Cocksfoot. 



that would, by a better winter growth than has cocks- 

 foot, give a more balanced supply throughout the year, 

 which is perhaps the first consideration in the constitu- 

 tion of a pasture. For soils that are anyways good, and 

 not too dry, two grasses immediately suggest themselves 

 for the purpose meadow foxtail and timothy. The first 

 is a much superior winter grower to cocksfoot, resembl- 

 ing it in appearance. It is not sown to anything like 

 the extent it should be on suitable New Zealand soils. 

 It is also the very first standard grass to come away in 

 the spring, and a grazier knows the value of this quality. 

 Timothy luxuriates as the summer is well advanced, and 

 is also a good winter grower. Where the land is suit- 

 able these two grasses will hold their own, and provide 

 the necessary inversion of cocksfoot's usefulness. 



But all lands are not adapted to meadow foxtail and 

 timothy, and the drier soils where cocksfoot is in posses- 

 sion enter into consideration. Meadow foxtail and 

 timothy are quite unsuited to dry, hilly country. Where 

 sheep grazing is the primary object, as it is on such 

 country, there are other plants that deserve considera- 

 tion, and will help to equalise the pasture's usefulness. 

 Hard or Chewing's fescue, crested dogstail, and poa pra- 

 tensis, or the Kentucky blue grass, as it is otherwise 

 known. Opinions are extraordinarily divided about the 

 first-named grass in New Zealand. Very little of it is 

 sown in Canterbury, and not very much in the North 

 Island. In the provinces of Southland, Otago, Marl- 

 borough, and Nelson, however, it is regarded with great 

 favour by old, experienced and observant pastora.lists, 

 who maintain that no sheep pasture should be without 

 it. It seems as if there can be no more certainty about 

 grasses than about breeds of sheep for any particular soil 

 and climate, and practical experience is in the main what 

 dictates the best. Sheep are very fond of Chewing's 

 fescue in the provinces named, and it is known to grow 

 in the winter, when cocksfoot and other grasses lie dor- 



