Krnk.— Economie Pr operties of certain Native Grasses. 501 
present plant, which is (erroneously as it appears to me) regarded by Mr. 
Buchanan as “ a grass of the first quality.” 
An attempt made a few years back to establish sheep stations in the 
Taupo country resulted in great loss to the projectors, the only grass avail- 
able being the present species (P. australis, var. levis), which contains 
but a small amount of nutritive matter, so that the sheep began to fall | 
away as soon as they were placed on the runs. 
When travelling in the Taupo country I observed that my horses would 
never eat it, so long as any other kind was available, and that usually they 
preferred the old dry leaves and culms to those of younger growth. 
This plant is often difficult to eradicate. Mr. Potts, of Ohinetahi, 
pointed out a paddock which had been ploughed several times and sown 
with European grasses, but the tussocks of the Poa were as numerous as 
ever among the introduced grasses, which surrounded but could not over- 
come them. 
It is the common Tussock Grass of the Canterbury Plains and Port Hills, 
wrongly referred to Poa anceps by Mr. Armstrong,* as that species never 
assumes the rigid tussocky habit of the present plant. 
Poa colensoi, Hook., f. 
One of the most valuable grasses in the Colony. With the exception of 
a single species, Festuca duriuscula, it has contributed more largely than 
any other to the prosperity of the settlements in the South Island. 
It is a low-growing species, occurring at an elevation of 1,500 feet in 
the Taupo country and ascending to fully 5,000 feet in the Southern Alps. 
It produces a large yield of slender nutritious herbage, which is eaten by 
stock of all kinds, especially by sheep. On barren soils its growth is com- 
paratively stunted, but on those of ordinary quality it is luxuriant, and 
flourishes on ploughed land. 
It is adapted for permanent mixed pasturage on all ordinary soils, and 
is of the greatest value for sub-alpine sheep-runs. It would be a valuable 
addition to the cultivated grasses of Europe. 
Festuca duriuscula, L. 
The ** Hard Sheeps’ Fescue” is found from Hawke Bay southward, be- 
coming more abundant in the Southern Island. It ranges from the sea- 
level (Port Nicholson) to 6,000 feet in the Southern Alps, and flourishes in 
all soils and situations, except those of a moist character. Although 
extensively cultivated in Europe, where its value is fully recognized, it is 
comparatively rare under cultivation in this Colony, especially in the 
Northern Island, yet from its great abundance and wide distribution, com- 
* See “Trans, N.Z. Inst.,” Vol. IV., p. 303, 
