PAMPAS GRASS

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20510, 28 May 1938, Page 29 (Supplement)

PAMPAS GRASS

GOOD CATTLE FODDER EXPERIENCE PROVES VALUE Pampas grass has proved a very valuable fodder for cattle and sheep both during the winter and summer and many Waikato farmers have already established plantations of the grass, which they are finding invaluable for supplementary feeding. Outstanding success with pampas grass has been obtained by Mr Alex McClean, of Waitakaruru, who states that pampas is a deep-rooting plant, supplying minerals not reached by grass and which appear to be necessary to maintain health. At the same time, he says, it gives the necessary roughage to provide a balanced diet.

Effective Against Disease. Mr McClean reports that some of his sheep and cattle showed signs of facial eczema, but that he immediately turned all his stock on to pampas with the result that affected stock have recovered. He states that where stock are infected they eat the pampas readily. For many years Mr McClean has made no hay or ensilage nor done any cropping, but he has always had supplementary fodder from his pampas plots. The demand for rooted plants has become so widespread that he has put down several acres of nursery. He is more convinced than ever that the strain of pampas grass he has developed offers a solution to many of the problems facing the farming community to-day and from the point of view of health of stock, labour, economy and a permanent supply of fodder he has certainly proved this in his own case.