XXvi INTRODUCTION GRAZING DISTRICTS. 



cultivation and attention as do most other crops, and unless pastures are 

 manured and periodically rested it cannot be expected that they will continue 

 for ever in a satisfactory condition. In most cases it is simply throwing 

 money away to try and renovate old pastures by sowing grass-seeds on the 

 surface in moist weather, and putting a bush-harrow over the land to settle 

 the seeds in the soil. G-enerally the seeds germinate readily enough, but 

 the surface becoming hard in dry weather, the delicate roots of the young 

 grass cannot penetrate easily, consequently a great percentage dies off. 

 Should pasture be thought to be too poor to renovate by judiciously manur- 

 ing it, the best plan would be to plough it deeply and carefully till it as if 

 for any other crop, and sow it down with a good mixture of grass-seeds to 

 form new permanent pasture. 



MANURING PASTURES. 



Taking into consideration the fertility of the Illawarra District, and the 

 very little competition in the dairying industry until late years, it is not to 

 be wondered at that some persons have ridiculed the idea of using manures 

 on pasture-lands. Things have changed very much of late years, and com- 

 petition in the dairying industry is now very keen. Creameries and butter- 

 factories have been established in many districts where it was thought such 

 institutions could not nourish, and where land is rented or acquired on easier 

 terms than in the South Coast. With these facts staring the Illawarra 

 dairymen in the face they cannot now afford to be content with a good 

 supply of herbage at one season of the year and a great falling off at 

 another, which, in other words, means a plentiful supply of milk for a season 

 and a diminished supply at another season. Pastures must now yield a good 

 crop of nutritious grass a greater part of the year to make the dairyman's 

 occupation a profitable one. To obtain this end, manures must be judi- 

 ciously applied to pastures to stimulate the growth of good grasses and 

 other forage-plants. By encouraging the better class of herbage it will 

 enable it to smother and choke out many of the weed-pests that now infest 

 pastures. Some persons seem to have lost sight of the fact that a very large 

 amount of nutritious herbage is required to build up the frame and body of 

 young cattle that are raised for dairy purposes, 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 constituents that fodder plants and grasses 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, and kainit, or 

 similar manures. The proportion to use will, of course, depend upon cir- 

 cumstances, and must be determined by those who use them. Some soils 

 are naturally richer in one or more of these constituents than other soils 

 are, and when this has been ascertained the proportions to apply to the land 

 can be gauged to a nicety. Lime can be applied to heavy or tenacious soils 

 with most beneficial results. Its mechanical and ameliorating effect on such 

 soils are well known to persons who have used it. There are large areas in 

 the South Coast that would be benefited by a dressing of lime, if it was 

 applied at the rate of about 1 ton to the acre. It should not be applied to 

 the same piece of land too often ; once in about five years will be found quite 

 sufficient to give the desired results. The natural manure that is made on 

 a dairy-farm is often considerable, and if this was carefully conserved it 

 would be of the greatest value as a top-dressing for pastures, and, in a great 

 measure, replace the losses caused by cattle consuming the herbage. 



