T 34 THE farmers' handbook. 



It is an uncommon practice in this State to sow grass seed with any other 

 crop ; but the results that attend the method are often satisfactory. Italian 

 rye grass, sown with a light seeding of oats, produces in the spring a good 

 body of feed which can be utilised for hay. The aftermath of the grass can 

 then he grazed practically to the end of the year. Other grasses used in 

 this way with good results are Kentucky hlue grass and cocksfoot. 



Sowing in " bums." — A good deal of this is done in rich heavily-timbered 

 country. The ashes of the burned timber provide a good seed-bed for many of 

 the glasses, the principal of which are paspalum, Rhodes, cocksfoot, rye 

 grass, and Bokhara clover, all of which have given good results where tried. 

 A wet cool season should be chosen for the purpose, as the fine ashes quicks- 

 dry out, and the seed or seedlings become injured in the process. Volcanic 

 soils, owing to their loose nature, and to bhe protective growth afforded by 

 shrubs and large tree stumps, are particularly adapted to sowing in " burns." 



Scattering Seed Broadcast. — This method of sowing seed is not recom- 

 mended, except for native pastures in the west where cultivation on a large 

 scale is impracticable. A great deal can be done by scattering good native 

 grass seed over the area (just after rain, if possible) and tramping it in with 

 sheep or other stock. The black soil area is particularly adapted to this 

 primitive method of sowing, owing to the fact that the cracking of the soil 

 allows the seed to be buried with very little difficulty. The method is not 

 as certain on hard soils such as in the Riverina, and red soils in general, in 

 which maybe only a very small amount of seed will germinate, and then 

 only after resting for a long period. The pasture can be maintained, how- 

 ever, by this means. Some pastoralists always have native grass seed in 

 their pockets, and scatter it over the bare patches as they are travelling 

 round their estates. 



Time to Sow. 



English grasses on the coast and tablelands are best sown in the autumn, 

 say, March or April. In the more elevated tablelands, however, and where 

 the spring and summer rains are constant, good stands are often obtained 

 by sowing any time during the winter. Most English grasses, though little 

 affected by frosts, make slow growth in the winter months. The root 

 system, however, becomes well established during this period, and, when the 

 warm spring arrives, the grasses make rapid growth. 



Summer grasses like paspalum, Rhodes, kikuyu, and Sudan are best sown 

 in the spring. Some farmers sow paspalum at any period during the summer 

 months, but there is a risk attached to this, owing to the quickness with 

 which the soil surface dries out, thus affecting germination. 



Rate to Sow. 



To a large extent this depends on the size and weight of the seed. Some 

 seed has a much higher vitality than others, rye grass, for example, always 

 produces a stand wherever sown. Again, heavy seeds require a heavier seed- 

 ing than light seeds. A mixture of cocksfoot, rye grass, prairie grass, and Cow 

 grass cloven, for example, can be seeded at the rate of about 30 lb. per acre, 

 whereas light grass seed like that of Rhodes grass would only require to be 

 sown at the rate of 4 to 5 lb. per acre. This would mean 2 j million seeds 

 of Rhodes grass as against 10 million seeds (approximately) of the cocksfoot- 

 rye grass mixture. Owing to its creeping character, a Rhodes grass plant 

 will easily occupy an area, equal to that occupied by three or four plants of 

 the mixture, so that the seeding works out fairly accurate. Vigorous 



