1 Aprin, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 257 
prosperity. Farms are here eagerly sought for at annual rentals of from 10s. 
to £1 5s. per acre, while freeholds are bought in large areas at from £10 to 
£40 per acre. An estate comprising 2,700 acres was disposed of during my 
visit, and the average price obtained was £19 10s. per acre. This indicates to 
us Queenslanders the vast possibilities before us in the matter of dairying if 
the pursuit is carried out with due attention to those phases that have made 
the industry so popular and profitable in the sister State. 
As the object of this article is to give prominence to the value of the 
herbage growing on these farms, I will here enumerate a number of varieties 
which I was shown growing on the farm of Mr. George Harrison, of Pomperneet, 
whom I was particularly favoured in meeting, as he is an,acknowledged 
authority on this subject. Mr. Harrison is a dairyman, and one who has proved 
that there is more money in the production of milk than in. growing ordinary 
farm crops, which class of farming he, in common with others, was glad to 
abandon on the inauguration of the creamery and factory system. In this 
connection it came upon me as a surprise that, owing to the profusion of herb- 
age obtainable during the most of the year, no crops of any kind were grown 
for cattle food. On the farm of Mr. C. T. Lucas, where I pleasantly spent a 
few days, this phase of dairying pursuit so very essential in our State was very 
conspicuous by its absence. Here, on a farm where they milk from fifty to sixty 
cows twice a day, not an acre of cow feed was grown, and its absence did not 
Fearenely diminish the owner’s income, nor affect the condition of his herd. 
This was the case generally on all the farms I visited. I certainly expected to 
find some provision in either field, barn, or stack to meet contingencies of 
drought or fire, but nothing of the kind appeared to be necessary. Hence 
dairying in this matter of forage crops alone shows the value of the land and 
the confidence the people have in its carrying capacity in reliance on the 
herbage alone. 
It may prove of interest to Queensland dairymen if I enumerate a number 
of grasses shown to me growing on the farm owned by Mr. Harrison. Some 
of these grasses were only in small plots; others were the staple grasses of 
the field, all of which were at their several periods of more or less value 
according to the season, or whether maturing early or late according to the 
altitude of the land, some of which, like the grasses it produces, is recognised 
as late or early land, and have a distinct bearing on the season’s profit and the 
farmer’s adjustment of his plans in the grazing of his herd. 
The grasses pointed out were—Yorkshire fog, bird’s-eye trefoil, rye grass 
(English), spotted burr clover, spear grass, barley grass, common white clover, 
common clover, oat grass, Alsike clover, red clover, cocksfoot, sweet-scented 
yernal grass, yellow trefoil. 
In addition to these, I noticed vetches, lucerne, buffalo grass, and couch 
growing in small patches through the garden. The mainstays of the pastures 
appear to be spotted burr clover, spear grass, rye, cocksfoot, vernal grass, and 
the others more or less interspersed as the fastidiousness of the owner seemed to 
favour them. I found it very difficult to obtain authentic information as to how 
and when these grasses, now so widely spread, were introduced. The answer 
given by most was that they were sown by the old squatters, which, no doubt, 
appears was the case. Mr. Harrison now writes me that the “grasses were 
introduced by the pioneer squatters and have been spread in the dung of cattle, 
horses, and sheep.. The spear, barley, and spotted burr trefoil are an exception, 
these having come in packing-cases and in straw and grain imported, and so 
have gradually been spread over the country. I found that an imported grass, 
to succeed, must be as robust as, or rather more robust than, the matured 
grasses of the country, otherwise they will be smothered and die out.” This is 
evidently the story of the introduction of these grasses in a nutshell. 
If I appear to unduly praise the merit of these pastures, I can but say that 
only ees who have really seen them in all their freshness and luxuriance can 
really appreciate them as I did. I do not in any way wish to infer that 
our Queensland lands in point of fertility are a whit Helend them, but 1 do 
