GRASSES FOR PERMANENT PASTURES

New Zealand Mail, 21 February 1901, Page 52

GRASSES FOR PERMANENT PASTURES

folio wing is the concluding 5;. of the paper read by Mr C! *l. Ax.. Wd&on, of Bulls, before the last i Agricultural Conference held in Wel- . lipgton: t; _ -There ore tffiree native grasses which *' however-,- • are well worthy of oonsiderao: tion. Before dealing with them I should - Bhe to say a word 1 in appreciation of rho work qf the late John Buchanan in rela- ' taon to native grasses- His “Manual of Indigenous Grasses 7 ' is a most valuable work. In it he has classified the whole o pf our native grasses in such a way as t • fo< be of the utmost value to the scienfci- ~ fic botanist, as well as the practical l'ar- - mer, anckdt is,’ to be regretted that we have not his eminent services now. It would be a fitting recognition of his wcrk if the Government were to take in hand a second edition, with better plates. : When his work was published, the plates were no doubt excellent; but since that day lithography has made such *- etrides that coloured plates should re- * place them. J T ;;/ ■' / The three native glasses I wish to deal ' / with sepiiannularifl^Danthonia .pilosa nnd Mtcfdlaena stipoides. r THq two r fir : 3hbeJong 7 td % wery? l&rge f&i- ---‘ ily of native grasses, 'to which some of ' the tussac-grasses belong. , The species ' 7 derives its name from M-. Danthonie, a French botanist. Ciitiohsly enough, the seed, which is generally- sold as seihiannularis is mostly pilosa, which is much r more easily gathered.' The true'D. semiannularis is more tufty an its habit than D; pilosa, and therefore does not form euch a close sward, but is often (indeed almost -■ >* injunction with it are ,aware of the *' quantity S'these grasses there are m our pastures: and during the dry-season, of 1897, which was so trying to bhe mtro 'duced varieties, .these native grasses seemed to spread with great rapidity. They can be seen almost everywhere it - looked for. On the hills around Wellington they form the principal pasture. In the Wairarapa,- on the West Coast, ■and in the Napier province, they are to be seen in great quantities iti almost all the uplands. Further thah that my obseivation does not serve me. On almost

all the railway cuttings they are the first grasses to appear; especially the semiannularis, which seem to revel in the subsoil thus exposed. They are not particularly inviting in appearance unless kept closely cropped, but have the valuable habit of growing on the shady side of hills as readily as anywhere, and although sheep reject them when they go to seed, for other grasses, cattle in winter do very well on what the sheep reject, and soon eat down any left. In spring they are early, and sheep do well on them; indeed, one of the most valuable qualities is that they never -cause sheep to scour. On one of my hills—too steep to plough—these grasses form alia,ost the entire sward, and they seem to grow all the year round. They are not such vigorous growers as many of the introduced varieties, and I would not advocate growing them' in preference, where larger varieties grow well. But on the uplands they are well worthy of a, place, if the seed is procurable. The seed is not easily procured, and expensive when you can get it (for it is not easily saved, besides being very light and not easy to clean); they have not a high germinating percentage. The seed when shelled is very like the kernel of an oat, and hence the name New Zealand oatgrass. Tire D. pilosa, which is far the most common, and is in my opinion much the best of them, seems to seed only in alternate years. It forms a close sward of truly perennial character. In Mr Clifton's report to the Agricultural Department he speaks of these Danthonias as doing very well in the Auckland province in conjunction with Chewing's fescue. I would not wish it to be understood that I would advocate their growth where the better introduced grasses can be grown successfully, iiut there is a, large oortion of New Zealand hard, dry hills. On these, and on the lighter soils these native species., if they can be introduced (if not already there), will afford most excellent pasture. They are not easily distinguished from each other, except that the semiannularis grows more in tufts than the pilosa, but they are easily distinguished in the seeds under a glass. The semiannularis is so called because it has a half-ring of hairs half way up the pale, and another, but smaller, half-ring at the base. The pilo-

sa has little hairs on the edges only, and under a glass these differences are readily distinguished. They have one very valuable habit —that of carrying fire; and on some portions of New Zealand where manuka scrub is difficult to get rid of, and where it will scarcely pay to fall and burn, manv sow these grasses on the burns to carry the fire when the scrub grows again. If they take, the fire will run in a dry summer with great rapidity, and after several burns the grass beats the scrub. This habit would not suit those who have bush farms and do not want the fire to run over them. It is only, however, in the drier climated that anything need be feared.

Buchanan divides the D. pilosa into several subvarieties, but the two—the pilosa and the var. stricta are the most generally seen. The latter grows generally on sandy soil, and holds on to the sand-ridge with great tenacity. They resist the attack of the cockchafer grub which causes so much damage to grass land's, until the farmer's friend, the “starling." deals with them —better than the introduced varieties.

The Microlaena stipoides is not so generally known asi the two former grasses, but in its place is a valuable grass. All three are wonderfully droughtresistant. and in the usually dry climate (for it seems to be changing in later years) of Hawke’s Bay, the Microlaena is specially valuable. In the old days the settlers noticed a native grass which occupied the highest and driest of their hills, not showing great vigour, hut in the hottest of weather was always green. As it was more especially found on the runs near the coast, it was called by them the “Coast grass," and I have no doubt that this was the Microlaena, although I only speak from the observations of others. It is almost impossible to get the seed in any quantity, and I have never seen it A friend, who first drew my attention to this grass, said he was much struck by its evergreen appearance, and thought what a splendid lawn grass it would make. When on a visit to his friends on the plains he used to find their lawns all burnt up. He used to say, “Ah, if you onlyhad ‘Coast grass’ for a lawn it would always be green.’ One year he brought

a piece down and planted \it in the garden, and 1 that was the last he saw of it. Probably the rich soil did not suit it. I have done the same with all these grasses, but the other varieties creep in and soon oust the native species. In the ordinary seed sold as semiannularis a few seeds are generally to be found of Microlaena; but I hate never seen it' growing by itself in sufficient quantity to save any seed worth speaking of from. It forms a close sward, and is readily eaten by stock, although the blade has rather a hard appearance. It is easily distinguished from the .Danthonias by the seed' stalk and seed; the latter has a long awn and no hairs on what Mr Buchanan calls the flowering glumce,' but what usually is called the outer pale. ‘ Of the many other native grasses, I hc've not noticed any that are of much value for grazing purposes. One or two of the native Poas find a place on sandy lands, but grow little feed. I have excluded the tussac grasses, not because they are not valuable where they grow, but their habit is not such that one would , care to introduce them where other grasses will grow. One grass which Mr Buchanan notices as indigenous—viz., hard fescue —I have never seen, although he says, “It is common in both islands." . May this not be the origin of Chewing’s fescue? It may, however, be 'the introduced variety, and this is the more likely, a® he also describes the rattail, which is undoubtedly not a native, although in this case he mentions that this species may have been introduced. I have, heard that this grass, and also Yarrow, was introduced by the missionaries whep they first came to New Zealand. Certainly Bishop Hadfield introduced them to Otaki. I have asked many who were interested in the subject of the hard fescue if they had noticed it as a native, but found no one who had except Mr Kirk, who has shown me specimens collected by him. I lately had the pleasure of looking over a most valuable collection of native grasses in, a portfolio which Sir John Hall had. 1 It bad been collected by the Curator of the Domain in Christchurch. Clovers: It would be needless for me to say anything of the clovers, although it would-be unwise for anyone to try

to form a pasture without them. It is very satisfactory to know that we can now grow clover seed as good, if not better, than any we can import, and, now that the humble bee is so numerous, the importation of clovers will soon, t hope, cease. When in London lately, in a seed warehouse. I was shown some most excellent samples of New Zealand clovers, which had been imported, and which found a ready sale in England—perhaps some of them “found their way back as an improved variety—and no dopbt we shall soon be supplying clover seeds to the world, for, if successful, it is one of the most paying of crops. This Conference will, I trust, urge strongly a Noxious Weeds Act being passed, for, bad as it is to spread in our own pastures such weeds .as the Californian thistle, through seed grown here, it will kill the trade with England if it, got abroad that any noxious weed Had been introduced there through our agency-

I have not mentioned lucerne or prairie grass. The area on which these most valuable fodders can be grown in

New Zealand is very limited, but the growth of both here is phenomenal where the soil is suitable. Neither of them is suitable for grazing, but, grown for nay, yield large crops, and can be cut again and again. Even in winter the growth of prairie grass is extraordinary on dry, sandy, alluvial soil, which is dry and yet contains much plant food. I should like to make many extracts from writers, but they would make this paper (already too long) too lengthy an occasion. I cannot refrain from quoting two. both in their own way the foremost authorities in England. The first is from Mr W. Carruthers, on the best grasses of fifteen of the most common grasses, looking at them from an economic point of view : Quantity or Feeding Money Value. Value.

The other quotation is from J. Augustin Voellker, the Consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, on the chemical value : “It is not intended in -these remarks to indicate more than the chemical features out by the analysis, for it must be apparent that, chemical analysis alone cannot fully determine the relative value of different grasses and their suitability for permanent or other pastures. The adaptability of some kinds of grasses for certain soils, the amount of growth attained, the time of maturity, the length of duration, the ability to resist drought, the sterngth to overpower weeds, and other circumstances, must of necessity be taken into account, ... If any special grasses are to be selected by reason of the high nutritive properties they possess, Alopecurus pratensis, Festuea ovina, Poa nemoralis, Festyca heterophylla., and Poa trivialis must be named among the first, and then lolium pe-

renne, Phleum pratense, Anthoxanthum odoratum. Loiium italicum. arid Dactylis glomerata.”

He also gives ryegrass and timothy as showing most nitrogen and true albuminoids. which are the flesh-formers i whilst cocksfoot and Italian ryegrass are specially I'icli in carbo-hydrates, which are the heat and fat-producing substances. Amongst the clovers he says that red clover and alsike stand out prominentlv.

The general practice in New Zealand (no doubt well based on experience) is that where ryegrass will grow there : t should form most of the mixture sown. But. as I have said, there are very large areas, where to do so is almost a waste of money. Yet on rieh bottom lands no grass takes so readily and gives such good results. It would be wise in these cases, however, to add a little meadow foxtail, especially where the land is moist, and, if the land is very wet, timothy with the U3ual elovei\s. On the medium lands cocksfoot will no doubt as heretofore be the basis of the mixture. As cocksfoot takes some time to establish itself, a few pounds Italian ryegrass, to give a good bite during the first year, will repay sowing, and perhaps a little meadow fescue, if the land is good, especiallv if horses are to graze on the pasture. There is no harm in sowing F. elatoir, if desired on this class of soil. It would also be wise where the owner can afford it. to sow some of the finer gi'asses to make the sward thicker, and probably hard fescue will give as good result as any. But the sower must be largely guided, first, oy his pocket, and, secondly, by the experience of the farmers in the district ; and. after making experiments himself, find what suits iiis soil and climate best. Small Danthonias are worth a trial also on this class of soil.

On the poorer soils cocksfoot will yet keep its place, and. with Chewing’s fescue. crested dogstail, and the Danthonias, will probably assist in forming a sward.

It seems hard to the owners of the poorer soils that those of their neighbours who own rich land shSuld find it so easy and so cheap to form a sward, for the richer the land the less seed is required. But by judicious stocking (very light at first), and allowing the grasses to seed .occasionally, even the poorer lands, in such a generous climate, will eventually thicken in the sward, and carry more stock. One consolation the owner of such lands has, and that is they are much healthier, and it is astonishing, by reducing stock to a minimum in winter (practically to the ewe flock), what can be done off hills which are not “with verdure clad,” large quantities of fat lambs in the South Island being taken off them.*

f ln a very valuable paper, dealing with second-class lands, Mr Elliot, of Kelso, recommends burnet, chicory, and suchlike tap-rooted plants—anything in fact which will give milk and sheep will eat. The quantity of seed sown per acre is laid down by Sinclair to be 12,000000, if the owner wishes to lay it down to the best advantage. This, of course, is scarcely ever reached in New Zealand ; but it is well to consider the number of seeds when sowing down land. Tables are to be found in any text book on the subject, showing the number of seeds to the pound.

Where the bush has been fallen and burnt the seed bed is as perfect as it is possible to imagine it, and some consider, under these conditions, that 101 b of seed per acre is enough; 201 bis much better, for with the thinner seeding, the sward is a long time in thickening out. It takes 301 b and more of seed-mixture to give a good result on the ploughed land.

I cannot conclude without mentioning the most interesting experiments being made by Messrs Garton Brothers, which are being made in crossing different varieties of grasses, but they are only in the experimental stage, but may prove most interesting.''' One of them is the cross between ryegrass Ifiid our New Zealand tall fescue.

In conclusion, I should like to suggest to the conference that a resolution should be passed backing up Mr Kirk’s rejuest for an Act to indemnify him for damages in the case of his publishing the names of tlio’Se seedsmen who sell impure seeds, and also that a proper establishment for the testing of seeds be provided. It is a most important branch of the Agricultural Department.

Rape, Mustard, Thousand-headed Cabbage arid other agricultural seeds of best quality from Nimmo and Blair, Dunedin.

Cocksfoot ... 100100 Tall oatgrass ... 94 114 Meadow foxtail ... 75 88 Tall fescue ... 67 72 Sweet vernal ... 63 75* Yellow Oatgrass ... 59 77 Meadow fescue ... 58 73 Timothy ... 54 68 Ryegrass . ... 49 52 Wood meadowg,ra Rough - stalked ss ... 37 mead57 owgrass Smooth-stalked' ... 37 mead53 owgrass ... 32 51 Crested 1 dogstail ... 23 39 Hard fescue ... 24 35 Sheep’s fescue ... 17 30