156 Transactions. 



by half-bred and cross-bred sheep. Apart, however, from a change in 

 the type of sheep carried, no attempt has really been made to improve 

 the carrying-capacity of the grasslands themselves. Certainly during 

 recent years a controversy has raged on the advisability of burning 

 montane tussock grassland, but no finality has been reached regarding 

 this procedure, although there is a growing tendency to restrict burning 

 to special times and places. 



There are, however, three distinct factors to which must be attributed 

 the lack of any progression in the utilization of upland tussock grass- 

 lands. Briefly expressed, these three factors may be summarized under 

 the following heads: (1.) The fact that the greater part of the land is 

 held under a system of short leasehold. (2.) That our knowledge of what 

 plants could be profitably substituted for the present vegetation is almost 

 nil, and the methods for the payable establishment of such plants are 

 quite problematical. (3.) That the individual runs are in general so 

 large that they furnish ample incomes to their holders without the 

 adojotior of any special methods of soil-utilization. 



In geneial, sheep -stations which consist largely of montane tussock 

 grassland are situated in mountainous districts, and their higher por- 

 tions consist of subalpine and alpine associations. The former are 

 largely used for grazing purposes during the summer; hence the term 

 "' summer country." The lower montane belt is generally called 

 " winter country," as it is the only ground on which stock can be 

 carried during the winter months. Thus on manj^ stations the montane 

 tussock grassland is without stock for considerable periods of the 

 year, and especially at that period when the grasses are in flower and 

 seed. During the winter, however, this tussock land, especially that 

 portion lying towards the sun, is wholly responsible for the carrying 

 of all stock, as comparatively no provision is ever made for the 

 production of special winter feed. This is perhaps the most strik- 

 ing difference between the methods adopted on lowland and upland 

 sheep-runs. At times, in the neighbourhood of the homesteads them- 

 selves, a little cultivation is carried on, but this is almost wholly in 

 the direction of providing chaff for the working-horses of the station. 

 A few paddocks of European grasses may also be laid down, but the 

 prevalent custom of using mixtures largely composed of rye-grass {Loliwm 

 italicum A. Br.), which dies out in a year or two, has discouraged 

 any extensive development in this direction. On certain stations, 

 however, excellent home paddocks of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) 

 are established, and it seems reasonable to expect that such a prac- 

 tice would become largely extended were the individual holdings 

 smaller. 



No fattening for market is ever attempted on true montane sheep- 

 country, but on most stations a certain number of store sheep may be 

 annually disposed of. In certain seasons, however, the winter mortality 

 is so high, that the normal number of stock carried cannot be maintained 

 without extensive outside buying. 



Reliable figures on the number of sheep carried on the montane 

 tussock grasslands are not available, but from a careful computation 

 from the sheep returns I estimate it at about two millions, or, roughly, 

 one-twelfth of the sheep of the Dominion. As the area under discussion 

 comprises about 6,000,000 acres, this gives a carrying-capacity of one- 

 third of a sheep per acre. In point of fact, however, I think this 

 estimate is on the high side. 



