10 AUSTRALIAN GRASSES AND PASTURE PLANTS 



ordinary season a good shower of rain, such as results from a 

 thunderstorm, will cause new growth to sprout prolifically 

 from the joints of the stems, which are soon covered with a 

 mass of green nutritious herbage. The above are only a very 

 few of the many instances which could be given to illustrate 

 the remarkable recuperative powers of Australian grasses. 



Improvement of Pastures. On sheep runs the fact that 

 every animal and the fleece of wool that it produces annually 

 takes a certain percentage of chemical substances out of the 

 earth is often lost sight of and little or nothing so far has 

 been done to restore these elements to the soil, except that 

 which is returned in a natural way, but these should be taken 

 into consideration for they are of primary importance in 

 maintaining good pasturage. In the dairying districts few 

 dairymen take into account that a very large amount of 

 nutritious herbage is required to build up the frame and body 

 of young cattle, and also that every gallon of milk takes a 

 certain amount of fertility out of the land. Until this is 

 restored to the soil in some form or another the pasturage, 

 both as regards quantity and quality, must deteriorate sooner 

 or later. Amongst a number of chemical constituents that 

 grasses and fodder plants remove from the soil, the most 

 valuable are nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, and lime. 

 These should be returned to the land in the form of dried blood, 

 bonedust, kainite, or similar manures. The proportion to use 

 will, of course, depend upon local and other conditions, and 

 must be determined by those who use them. Some soils are 

 naturally richer in one or more of these constituents than 

 others are, and when this has been chemically ascertained the 

 proportion to apply to the land can be gauged to a nicety, 

 and fertilisers can be used economically and efficiently. In 

 some pastures in the coast areas chain harrows have been 

 employed to pulverise and evenly distribute over the grass the 



