A study of some soil fertility problems in Canterbury

Abstract

Most of the early work associated with improvement of soil fertility was confined to the relatively productive plains and other readily accessible regions. That these areas have been highly developed agriculturally may be seen by the capability of some of them to give maximum pasture productions in recent years. Since productivity largely depends on soil fertility, it is of utmost importance that the latter be improved and its problems investigated and solved, if the former is expected to improve likewise. Undeniably the key to efficient pasture production is the legume, more specifically white clover, which my virtue of its symbiotic nodule bacteria, are able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. Associated grasses benefit directly or indirectly from this source of nitrogen. More often than not, low pasture production is the result of poor legume establishment associated intimately with important nutrient deficiencies. In order to appreciate the real significance of soil fertility problems in the under-developed mountainous tussock grassland and such hilly regions, a study of the influence of topography on soil properties is of great interest and importance.