INTRODUCTION GRAZING DISTRICTS. xxi 



A Synopsis of three specially written Articles 

 on Important Grazing Districts in New South 

 Wales. 



ILLAWARRA PASTURES. 



ALTHOUGH a great deal has been written about the dairying industry in 

 Australia, the question of pasture plants and grasses has hitherto been 

 entirely ignored by most writers, or has been dismissed with a few common- 

 place remarks. Why this should be so it is hard to conceive, since herbage 

 is the principal factor in creating this great industry. Prom the number of 

 inquiries that are now being made it is quite evident that at no previous 

 time in the history of this country has the subject of forage plants and 

 grasses occupied so much of the attention of those who have stock to feed 

 as it does at the present time. Even those dairymen who are fortunate 

 enough to possess homesteads in the South Coast district, where the average 

 rainfall is good, and where the pasturage grows on the naturally rich, 

 basaltic hills and alluvial flats, have assured ine that the . continuous grazing 

 has had a serious effect upon some of the best of the herbage, and the more 

 thoughtful of them are now beginning to see that unless the grazing areas 

 are periodically rested, manured, and otherwise attended to, they will further 

 deteriorate. 



It cannot be expected that herbage which is continually cropped down 

 will always be rich and succulent, and most experienced dairymen are now 

 convinced of the fact that unless milch cows are regularly supplied with 

 good herbage they will not yield a great quantity of milk. It becomes, 

 therefore, very necessary, if the industry is to be carried out on successful 

 commercial lines, for many consecutive years, to pay a great deal more 

 attention to the pastures than has hitherto been the practice. In going 

 through the Illawarra district it was my good fortune to converse with 

 dairymen who had been carrying on their vocation for very many years. 

 Therefore, when I refer to some of their remarks it will be a sufficient 

 guarantee that the information is the result of many years' practical 

 experience. 



PEESENT CONDITION OF PASTTJEES. 



Some of the grazing areas are in a very good condition, and show that 

 they have been carefully attended to, whilst others are in a very bad state. 

 Many dairymen destroy all noxious plants immediately they make their 

 appearance, whilst others appear to let them grow at their own sweet will 

 until they become a nuisance on the areas they occupy, and a menace to 

 the adjacent land. When the seeds of these noxious plants are ripe they 

 are often distributed by various agencies on clean paddocks, where they 



