7,y> THE FARMERS' HANDBOOK. 



Good grasses should be characterised by the following features : — 



(1) Permanence (particularly under stocking). 



(2) Succulence, palatability, and high nutritive qualities. 

 (.'}) Vigor of growth and good carrying capacity. 



(4) Good seeding habits (generally). 



(5) Resistance to adverse climatic conditions, such as frost and drought. 



Bad grasses will be characterised by the following features : — 



(1) Short-lived character. 



(2) Harshness of leaf and unpalatability. 



(3) Too vigorous seeding habits, which often cause them to spread into 

 cultivation. 



A good pasture should provide succulent feed all the year round. This is 

 impracticable in many localities, as the summer grasses prove too vigorous 

 and crowd out the winter grasses. In such circumstances there should he 

 distinct paddocks of summer and winter pastures. Good pastures should 

 also be free from weed and fungus growth. Allow weeds to obtain a hold 

 on a pasture, and it will be practically impossible to bring it into good 

 condition again without re sowing. Land should first be sown to a strong- 

 growing crop and then fallowed before being laid down to pasture. By 

 working the land occasionally during the fallow most of the weed seedlings 

 can be destroyed. 



Mixtures. 



An ideal pasture is one containing as great a variety of good grasses as 

 possible, combined with leguminous plants like clovers, trefoils, &e. Only by 

 such a combination (that is, the supplement of the carbohydrate content of 

 the grass by the protein content of the legume) can the ideal balanced ration 

 be provided. Paspalum pastures would lose a great deal of their present 

 value were it not for the fact that White clover grows abundantly with it in 

 most situations. Under natural conditions many different species of plants 

 intermingle ; different plants require different soil constituents, or similar 

 constituents in different proportions, and the plant-food in the soil that is 

 not utilised by one grass may thus be absorbed by another. 



A combination of grasses not only provides a more varied ration for stock, 

 but the varying habits of the different grasses ensures a more satisfactory 

 pasture in other ways. To lay down pastures of individual grasses is very 

 unwise. For example, if a pasture of cooksfoot alone be laid down, the tufts 

 produced are not only unsightly, but coarse, whereas when cocksfoot is 

 mixed with clover and rye grass, a more uniform sole is produced, and the 

 pasture is improved in quality. It must be confessed however, that the 

 number of grasses that can be used in a mixed pasture in this State is very 

 limited. For example, cocksfoot, rye, and prairie grasses, and clover will 

 grow in association in many parts, while the other English grasses mixed 

 with these die out after a couple of years. They are either too sensitive to 

 our hot and dry summers, or stock show a decided preference for them and 

 being weakest in growth they succumb. 



It is recommended that grasses be mixed wherever possible, but only by 

 experiment can the suitable ones be determined. Certain grasses, like 

 paspalum, kikuyu and couch, are generally so vigorous that to sow other- 

 grasses with them is useless. In such cases, separate paddocks of different 

 grasses are required if a variety of feed is desired. In all cases clover should 

 be sown with the grasses. White clover is generally used, but Red clover is 

 suitable in certain mixtures. 



