Performance and potential use of Subterranean clover strains in New Zealand

Abstract

Commenting on the discovery of subterranean clover in New South Wales in 1896, Mr Maiden, Botanist to the State Government, wrote : “This is not an introduction which need render us uncomfortable.” In making this statement, he could scarcely have foreseen that there would be an estimated 20 to 30 million acres of sown subterranean clover pastures in Australia by the 1950s (Davies, 1952). In New Zealand, the need for this plant, adapted as it is to areas of 15 to 25 in. annual rainfall and regular sum: mer droughts, is relatively small. Nevertheless, by 1954 usage of seed had steadied at 200 tons annually (Saxby,, 1956) and an estimated 140,000 acres were being newly sown to subterranean clover each year. The strains used were almost exclusively Mt Barker (mid-season) and Tallarook (late-season) with some Bacchus Marsh.