INTRODUCTION. 'XV11 



It has often been remarked that many of our native grasses while young 

 are really good pasture plants, but at the season of ripening their seeds are 

 irritating and dangerous to the eyes of sheep, often causing blindness, and 

 this no doubt is correct. But in a great measure this could be guarded 

 against, if pastoralists were to confine their sheep to small areas, until the 

 seeds had fallen to the ground, which, under ordinary circumstances, would 

 not be longer than three weeks, when most of the danger would be past. 

 Once the seeds with their adherent awns are shed, they are comparatively 

 harmless to the animals' eyes, though they may get into the wool. Unfor- 

 tunately, when the grasses that bear these long awns become old, they are 

 not so freely eaten by cattle or sheep as other species ; consequently they 

 grow and produce seed almost undisturbed. I have noted, however, that 

 when these grasses are brought under cultivation, their seeds and awns lose 

 much of the rigidity common to uncultivated ones. After some years of 

 observation I have arrived at the conclusion that the following species are 

 most to be dreaded on account of their long awns, or pungent pointed leaves : 

 Aristida arenaria, Gaud. ; A. behriana, E. v. M. ; A. calycina, E. Br. ; A. 

 depressa, Eetz. ; A. hygrometrica, K. Br. ; A. leptopoda, Benth. ; A. ramosa, 

 E. Br. ; A. stipoides, E. Br. ; A. vagans, Cav. ; Heteropogon contortus, 

 Eoem. ; H. insignis, Thu. ; Pollinia irritans, Benth.; Stipa aristiglumis, F. v. 

 M. ; S. flavescens, Labill. ; S. micrantha, Cav. ; S. pubescens, R. Br. ; Stipa 

 scabra, Lindl; S. semibarbata, R. Br. ; S. setacea, E. Br. ; Triodia cunninghami, 

 Benth. ; T. irritans, E. Br. ; T. Mitchelli, Benth. ; T. microstachya, E. Br. ; 

 T. procera, E. Br. ; T. pungeus, E. Br. ; and Eriachne squarrosa, E. Br.; thus 

 making, in all, twenty-six species, which is a little over 7 per cent, of those 

 recorded for the whole of Australia not a very formidable array, it must be 

 admitted, still of sufficient importance to make their position felt, and some- 

 what dreaded, by the sheep-owner. 



It has often been asked of me whether I favour the annual burning off of 

 grasses. Except in three cases, I am decidedly against burning off, for the 

 following reasons: 1. It destroys millions of grass seeds which an occasional 

 good season may have brought to maturity, thereby destroying the only 

 natural means for their reproduction. A fire also destroys many valuable 

 salsolaceous and other plants. 2. After burning off, if favourable weather 

 ensues, new growth is made quickly, and sheep turned in on this eat greedily 

 of it, which gives them what is commonly termed the scours or diarrhoea, 

 which often becomes chronic, and of course has such a weakening effect upon 

 them that many die. !N"or is this all ; for in biting out the young growth 

 from the heart of the plant much of the latter is brought with it, which of 

 course partially destroys it. If a fire should take place, sheep should never 

 be turned into the pasture until it has made considerable growth, though 

 cattle may be turned in without any serious damage being done, for they 

 never eat grasses so low as do sheep. I may here mention the fact that sheep 

 destroy the natural grasses and herbage in much less time than horses, and 

 they again much sooner than cattle. 



I am in favor of burning off annually under three such peculiar conditions 

 as the following : 1. Where grasses are much diseased with parasitic fungi. 

 "2. AVhere there is a predominance of spear grasses ; and 3. "Where there are 

 growing such rank grasses as those I describe as suitable for wet or undrained 

 Boils, for along with this coarse growth many noxious plants and fungoid 

 pests are destroyed. (Very rarely good pasture plants, other than grasses, 

 will grow in such situations.) Pasture in these circumstances becomes more 

 healthy, the fire acting as a disinfectant, and contagious diseases disappear. 

 Grasses that will grow in low, damp situations are a valuable standby for 

 the pastoralist during protracted droughts. 



