512 Transactions. 



which stock will not touch, leaving the spreading tufts of this 

 wiry and worthless plant to crowd out better herbs and grasses. 

 There will be a little yarrow ; cranesbill ; four sorts of Geranium 

 — G. sessiliflorum, mierophylhnn, molle, and dissectmm — all of 

 them eaten by sheep ; sorrel ; and, finally, a dozen or so of 

 weeds. 



On acre B we shall find a much larger proportion of rye. 

 white-clover, cocksfoot, and fog ; rather more Poa pratensis ; 

 better - grown goose-grass; a sprinkling of crested dogstail 

 and ratstail ; and decidedly less of such natives as Danthonia 

 pilosa, D. semiannularis, and Microlama stipoides. The weeds 

 will be thistles, sow-thistles, Plantago lanceolata, and P. major. 

 Generally speaking, in fact, we shall find that the better soils 

 hold the better grasses for the longer period. 



On acre C almost no rye, no cocksfoot, no fog, no white- 

 clover, and but little trefoil is noticeable. The alien grasses are 

 sheep's fescue, fiorin, crested dogstail, Poa pratensis ; but the 

 bulk of the pasture is Danthonia semiannularis, with a consider- 

 able proportion of Poa anceps, and Poa Colensoi, while the weeds 

 in this half are almost all subalpine varieties. 



This ground was sown in the late sixties, and here too. I 

 am told by former managers, white-clover was at one time 

 abundant. To recapitulate : Acre C, probably the oldest turf 

 of the run, has deteriorated to its normal sheep - carrying 

 capacity ; acre B has still got to reach its minimum value as 

 pasture, for in it the native grasses and the less-good aliens 

 are still ousting the better varieties ; acre A is undergoing a 

 similar process, its already less-valuable sward being yearly 

 depauperised and adulterated more and more largely with 

 varieties of worthless Trifolium or Carex. 



Before proceeding to consider the native grasses of the run 

 it will be interesting to note the manner of arrival and spread 

 of the alien species. Lolium perenne, Dactylis alomerata. and 

 Poa pratensis were the grasses almost exclusive! \ sown on Tutiia 

 in the eighties, and among such seed, no doubt, appeared llol- 

 cus I attains, Bromus mollis, B. racemosus, Poa annua. Festuca 

 myuros, F. bromoidcs. Aira varyophyll-a, and Briza minor. On 

 the Maungahararu Range, then a separate ran, probably Agrostis 

 alba, Cynosurus eristatus, Festuca rubra, and F. ovina were pur- 

 posely sown. At Tutiia the last two have never been sown. 

 and only in 1906 were the two first named sprinkled as an 

 experiment in one part of the run. 



Of all these grasses, Lo/iion perenne is the most valuable, 

 and the deterioration of the pasture is owing to its gradual 

 disappearance; cocksfool is another almost equally useful 

 grass; and Poa pratensis ranks third, I believe, on Tutira, for 



