A. H. Cockayne. — Montane Tussock Grassland. 155 



seventh of the occupied land of New Zealand. This great plant forma- 

 tion stretches in an almost unbroken line from the Wairau River in 

 Marlborough to the heavily wooded mountains of S'outhland. It forms 

 a broad belt, interrupted here and there by forest, mainly of the 

 southern-beech — Nothofagus cliff or tioides (Hook f.) Oerst. — type, be- 

 tween the agricultural land of the lowlands and the subalpine belt. 

 It occupies both valleys and mountain-slopes with its uniform vegeta- 

 tion, and gives a rather monotonous aspect to the landscape, on account 

 of its uniform height and unvarying brownish-yellow hue. 



The montane tussock grassland districts of the South Island form 

 one of the few types of vegetation on occupied land that has, in general 

 appearance and in the permanence of its dominant elements, apparently 

 remained comparatively unchanged since the advent of the white man. 

 In certain localities — notably in Central Otago and portions of South 

 Canterbury — this primitive formation has been profoundly modified; but 

 in general the montane tussock grasslands are superficially, and so far 

 as their effect on scenery is concerned, in much the same condition as 

 when first brought under occupation. 



3. Utilization. 



The montane tussock grasslands have been utilized as sheep-grazing 

 pasture for over half a century. For this purpose they wei-e imme- 

 diately available in their primitive condition, and they were amongst 

 the first of the areas used for pastoral purposes, ranking in this respect 

 with the original employment of the lowland tussock grasslands. They 

 represent one of the few natural resources of the Dominion that have 

 remained a permanent asset without having to be intentionally modified 

 or specially treated to render them capable of continued production. 

 The same statement would also be true of the primitive lowland tussock 

 associations, but it was early recognized that the land occupied by the 

 latter was in man}^ cases admirably adapted for ordinary farming opera- 

 tions. Thus the replacement of the Poa caespitosa association by arti- 

 ficial associations both of a temporary and semi-permanent nature 

 became a general practice. To-day much of the lowland tussock grass- 

 land has been converted into arable farms, and even where the plough 

 could not be utilized the extensive surface-sowing of European grasses 

 on the ashes foimed by the bxirning of the tussocks has in many places 

 completely changed the original vegetation. With the montane tussock 

 grassland such has not been the case, and it is only in isolated instances 

 that the original vegetation has been eliminated and replaced by artificial 

 associations. 



It may appear strange that in New Zealand, where the general trend 

 of farming operations is in the direction of increasing the carrying- 

 capacity of land, comparatively no effort is made towards any im- 

 provement in the utilization of the montane tussock grasslands. For 

 the past fifty years the methods adopted have not varied except in one 

 particular — namely, in a change in the type of sheep that is used. In 

 the early days nearly the whole of the flocks on the upland sheep-stations 

 of the South Island were merinos. This was due largely to the fact that 

 in Australia this was the dominant breed, and that New Zealand was 

 originally mainly stocked from that country. During the past twenty 

 years, however, the merino flocks have suffered a great decline, and 

 their place on the montane tussock-land has been verv laraielv taken 



