848 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [Oct. 2, 1908. 



Phalaris Commutata. 



Mr. W. II. Wel)l), of Batlmrst, contributed the following paper on 

 riialaris commiifdta to the Daily Telegra'pJb, ITtli June, 1908 : — 



On May 24, 1007, I saw an aci^ount of Mr. Fui'pliy"s..su(cess in the (iippsland district 

 witli riuihiris coiiimntata. He obtained .sonic plaiit-s from Mr Harding, Curator, Botanic 

 Gardens, ToowO()nil)a (Q.), and put tiieni out at the end of April in drills .'} feet apart, and 

 eacii plant 2 feet apart. l>y the end of June they had grown 2 feet, and by the end of 

 the season 167 seed stems Mere on some of the jjlants. The highest averaged 7 feet, while 

 some were 8i feet. The clumps measured 2 feet across. The grass stood a severe winter 

 well, and showed no yellow leaves. The crop yielded at the rate of 00 bushels of seed 

 to the acre, and S tons of hay. In forty-five days it was 3 feet high from the time of 

 cutting at the end of January, during dry weather, in 1907. 



Such an account would make most persons try to get such a grass. At all events I 

 mentioned it to Mr. E. T. Webb, Mr. Perry (of O'Connell Plauis), and Mr. F. A. Webb 

 (manager of Springfield, near Oi'ange), to whom I sent a package of seed. We got four 

 packets of the seed, at 5s. each. The one I got contained 125 seeds, and upon carefully 

 weighing them on a gold scale I made the cost about £70 per lb. Not being too sure nf 

 the best time to sow these costly treasui-es, I had sixty-three seeds sown on August 2, 

 1907, leaving the remainder with the gardener to sow later on. Unfortunately, the mice 

 made short work of them, and all were lost. 



On September 20, 1907, thirty plants grown from the sixty-three seeds were all we had. 

 These wei'e transplanted near a sprinkler in a good spot in the garden at Hathrop, on rich 

 chocolate soil, on Avhich vegetables had been grown the previous year. When put out in 

 rows 2 feet wide, and the plants 1 foot apart, they Avere well watered, and afterwards all 

 were frecpiently watered, except a few at the ends of the rows that were not reached by tlie 

 water from the sprinkler. The weeds were kept down. Under these favouraljle circum- 

 stances it gre\\' apace. I noticed that the plants at the ends of the rows, that did not 

 get the water, were at least 60 per cent, behind the others. The rain was very short — 

 September 21, 46 points ; October, 30; November (better), 319 ; December, 142 ; Janu- 

 ary, 226 : February 1, 265, increased bj' the end to 290. Dry conditions followed — 

 March, 21 points ; April, 69. 



On April 20, 190S, some of the rows were thinned out, and the Ijunches split into 132 

 plants, containing from three to five seed stems, and put into similar soil, l)ut drier, and 

 more clay, near a sprinkler, and within 30 feet of an Osage Orange hedge, standing at 

 least 30 feet high, on the southern side. This would keep the cold southerly winds away, 

 but our prevailing cold winds come from the west. The roots of this hedge extends at 

 least 40 feet into the garden, and generally retard growth. All of the Phalaris coinmuiald 

 plants were well watered when transplanted, without cutting the tops, and they came on 

 without serious cheek, doing so well in the drj' time that followed that they were not 

 watered until June 9. The total rainfall for April was 69 points, only 6 of which fell after 

 the removal ; May, 110; and June to date, 33 points. On June 9, about eight bunches 

 on the hardest of the soil that caked hard, and were verj' small when put in, had done 

 only fairly, but the rest had grown splendidly, the seed stems counting from sixty to 

 eighty-two on each plant, and many being 12 inches long. The frosts were very severe. 

 On the grass the thermometer has recently recorded 11 and 12 degrees, being 21 and 20 

 degrees res2)ectively below freezing point. 



On May 19 and 20, 1908, tlie balance of the thirty plants grown from the seeds were 

 split and transplanted in a cosy spot, where they can be watered if necessary. They were 

 put out in rows 2 feet apart each way. On account of the previous lot doing so well with- 

 out cutting the tops off, these were not cut. The very severe frosts above referred to 

 (which caused waterpipes to burst and ice to form in the be<lrooms of some houses where 

 jieople slept with the windows open) cut the tops back seriously, and turned them all 

 black, during some twelve days after being put out. They were at once cut off from 

 1 inch to 2 inches above the ground, and are now coming along splendidly. 



The finest bunch taken up on May 19 measured 28 inches by 18 inches across the roots 

 when the bunch was upside down, and when turned back on the roots 66 inches by 

 .59 inches across the bunch from end to end of the seed stems, many of which were IS 

 inches long, hence the solid part of the top of the bunch was 30 inches across. We put 

 out 670 plants on May 19 and 20, varying in size from five to fifteen seed stems, from 

 the balance left in the ground on April 20, 1908. 



We feel pretty safe now, as we have 802 plants, and a small plot sown to seeds 

 obtained from a few of the jilants that ran to seed. 



