BARLEY GRASS.

New Zealand Mail, 17 September 1902, Page 65 (Supplement)

BARLEY GRASS.

Writing to the New South Wales Agricultural Department's monthly journal. Mr Jame 9 C. rTibbits, . of- Myton .1 ields, states that ‘‘the general opinion hero among stockowners is that parley grass (or foxtail) is the best winter grass, They give it credit for qualities it does not really possess, overloading the presence of other more nutritious substances not conspicuous to the casual observer, and hidden by the pretentious tall and thick growing weed (barley. gra s s). In one sense 1. quite agree with them. At the present time, it is the hest winter grass we have, because nothing would eat it when more nutritious food-could be obtained, and therefore it is the only grass ‘left.’ That fact, in my mind, proves that stook will not eat it if any other food can he obtained, neither will stock resort to mulga or any other kind of scrub if good feed is available.

Before I read the analysis in your journal, Mr Tibbits continues “I was under the impression that foxtail was a good fodder plant, so much so that I was actually saving seed to sow on a tract of unimproved country. I a t once desisted, and determined to make rareful observations of its growth, etc. Since then I have had! every opporuni doia ® s °> 3,3 I occupy land on the Macquarie alluvial flats, where it grows to perfection. It ’is a very an , plant > withstanding the effects of heat or cold; will germinate very quickly on a minimum quantity of moisture, very rapid in its growth in early spring. But m ordinary good seasons* so do trefoil, wild carrots, prairie, crowsfoot ana other grasses intermixed with this foxtail, consequently the land-is covered- with a great coat of herbage. • “I have seen upwards of 60 head of

-good stores put on 150 acres, and in tiiree months or so most of them" taken , fat l’ , ai . u, > apparently, plenty of f- 1 in Paddock, but I noticed the foxtail was left, comparatively speaking, untouched, the cattle having fattened on the trefoil and other more nutritious fodder plants. More cattle were put on, but did not give the same satisfactory results. The succulent fodder had been exhausted, and nothing left hut the non- bleached toxtail, the seed having ripened and .11 ' I ben stock forced by hunger "ill eat it, as they will eat box or apple tree leaves under like conditions. •ii ■ ie present time cows and horses will greedily devour the droppingg of the horses fed upon chaff.) “I also noticed that on the headlands or the wheat paddocks it grew last season a great crop, yet when of early growth and apparently succulent, the rabbits made tracks through it and ™ the young wheat to the ground. When the wheat was garnered, horses and cattle were put on the stubble, and so long as a bite of stubble or anything else could be got this foxtail was , , untouched. In one of these paddocks the foxtail prevailed, and was cut- with the wheat and stacked. A buyer came out to buy. He exclaimed, on inspecting this stack, ‘I would not touch it at any price: too- much grass among it!’ This ' condemned *»tack uas ted in sheaves to horses, and L took particular notice that if a -sheaf had a quantity of this foxtail it was lert, and only consumed when nothin* better could be got.

I send a sample now standing on a vacant piece of ground, to which horses Seattle have had free access, and rabbits m hundreds ring harking the trees round which it grows. I consider it a weed, which will eventually cause a lot of trouble, for it will smother, and so take the place of fodder of a more nutritious character. It lias other disadvantages, for its seeds u ill penetrate the eyes of lambs, causing blindness. Its capabilities of penetration may be quickly ascertained by calking through it. or by carrying a sheat you will find your pants and singlet very irritating. It will also penetrate the gums of horses, and if not removed cause a lot of +rouble ?x----tiacting. 1 write this for the purpose ot inducing some of your readers t'o prove that this foxtail is the best uniter grass we have, and will not in the future eradicate more useful native and other grasses.