lo Nov., 1908.] Culture of Permanent Pastures. 659 



weaklings that they will shrivel off on the first appearance of summer. 

 Some species of plants are exceedingly tender while young, notably lucerne 

 and clovers generally, and, consequently, where the winters are extreme, 

 these should be held back till spring time, or if autumn sown they must 

 be seeded very early so as to get well established before the winter frosts 

 set in. In fine, it may be said early auturrm sowing will give the best 

 results in our climate, though in the south-western and south-eastern por- 

 tions of the States early spring sowing, when conditions of soil and soil 

 moisture are favorable, may be expected to yield equally good results. After 

 all, in really good grass country, the preparation of the seed bed and the 

 after-management of the field are much more potent factors in determining 

 the success of the work than the season for seeding. 



Sowing with a Nurse Crop. — The practice of sowing 

 grass seed on a growing crop in the spring or of laying 

 a paddock down to grass with a spring or early summer crop 

 is one that appeals to all practical farmers, but to what 

 extent this system of pasture formation may be safely advocated in this 

 State it is impossible at present to sav. Reasoning from American results, 

 however, it is fairly easy to predict that failure, partial or complete, must 

 result whenever it is tried under a light rainfall. The general concensus 

 of opinion on this matter is that better results are to be obtained without 

 the so-called nurse crop, and unless it is found to be quite impossible to 

 do without the extra fodder, this practice should not be departed from 

 when permanent pasture is being aimed at. It mav be as well, perhaps, 

 to set out the arguments pro. and con. on this somewhat controversial 

 topic. The advocates of the cover crop system urge the following reasons 

 for their views : — 



(i) An extra crop is gained without materially affecting the virility 

 and permanence of the grasses. 

 This may be true in the case of spring-sown grasses, as they will not 

 yield any great quantity of feed till the following spring, but in the case 

 of autumn-sown grass which has not been handicapped by an overtowering 

 grain crop a substantial amount of fodder will be available in the summer 

 months, whereas when grown with a nurse crop practically nothing will be 

 returned till the second year. 



(2) The growing crops furnish a protective covering to the tender 



young plants, thereby sheltering them from the injurious 



effects of the frosts. 

 By this it is meant not only the nipping back of the young growth by the 

 direct influence of the frost, but also the soil movements induced by the 

 frosts, whereby the seedlings are hoisted up out of their warm l:>ed into the 

 cold air. 



(3) After harvest the stubble, if cut fairly high, continues to act the 



part of a " nurse " " cover ' ' or protective crop to the on- 

 coming grasses and clover. 



Any of the cereals will serve the purpose, but wheat is generally 



preferred, as it allows more air and light to reach the soil, and then again 



it stands up better than oats or barley. 



On the other hand, those who decry the cover crop system argue as 



follows : — 



I. The over-growing crop takes a large amount of nutritive material 



out of the soil which should remain there for the benefit of the young 



grasses, and for this reason they prefer to call the growing cereal a 



" robber crop." 



