50 AgriciUtiimi Gazette of X.S.'ff^. [Jru/ . 2, 1908. 



The paddnck in which this tri;il wn^ fdiuliictcil wii-; the <in;ill niic cif 

 CV2 ticres, in which the mipciincd >hccp. during the tir>l Icnn nl the experi- 

 ment, wore riiiiniii.i;. In 1S!»!» it had heeii phiiited with "Old Man" salt- 

 hiisli, in i-iiws S feet apart ; 4 acres had made very >atisfactory growtli, as 

 can be seen fr<ini tlie illiist i-at inn ( l*"iii'. 1), which -hi. v~. this jxirtion of the 

 ])addnck hefoi'e the sheep were tni'iicd inln il al 1 he cdninicni'inn'nt nt the 

 lirst term dl the ex])crlmcnt . ()n the remaining jjortion nt the padddck the 

 salthti.sh was very thin, and its growth meairre. On \-'>\\i .Inly. l'.M)(;, a 

 portion of llie paddnck, which was ahnosl destitute n\ -allhush. was ploiiji'hed 

 up and fenced off. This reduced the area axailahlc tu the sheep to ."■»•<;!) acres. 



It is interest ini;' to note that the soil in this |)addoi'k is not the typical 

 bhick soil usually associated in liiis district with saltlm-h, and on which it 

 natui'all\' .yrows. hut is what is known as " Ked " count i\v. 



The paddock, duriiii;' the pi'ecedini;' twehc niouths, had canae<l >ix sheep 

 for the first three months, ten sheep I'oi- the next four month-, and eleven 

 sheei? for the remaining five months, oi- the e(iuivalent of 1 -f-l: sheep |)er acre 

 for twelve months. Despite this com|iarat ively heavy stockiuii'. there was, 

 at the eommeneement of this term of the exiiei'imeut, an ahundance of salt- 

 bush within reach of the sheex), also a short i;reen shoot, and some dry grass 

 and herbage. 



Good rains fell towards the end of Fehiaiai-y and durim: March, and, 

 though the i^addoek was carrying over three sheep pel' aci'c. the grass made 

 a fair shoot, which was much relisheil hy the sheei); thi- gi'een shoot 

 remained in evidcMice until the nnddle of Miiy. 



Towards the end of duly, the lowei' jiortions of tlie salthush within easy 

 reach of the sheep had all Leen I'atiai. At this slagt'. sullicient of the 

 higher top branches to meet the needs of the sheep were l)roken down as 

 required. On 11th Sei)tend)er the whole of the salthush wa- eaten, and it 

 became necessary to remove the sheep and ternnnaie the i-xjieriment. 



The sheej) with which the trial was conducted were the wethers and the 

 ewes and their i)rogeny used during tlie first term ol the (•.xperiiiient. 'I'here 

 were four wethers, ten ewes, and six lanihs; the ewes and wethers were about 

 3V2 yt'ars, and the lambs hetweeu 1 and i' months old. Three ewes (one of 

 the ewes with a lamb) and one wether had leen conliued in a pen and fed 

 exclusively on salthush during the i»revious tweK'e month-, and tlii' remainder 

 had heeii running loose in the small saltliush ]iaddock, their diet being 

 mainly salthush, with the slight addition of any grass or herbage which grew 

 after rain. 



On 4lli A])ril, T.iOt;, a ram was addid to the sheep in the paddock, and 

 remained with them until 17th July. The result was that eiglit out of the 

 ten ewes became in lamb. 



The sheep were shorn on Itlth .Vugust. llMiii, exactly twelve months later 

 than the date of the ])revio\is shearing. The fleeces, including tliose of the 

 hoggets, averaged l<"o lb. each. 



