80 PASTURE PLANTS AND PASTURES OF N.Z. 



two acres each. One plot was almost pure Cocksfoot, 14 

 pounds per acre, and in its first season both cattle and sheep 

 crowded on to it, so that it carried more than any other 

 plot. It has still, after three years, much the best sole of 

 grass. In another field a bag of Cocksfoot was sown pure 

 by mistake, while most of the paddock was sown in an 

 ordinary mixture. It was never noticed that the Cocksfoot 

 side of the paddock carried less sheep than the other part, 

 and the Cocksfoot side is now, after three years, much the 

 best. In South Canterbury, on light land, 10 acres in a 50 

 acre field were sown in Cocksfoot pure, with the idea of saving 

 it for seed. From its first to its third year it was estimated 

 that the 10 acres of Cocksfoot carried more sheep than the 

 remaining 40 acres of the paddock, which were sown in a 

 Rye Grass mixture. The ploughing up of the part not in 

 Cocksfoot terminated the experiment. 



It appears likely that the adoption of Cocksfoot and 

 deep rooting plants may materially increase the stock 

 carrying capacity of much of our poorer lands, and at the 

 same time the soil may be permanently enriched in humus 

 by the ploughing in of a thick turf, and deepened by the 

 opening up of the subsoil. A system promising so great a 

 reward is well worth a trial. 



Grass Mixtures. The characters of the various grasses 

 and clovers have been sufficiently described in Chapters 

 I. and IV. From this information may be deduced suitable 

 mixtures for different leys on different classes of land, and 

 it would be much the most satisfactory plan to leave the 

 matter at that, so that each farmer might work out the grass 

 mixture most suitable for his own conditions. For the sake 

 of definiteness, however, there are appended hereto tables 

 showing the mixtures Usually employed, and some mixtures 

 suggested for trial. The main differences between these 

 suggested mixtures and those in common use are (1) the 



