NOTES ON PASTORAL AGRICULTURE. By William Swainson, F. R. S., &c.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 157, 30 January 1847, Page 2

NOTES ON PASTORAL AGRICULTURE. By William Swainson, F. R. S., &c.

The fluctuations in the prices of grain — the insufficiency, as well as the dearness of labour — the absence of machinery — and last, though not least, the expense of making waste lands profitable — are causes which for many years will render New Zealand a pastoral, more than an arable colony. This truth, so opposed by the assertions of mere writers on these islands, who have proclaimed, them as the granaries of the Australian range, is now brought home by the conviction of all our practical settlers, and they are acting upon it accordingly. All the large farms in the Hutt valley have been broken up. The proprietors whether owners or lessees of the soil, have gone away, and have let off as much of their land as they could, at low rents, in lots of five or ten acres, to farming labourers. But however superior New Zealand may be to the Australian continent for the production of grain, it is certainly inferior in its natural pastures. Fern and Flax take the place, with us, of grass ; and although a sufficiency of the latter is occasionally mixed with the former, still the proportions, generally speaking, are so unequal, that a cattle run after 2 or 3 years becomes so exhausted, that it is found a fresh one is necessary. This is now discovered in the Wairarapa valley, a district which above all others near Port .Nicholson, is the best adapted for grazing. But grazing establishments such as have been made there, cannot be removed every three or four years. The settlers under an idea that these runs would always remain as productive as at first, have built, or are building comfortable houses, fenced off paddocks, planted gardens and orchards, and transported at great expense, the comfortable and even elegant furniture of an English residence. These are now fixtures : they cannot be removed. But with an Australian stockkeeper the case is different, he transports his hut or tent and a 'few cooking utensils on the back of a horse when" his run becomes exhausted, and he soon locates himself with little or no trouble upon another. This departure from the primitive habits of a pastoral life has, I think, been a great oversight with our New Zealand squatters. The master's eye must be over his flocks. What then is to be dene 1 I can see no remedy for this state of things than in the formation of artificial pastures. To do this on land, held upon no secure tenure, is certainly objectionable ; but if long leases at moderate rents can be secured, it will be much more advantageous in the end. In the wilds of Australia, '• the land is all before us where to chose ;" for the natives set up no claim to the soil. In New Zealand it is not so. Whether the waste is cultivated or not, the maori will always exact rent, in the shape of utu, which agreement is always subject to augmentation or evasion. The Wairarapa squatters already complain of this ; they find the natives ask more than their runs are worth, and that the pasture — so far from improving — is falling off. Grass, where it exists, may spring up again •; but the Coromico and other shrubs, upon which cattle delight so much to browse, die away in two years or even sooner, and thus two-thirds of the original pasture is totally destroyed. The formation of pasture lands thus appears to me one of the most important objects connected with the agriculture of these islands ; not merely in reference to dairy farms, but to those intended only for grazing. The comparative mildness of the seasons, the heavy dews in summer, aad the refreshing showers during the rest of the year, render these islands far more adapted for this purpose than any region, perhaps, in the world. Having, long been engaged in making experiments in this branch of agriculture, and testing the different sorts of pasture grasses, I intend, at no distant period, to lay the results before the public. But in the meantime I have thrown together the following notes, in order that those who concur in tbe foregoing opinions, may at once avail themselves of the experience I have yet gained. These memoranda, for they are little more, will be placed under the several heads of, 1 Soil ; 2 Seed ; 3 Sewing; and 4 Management. Pastures, it must be remembered, are of two sorts ; Temporary, or such as are merely made for the rotation of crops, in the alternate husbandry, and 2, Permanent or intended to remain for an indefinite number of years, I shall confine - myself for the present, entirely to the latter. 1. Soil. It is well' known that different species of grasses, like all other plants, affect

different soils, and that which will grow luxuriantly in one, will be poor and almost useless in another : some love a dry hilly situation, while others will only grow in wet ditches or low swamps. Care should therefore he taken to adapt each sort to that soil most suited to its growth. There heing no clay hills on the land I occupy in the Hutt, I know not, as yet, what species of our English grasses would grow on those miserably poor localities. I have not, as yet, found any native species growing, like Fern, upon bare clay. The richer the soil the finer the grass : hence the most luxuriant crops are produced on alluvial grounds, especially if subject to occasional inundations. The mode of preparing the ground will entirely depend on the object in view. If this is merely to introduce grass upon extensive cattle runs, the most simple' although rude method, will be to scatter seed about ; which, on the more naked places should be raked or chipped in with a small hoe. But if good and permanent pastures are desired, the ground should be well cleared of weeds, and if possible, rolled after the seed has been sown. 2. Seed. The great excellency of a pasture consists in its being composed of many sorts of grasses ; so that one or another is growing in perfection all the year round. This object can never be attained by merely sowing one or two species; while, on the other hand, the greater vatiety of grasses the more abundant v.ill be the fodder, or surnrd, at all seasons of the year. This is the most important considerationin the layingdownof pasture lands; but it is, in general, completely overlooked in this colony. Most people have an idea that to form a pasture, it is only necessary to sow " Grass seed" and the thing is done. This idea, however, has long boen exploded in England. Rye grass, the ordinary species used on these occasions, seldom lasts more five years, and unfortunately there is a great deal of the annual sort in this colony, which is worse than useless ; it dies after shedding its seed, and thus leaves the ground bare nearly one half of the year. Unluckily also, it is impossible to distinguish the seeds of the annual from the perennial variety, so that no one can tell which he is purchasing. A field of the best rye grass, also, is of little or no use in summer, the season in which fodder is most wanted, for the withered stalks and leaves then give it the white appearance of a crop r of barley, and cattle will not eat it. Objections, although not so strong as these, may be urged against sowing any one species of grass only. White clover may be mixed with rye grass in the alternate husbandry, but in this country it grows so luxuriantly that it almost smothers the other grasses ; and therefore, in permanent pastures, if it is introduced, it should be in very small quantities, say as 1 to 20. The most expensive, and at the same time the most uncertain method of procuring good seed is to purchase such as imported. It is not generally known, as a botanical fact, that the seeds of the great majority of plants lose their vegetative powers after twelve months ; and as they seldom exhibit any external change when this power is lost, it becomes impossible to know whether the seed we are purchasing is good or bad. Of the great quantities of grass seed I have bought, both from America and England, I believe not more than one in three thousand has ever vegetated ! But this is not the only obstacle to procuring good seed ; even that which is grown on the spot is often cut before the seeds are ripe. I have seen a large quantity of soft meadow grass (Holcus lanatus) reaped in this state, before the seed was matured, so that not one in a thousand would ever vegetate. So much knowledge and experience, indeed required in this department, and saiauch depends upon the integrity of the vendor, that the businees is chiefly confined, in Britain, to a few great mercantile houses of established reputation ; of these the firm of Cormack & Co., New Cross Nursery, near London, and Messrs. Lawson & Co., Edinburgh, are among the principal. I must here, however, introduce a few words regarding the prevalent notion in this colony, that all grass seeds can be got at the same price per lb. or bushel. Now this .is just as reasonable as to insist that because moist sugar can be had at 3d a pound, lump sugar is not worth more 1 Grasses yield their seed very differently; some also weigh ten times more than others, many are very minute, fas Aria aquatica. Poa nemoralis t Bfc.) so that ten of them would not weigh more than three of Dactylus glomerata, or Bromus multiflorus; others yield very few 6eeds, so that a pound of the sweet meadow grass (Jinthoxanthum odoralum) at five shillings, would be cheaper than one of rye grass at ten pence. On a future occasion I intend to publish a table of the comparative veight of the best grass seeds, in reference to measure. The maturity of all grass seeds may be known by, passing the flowery stem through the hand ; when, if any of the" seeds are detached, the stems are fit to cut.

The species of which the Hawkshead pastures at this place are composed, are as follows : they amount to twenty-five — Fettuca pratemit Meadow fescue Dactylut glomerata Cock's foot Poa anguttifolia Narrow leaved meadow grass ——•nemoralu Wood do. ■ annua Annual do. • carinata Sw. Sharp edged do. nervata Nerve leaved do. var. alba Sw. Broad leaved do. Bromus arventit Field broom grass macrostachyt Large seeded do. mtiKMonu Many flowered do. ■ mbllis Soft do. Ayrottis ttolinifera Fiorin grass Holctu lanatus Soft meadow grass Briza media Quaking grass Agroitii vulgarit Common bent Holcus avenacius Tall oat-like grass Alopecurut pratemit Meadow foxtail Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet vernal grass Fettuca arundinacia Reed Fescue elatior Tall do. Lolium perenne Perennial rye grass var. italicum Broad leaved Italian do. „ indiginum Do. native j Poa trivialit Rough stalked meadow grass Two or three more species are alone wanting to assimilate this mixture to those found in some of the most product'. ve pastures in England. But however excellent this assortment is for hay and grazing lands, it is not adapted for lawns, upon which only the fine sheep grasses (few of which have yet reached this country,) should be sown. Neither is this mixture adapted for swamps, which require a totally different set of grasses. The list is deficient in two valuable grasses, viz., Phleum pratense (Timothy grass) and Cynosorus cristatus, (Dogs tooth grass). The devastations of a particular sort of caterpillar (belonging to the Noctorides, Sw. or night moths) render it almost impossible to procure seeds, (in any quantity) of the first of these ; while the latter, although eaten by cattle, is more a sheep grass, and not well adapted for hay. It will be observed that I exclude from this list the yellow clover or trefoil (Medicago lu- | pulina. lin.) called in some parts of England, j Black Nonsuch. As fodder for sheep, in open j fields, this is occasionally sown in alternate : husbandry, but for a hay, or permanent meadow, it is in every way highly objectionable. It is an annual, or at least seldom lives more than two years, after which it dies down and leaves a bare spot, which might otherwise have been filled with a compact sward of grass. Even when it is in flower its stems are loose, straggling and scanty of foliage, and what is worse, it does not afford, as do all perennial grasses, any after math (or second crop of leaves). "Why therefore this plant should be such a favourite with some of our farmers I cannot make out. In Britain it is looked upon only as a weed on all the best pastoral farms, and is so designated in the celebrated experiments made at Woburn, on the Russell estate. * (To be continued.)

* Hortus Gramineut Woburnentu. by G. Sinclair, Bvo. London, 1825.