WAIKATO FARMERS' CLUB

Waikato Argus, Volume IX, Issue 773, 6 October 1900, Page 2

WAIKATO FARMERS' CLUB

TAMAHERE BRANCH. The ordinary meeting of the above was held on Wednesday. ~ Mr Wheeler presided, and there were 17 members piesent. Thanks wero. accorded to Mr W. L. O. Williams for » .'-Iter ro fog aud cockfoot. A letter was received from the Auckland Agricultural Society re importation of bones.—lt was resolved that every caution should be used to prevent the introduction of tick and anthrax. It was decided that Abo fat lamb business should be discussed at the Cambridge meeting. The small bird nuisance was mentioned, but discussion upon it was adjourned. The following letter re ratstuil grass was read : -Ratstail is a hard, tough grass, with wiry matted roots; it is generally believed that it was first introduced into Waikato by the commissariat department, who sowed it alongthe roads, andatpresent it is noticeable that it is not found growing in any quantity except on the public thoroughfare. Owing to the moisture of the atmostphere in this locality the seeds do not shed so freely as they do in warmer climates, consequently it spreads very slowly, so we need have little fear of it becomiug a nuisance. It is not of a very nourishing nature, so is only suitable for poor lands where better varieties would not thrive. In many of the districts north of Auckland it is very extensively grown. There the settlers find it a good plan to burn every summer or autumn aud by this means they obtain a lot of rough feed. To show how much it is thought of by some of the northern farmers it may not bo out of place to give a short anecdote.—Some time ago a Waikato gentleman was travelling by boat from Whangarei. There were about half* a-dozeu practical farmers on board, all of them hailed from the north, these gentlemen spent snmehoursdiscussingthe various glasses, and they were unanimous that the grass worth sowing ou tho greater part of the land was ratstail. Yet this grass is not suitable for Waikato; in the first place our land is rich enough to sustain grasses of a more nourishing nature. Besides, when once sown, owing to its tough, wiry, matted roots, and it makes it very difficult to plough and cultivate the land, and even if this were done it would be necessary to keep the ground tilled for some years, so that all the seeds germinate or else when the paddock were sown in permanent pasture the ratstail would soon take the lead, and the better varieties disappear. It is also noticeable thut the teeth of animals that have grazed for some time on this grass wear much quicker than would be the case if fed on more tender herbage, ahd sometimes, especially in the ease of old ewes, the animals lose some of their front teeth, consequently their value is reduced. To sum up, we find that ratstail is not; suitable for Waikato, except, perhaps where the land is too poor or too steep to cultivate—for the following reasons:—lt is difficult to plough and cultivate land where it is growing. It is not so nourishing as some other varieties that thrive in the district. It is hard to exterminate, and it is destructive on the teeth of animals.