Pampas Grass on Hill Country

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 63, Issue 2, 15 August 1941, Page 115

Pampas Grass on Hill Country

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J. F. SHEPHERD,

Fields Instructor, Hamilton. i 'ttfitiiiiiii in ii Him iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir:

ONE of the problems confronting the hill country sheep farmer in the north is the control of growth during certain periods of the year in such a way that the pastures remain sound sheep pastures. , .This growth may be an excess of grass and clover or may be of the bracken fern type, and to enable a satisfactory degree of control to be exercised it is necessary to run a certain number of cattle.. On some properties the running of these cattle may result in direct profit, but on others the cattle beast must be

viewed merely as the “agricultural implement” of the hill country, and if the farmer “breaks even” with his cattle financially, or even suffers a little direct monetary loss, the indirect gain he gets through his sheep being depastured on controlled pastures warrants the cattle being run. In a general way it can be stated that cattle are an essential feature of successful hill country sheepfarming. . A further problem associated with the running of cattle is that during the period of maximum growth (spring and early summer) a certain number are required in order to cope with the growth, and unless this stock can be carried through the winter they have to be sold at sacrifice prices in the autumn and more bought in at high prices in the spring. This has resulted in most hill country properties being understocked with cattle at the period when they are most required, so that any system of management that will result in a larger number being wintered must result in better spring and summer pasture control, which will in turn result in better returns from sheep.

Faced with this problem a few years ago, Mr. J. B. Vowles, of Te Mata, considered pampas grass as a means towards the wintering of an increased number of cattle, and planted an acre as an experiment. The country is undulating to hilly and of a heavy vol-

canic clay type, which dries out badly during the summer months. The land was originally mixed bush, but now carries a fair pasture of the browntop-danthonia-cocksfoot type. Planting was done during the spring of 1939 with seedling plants from

Whangarei. The holes were dug well ahead of planting to allow as much weathering of the sod as possible, and a small handful of fertiliser was mixed with the soil at the time of planting. A dry spell was experienced during the following summer, neces-

sitating watering twice at intervals, and the result was that 90 per cent, of the plants , survived. . The accompanying photographs taken last February indicate that pampas grass, when established, will assist considerably in carrying stock during

the winter and early spring when cattle feed is particularly short oh this class of country. The pampas is to be fed off this winter, and it will be interesting to note the recovery and annual growth following grazing,