72 PASTURE PLANTS AND PASTURES OF N.Z. 



The chief weakness of temporary pastures has been 

 pointed out in the preceding paragraph, namely that they 

 tend to become thin and unprofitable before they are 

 ploughed up. This weakness is particularly serious where 

 cows are kept, for the stock loses condition during the Winter 

 so that they are unable to take advantage of the flush of feed 

 provided in the Spring and Summer. If the system of 

 sowing short-lived grasses is to realize its full profit one must 

 keep the plough going hard, as is done specially in some parts 

 of the Waikato, where Italian Rye or Westernwolths is sown 

 definitely for a single season, and then the land reploughed. 



Sowing Pure or in Mixtures. — The question of sowing 

 grasses pure or in mixtures is one of the greatest im- 

 portance. In Europe and New Zealand the sowing of 

 mixtures more or less elaborate has been the almost 

 universal custom. For instance, in England, for permanent 

 pastures at least a dozen species are sown together, and 

 in many cases in sowing New Zealand bush burn, as many 

 as eight or nine grasses and clovers are mixed. In the 

 United States, on the other hand, grasses are sown practically 

 pure. Both customs have strong and weak points. In 

 mixtures there can be included plants that mature in their 

 first year, and then die out, giving place to the more vigorous 

 growth of the perennial species. There can be included 

 grasses providing a large amount of food early in Spring, 

 and others that come on later in Summer. There can be 

 included strong growing tufted grasses, and others with 

 turf-forming habits to fill the spaces between the tufts. 

 Thus in ideal conditions the pasture will provide feed in all 

 the years of its existence, at all seasons of the year, and the 

 ground will be completely covered. Further, the mixture 

 of grasses and clovers allows for more vigorous growth for 

 each, and at the same time provides more palatable feed for 

 stock. On the other hand pastures laid down on these lines 



