20 



Agricultural Gazette of N.S.JV. [Jan. 2,1908. 



Grasses. — 'I'Ih^sc are sown in drills, many of tliciii makiiiii" very fail' 

 growth; l)i:1 i>ut >>( ten varieties there was notliiiiii' which, when eumiiared 



willi the liliixles (Ji-ass, was considered 

 worth growing. This variety stood 

 ont ahead ef all others, Paspaliim 

 ihhi/alam not lioldiiig a candle to it. 

 When once the Rhodes Grass is estah- 

 lished, it appears to do remarkahly 

 well willi liiit \-ery little irrigation — 

 as a mattei' of fact, it liad only one 

 irrigation last yeai'; hut wo were 

 fortnnate in getting two or three good 

 heavy summer rains, which supplied it 

 with all the moisture it re(|uired. 



The otticei's of the I )ei>ai-tnient are 

 of opinion that with any kind of 

 systematic (.'ultivat ion, in conjunction 

 with ii'i'igation, at least good fodder 

 ci'ops can !)(• gi'own wherever hore 

 water is availahle in this State, and 

 that on moderately light soils lucerne 

 can be profitably grown. On the 

 heaviest soils, where, jierhaps, lucerne 

 will not do well, some of the very hest 

 crops of sorghum can be grown. 



The gromul in which we have 

 started these experiments at this bore 

 has been under cro]) for at least two 

 years out of three during the past 

 ten years, and I fail to see that it 

 is in any worse condition to-da.v than 

 it was after the first crop was taken 

 <,tf it. 

 We have not turned our attention to the making of ensilage here, but we 

 have shown for the last ten years at our larger farms how to make this, not 

 only in the stack, but in the pit and tub silos; so that there is very little 

 need for going in for it here, where we do not carry stock of any kind 

 beyond the horses necessary for working the orchard and (^x]ieriniental plots. 

 Last year our wheaten hay crop jirovcd a failure, owing to rust attack- 

 in?' it iust about \\\c time it was readv for cuttiuL;', when continuous 

 rains, lasting for nearly a fortnight, Hooded the ground and spoilt the 

 crop. This year we have tried .Tohn JJrown and Plover, both of which 

 are fairly rust-resistant varieties. John Brown, has done very much 

 better and yielded heavier crops than Plover. Next year we will, in all 

 probability^ try three or four other good varieties. 



Blacl( Sorghum. 



