GRASS EIGHT FEET HIGH.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 April 1921, Page 7

GRASS EIGHT FEET HIGH.

PHENOMENAL GROWTH. ! NELSON RESEARCH RESULTS. Mr. Joseph Taylor (mining engineer, of Nelson), well-known in connection with mineral and astronomical discoveries, showed a Times reporter the other day photographs relating to a phenomenal growth of grass in Nelson, as the result of research experiments he has conducted for several years past. The pictures show Mr. Taylor and his daughter, both of whom are above the average height, standing in the midst of grass Which, is much taller than themselves. In one of these a bundle of grass eight feet long is shown. This is the product of a single seed, and carries an immense mass of herbage attached to the same root. Mr. Taylor has farms in the Nelson district, and, as the result of his researches, he has found that several species of grass which in America and Europe grow under the most favorable conditions only, from two to four feet in height, will grow easily in Nelson to seven or eight feet high. Samples of some of these (grasses have been submitted to the Agricultural Department, and have been reported on as highly favorable to farmers, especially for winter feed. One of these species Mr. Taylor describes as a tall oat grass. It bears a 'head of seed much like that of an oat. He says it yields two crops in one’ season, with an immense body of herbage, which both cattle and sheep will take freely, and its deep striking roots enable it to stand both cold and drought. The Nelson climate proves to suit it perfectly; but it may be grown everywhere. The samples photographed -were grown without the aid of any fertiliser. This, it is considered, may prove a matter of moment to farmers and the country in general. In time of war it may have significance in relation to forage for horses. It is said that the man who can make two blades of grass grow where only one grew is a benefactor to his country. Mr. Taylor claims to have more than solved this problem by finding out the conditions under which a blade of grass will grow to more than twice the length and on the same area of ground.