Life Sciences Commons^™

Success With Serradella In The Wheatbelt, Clinton Revell, Bradley Nutt, Michael Ewing

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Clinton Revell, Bradley Nutt, and Michael Ewing review the latest developments with new varieties of French serradella and yellow seradella that should provide the basis for productive legume pastures on acidic, sandy soils throughout the wheatbelt of Western Australia

Deep Tillage : Keep An Eye On Costs As Well As Yields, Amir Abadi, Andrew Bathgate

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Deep tillage overcomes compaction of sandy soils caused by movement of heavy machinery. Many experiments since 1981 have shown cereal yields improve as a result of deep tillage. However, the increased yield does not necessarily mean more profit when costs are taken into account. To determine the profitability of deep tillage farmers must consider its impact on other farm operations. A whole-farm analysis is needed to accurately determine the increase in profit resulting from deep tillage

Phosphorus Retention Of Sandy Horticultural Soils On The Swan Coastal Plain, Ian Mcpharlin, Neil Delroy, Bob Jeffery, Greg Dellar, Maurice Eales

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Soils can be ranked according to their phosphorus retention capacity by the phosphorus retention index (PRI). This is the ratio of phosphorus adsorbed by soil to that remaining in solution under a set of standard conditions. Although it is a laboratory measurement, the PRI seems to be a good indication of what happens in practice.

Serradella Prospects At Esperance, Michael D A Bolland

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Yellow serradells is a promising introduced annual legume suitable for some of Western Australia's well drained sandy acid soils where other pasture legumes failto persist.

In the Esperance area serradella grows siccessfully on some sandy soils more than 0.5 metres deep. I develops deep roots rapidly - up to three times deeper than subterranean clover - and this is probably the main reason for its persistance.

At present only two late maturing, registered serradella cultivars are available to farmers in southern Australia. This article describes research at Esperance to delect earlier flowering cultivars for persistence in areas with less than …

Alternative Pasture Species For Deep Sands, D A. Nicholas

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Although the climate of the swan coastal plain between Perth and Bunbury is suitable for growing a range of pasture species, some soil types greatly limit this range.

Pasture species commonly grown in the South-West, such as subteranean clover and annual ryegrass, can only be grown successfully on the better soils of the coastal plain - the loams, yellow sands and Joel sands. On the freely drained, deep, infertile Gavin sands such species rarely persist because of the soil's poor water holding capacity, and its water repellency and its poor ability to retain nutrients.

West Midlands Development : Pastures For Sandplain Soils, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

TRIALS at the Badgingarra Research Station have indicated that many pasture species will grow in the West Midlands area.

Choice of the species most suited to any particular locality will be influenced by soil type, rainfall, grazing characteristics and possible ill-effects on stock.

The following species have been recommended.

Kimberley Research Station Progress Report, 1964 : Soil Fertility And Plant Nutrition, D B. Parbery, R. Wetselaar

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

BEFORE 1963, very little work, other than that described in Burvill's original report, had been done on the analysis of Ord soils, nor had their fertility status been clearly defined.

Commercial Vegetable Growing In The Perth Metropolitan Region, L T. Jones

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

MARKET gardening with sprinkler irrigation on deep sandy soils around Perth is really a commercial application of hydroponics or sand culture principles.

Provision of a continuous and adequate supply of nitrogen is the major problem. Peat swamps scattered among the sandy areas have higher natural fertility. However, their common problems are drainage, acidity ("sourness"), salt and various special soil deficiencies. Over-liming of acid swamps can cause new problems.

The Development Of Western Australian Sand Plain Soils For Agriculture, Richard Philip Roberts, F. L. Shier

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN a recently published economic survey of the Australian wheat growing industry, it was reported that nearly two-thirds of the farms surveyed in Western Australia were located on lateritic "sand plain."

As a random selection was made of the eighty farms that were visited it is reasonable to conclude that a similar proportion of all the State's wheat producing farms are on that type of country.

This constitutes a remarkable change from the earlier days of wheat belt settlement when the sand plain soils were regarded as virtually useless and by-passed for development.

It is the purpose of this article …