drain and a hindrance to cultivation.

Migrations and the Settlement of Mindanao

One of the more serious obstacles to economic progress and human betterment in many of the less developed countries is the dense settlement of the present cultivated land, coupled with a rapidly increasing population. In much of southern and eastern Asia where most of the good land has been occupied by relatively dense agricultural populations for centuries and where rapidly declining mortality has sharply increased the rate of population growth, heavy land pressure is both chronic and acute. A rapidly increasing population is particularly characteristic of the Philippines where crude birth rates have remained more or less stable at about 50 per thousand since 1900 and where death rates have dropped progressively and are now about 20 per thousand. The present rate of natural increase, approximately three per cent per year, is not only higher than in most Asian countries, but is also higher than in most countries of the world. If this rate of population growth continues unabated, and the evidence suggests that it is more likely to accelerate rather than diminish in the near future, the population of the Philippines will double well before the end of the present century.

Preparation of an Overhaul Schedule for Use After a Heavy Landing

THERE seems to be little point in describing the ’product' which is the subject of this thesis since the Sud‐Aviation S.E.210 Caravelle twin‐jet, medium‐range aircraft is known the world over.

Ear‐to‐ground

The third BAC One‐Eleven was damaged on March 18 when the under‐carriage collapsed following a heavy landing at Wisley. Although the aircraft was said to be ‘repairable’, it is understood that it is now intended to dismantle it, and make further use of certain components. Apparently the aircraft was engaged upon pilot training at the time and the incident occurred when the One‐Eleven was under the control of a pilot making his first One‐Eleven landing. The Corporation has confirmed that there was no failure or malfunction of any part of the aircraft.

The effects of leys and their management on the yield of succeeding wheat crops on heavy land

1. One long-term experiment comparing the effects of leys and arable cropping on the yield of arable crops and three experiments on the effect of management of lucerne/grass leys on the following arable crops, all conducted on heavy clay land, are described and the results discussed.2. In the first two years after breaking a ley yields of wheat were higher than on plots which had had all-arable cropping and it is suggested that this effect could be due to a combination of disease and weed control and the nitrogen status of the soil.

A survey of the patterns of wheat growing in Canterbury in 1952 and 1953

Summary Details are shown of the methods used in drawing a sample of Canterbury farms for a survey of wheat growing practices and yields, where the stratification was based on Soil type instead of on the customary administrative units of cDunties. The frame of farms produced for this purpose may be of use to other wDrkers wishing to survey the area. Estimates of the areas of wheat grown in two consecutive years are found, with the sampling errors of such estimates for each district. Most of the wheat was grown on medium land, although the percentage of farm land used for wheat was greatest on the heavy land. Nearly 60% of all the wheat was grawn either in the year after grass, or where one intermediate brassica crop had been taken after ploughing out of grass. No important yield effects could be ascribed to use of any rotation.

Studies on lucerne and lucerne-grass leys. I. Summer and autumn management of a lucerne-grass mixture grown on heavy land

1. Some earlier work concerning the management of lucerne is discussed.2. Two experiments, designed to compare cutting and grazing the second (July) crop, and cutting and grazing the third crop at two different dates (September and October) each year on the yield and botanical composition of a lucerne-grass (mainly cocksfoot) ley, are described and the results discussed.3. The method of defoliating both the second and the third crops had very little lasting effect on yield or composition of the ley, though some temporary effects, depending on season, were found.4. It is shown that date of defoliating the third (autumn) crop of a lucerne-grass mixture may influence the yield of oven-dried produce from an individual crop. Late autumn defoliation led to a greater yield of lucerne and a greater proportion of lucerne in the produce, but since the opposite effect was found in the yield of grass there was no overall effect on the total yield of oven-dried produce over a 3-year period.5. In these experiments it appeared that lack of winter cover had no adverse effect on the productivity or persistence of lucerne in the lucerne-grass mixture studied.

FARMING ON THE FOOTHILL PROPERTY OF MR F. J. MEYER

This property, which is farmed by my brother and myself, is on the Claremont silt loam soil type at an altitude. of' 450ft. and our rainfall averages 34 to 36in. annudly.8 The area of the farm is 1423,acres, all of which is ploughable, with the exception of steep back faces and gullies, with 716 acres one side and 707 acres' the other side of the road which bisects the property. The history of the farming of this property as a single unit dates from 1945, as before that we ran the place in conjunction with 250 acres of heavy land at Studholme.

Crop Rotation

AN entirely new and re-written edition of Bulletin No. 85, "Rotations", has been published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (H.M. Stationery Office, 4d.). The author is Dr. H. G. Sanders of the School of Agriculture, Cambridge, as Prof. R. G. Whyte, writer of the previous editions, was unable to undertake the necessary revision. The principles of rotations are set out clearly, and the Norfolk four-course rotation, which had been followed for some two hundred years on the lighter soils of England, is discussed in some detail. During the last thirty years, however, this system has had to be radically altered to meet changed economic conditions, and cash crops of high value, such as sugar beet and potatoes, have been introduced. The extension of the rotation by means of the seeds ley is discussed, and a separate section is devoted to the special problems on heavy land, while catch-cropping forms the subject of the final section of the bulletin. Emphasis is laid on the fact that for successful farming a thorough understanding of traditional methods is the only sound basis for deviation from established practice.

Eradication of Wild Onion

WILD onion is a troublesome weed on heavy land in many English counties as well as in vast areas of the United States and Central Europe. It poses a serious problem to the farmer as it has the property of tainting milk and wheat, and once established is extremely difficult to eradicate from either pasture or arable land. Hitherto only partial success has attended measures for its control, but Mr. J. R. Tinney of Saffron Walden has worked out a specific scheme of crop rotation by means of which he has successfully rid his own land of the pest. Details of the method are given in Agriculture, 49, 155 (1943). The essential features of the scheme are : (1) a succession of spring-sown crops for six years, the first of which should be potatoes or roots, there being two cleaning crops during the first three years, and (2) the omission of autumn sown crops or bare fallow. The time of ploughing is specifically stated, and this must be rigidly adhered to in order to give the plants a check when most vulnerable. Drainage is also important. Seven rules of procedure are given with the reasons why they should be followed, and provided the farmer has sufficient perseverance to carry out the instructions, there seems every hope that his efforts will be attended with permanent success.

A recording water-flow meter

A description is given of a recording meter of simple design, particularly suited for recording the instantaneous rate of flow of water from the outfall pipes of agricultural drainage systems. Two ranges have so far been constructed, with reasonable linearity of scale, dealing with rates of flow up to about 40 litres per minute. A record of the water flow from a mole drain in heavy land is shown, illustrating the need for such a recorder in many drainage experiments.

The effect of the “gyrotiller” on crop yield

1. In two experiments on heavy land (one continued for four, and the other for three years) gyrotilling has been compared with normal cultivations, and no significant increase in yield has been obtained, although in five out of seven experimental crops the actual difference was very slightly in favour of gyrotilling.2. In two experiments on light land (one continued for three, and one for two years) gyrotilling has been compared with normal cultivations (ploughing and subsoiling, and also, in one case, ploughing alone), and in all five experimental crops there was a slight depression in yield, which was only significant in one case, connected with gyrotilling.

The Oxford Farming Conference

AT the Oxford Farming Conference held on January 4–7 a number of interesting questions of fundamental importance were brought up, and the opening paper—the maintenance of fertility and the land fertility scheme—set the stage for discussions of a far-reaching nature. Although soil deterioration due to erosion or exhaustion of virgin land are not serious problems in England, much of the grassland is in a badly impoverished condition. Drainage, liming, application of phosphate and the sowing of wild white clover are the chief remedies, and the Government's Land Fertility Scheme should stimulate the efforts already being made in these directions. Grassland management, and its counterpart, grass conservation, were the subjects of a group of papers in which the different methods of making hay, silage and dried grass were discussed, from both the nutritive and economic aspects. Questions affecting the arable farmer also received attention, and alternate husbandry, on both light and heavy land, was advocated as being valuable for the increase of productivity, profit and employment, and for the control of animal disease and the promotion of national defence. Problems connected with plant disease were represented in a paper on soil conditions and the control of foot-rot in cereals, and the Conference concluded with a discussion on the ever-recurrent question of weed control.