THE PARTNERSHIP OF H. G.-S. AND T. J. S. 237 



Our paddock thus fenced and burnt, the next operation was the 

 crushing of fern and sowing of grass seed. Like the man in the 

 public - school Latin primer, "Rich in flocks, yet who lacked coin," 

 we could only afford a cheap mixture. The stores of Port Ahuriri 

 were raked for fog (Holcus lanatus), for cock's-foot double - heads 

 (Dactylis glomerata), for seconds of ryegrass (Lolium perenne), for 

 goose-grass (Bromus mollis), for rat's-tail fescue (Festuca myuros). Of 

 hulled fog at Id. a Ib. we bought, I remember, one hundred pounds' 

 worth. Amongst tailings and sweepings acquired were included seeds 

 of Poa pratensis, a certain amount of white clover (Trifolium repens), 

 and a handful or so of crested dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus), which 

 then first made its appearance on Tutira, together with foxglove 

 (Digitalis purpurea) and vetch ( Vicia sativa). Many hundred bags of 

 goose-grass we got at little more than the cost of the sacks ; an immense 

 quantity of suckling, at about one farthing per pound, was also secured. 



Goose-grass, rat's-tail fescue, and fog are, I am aware, damned in 

 every respectable volume on British grasses. In the 'eighties they 

 were, for all that, useful to the station ; any plant that sheep would 

 eat was an improvement on bracken. As for suckling clover, it is no 

 exaggeration to say that more than once it has saved the situation. 

 To this day, indeed, I believe that if one fodder-plant had to be elimi- 

 nated, Tutira could least well afford to lose this so-called insignificant 

 weed. Yorkshire fog, goose-grass, and rat-tailed fescue have long since 

 ceased to give any appreciable benefit. In the 'eighties, however, their 

 rapid germination and growth, their ability to thrive on light land, and 

 their heavy seeding qualities, made them relatively valuable. Luxuri- 

 ance and exuberance are not the words to describe growth of any sort 

 on conglomerate and sandstone country such as that of central Tutira ; 

 yet each of the plants mentioned contributed its quotum to the service 

 of the run. All of them had in the first place reached the run by 

 chance. I had noticed them thriving, and adopted the hint dropped 

 by nature. 



These grasses, together with tailings and sweepings, the winnowed 

 dust of a dozen stores, were, with a leaven of sound seed, poured in 

 deep heaps along the wool-shed floor. There good and bad were mixed, 

 bagged, and stacked, a dust, like the smoke of Tophet, arising from the 

 work. The bags were next packed out and spaced about the paddock ; 

 there they stood in pairs leaning against one another, the seeds within 



