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102 p. : ill. ; 22 cm #0521 Signed by Author. Inscriptions on prelims, newspaper articles enclosures. Agriculture.
Tagasaste is the name given on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands, to the indigenous plant known botanically as Chamaecytisus palmensis. This legume, belonging to the family Fabaceae, has been variously called tree lucerne, false tree lucerne and lucerne tree in Australia. For the sake of uniformity, tagasaste is preferred. Tagasaste is a shrub or small tree growing to a height and crown diameter of about 5 m, often with long drooping, leafy branches. Variations occur, including upright and prostrate types. White flowers appear in profusion, usually in spring, though under some conditions flowering can commence in winter. The flowers develop into flattened pods about 5 cm long, containing about 10 seeds. The seeds, which ripen in summer, are a flattened oval shape, about 5 mm long by 3 mm wide by 1 mm thick. There are about 45 000 seeds per kilogram. In its native habitat, tagasaste has long been used for animal fodder. In Australia it has been planted around homesteads for windbreak and decorative purposes and shade in fowlyards, and sometimes used for fodder. Tagasaste has received considerable attention in New Zealand in recent years for fodder and shelter. Tagasaste, being an evergreen, can provide green feed at any time of the year. However, experience suggests that, because of its relatively slow growth rate and recovery after cutting during winter, its main role could be the provision of high quality fodder during summer and early autumn. Being a legume, tagasaste roots have nodules containing nitrogen-fixing rhizobium bacteria. HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA Tagasaste has been grown in Australia since at least 1879, when seeds were sent from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in England, and grown at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, whose director reported favourably on it as a drought-resistant fodder plant. In 1896, G. Valder commented in the Agricultural Gazette of N.S. W. on tagasasteís value in drought. J. H. Maiden, Government Botanist, also commented in the Agricultural Gazette, in 1899, 1908, and 1915-the latter issue containing a particularly enthusiastic review of tagasaste. ADAPTABILITY-CLIMATE AND SOIL Tagasaste grows well in a range of environments and, once established, handles climates ranging from those of the hot western wheat belt to those of the cool tablelands. As a small plant, though, it can be frost sensitive. It is adapted to a range of soils, preferring the more freely drained ones, but it does not do well on low lying sites subject to waterlogging. It may be able to cope with at least moderately acid soils. USES Fodder Fodder is currently the main use of tagasaste. The nutritive value of the foliage depends on the time of the year and the proportion of leaf to stem. New Zealand research indicates digestibilities of 82 per cent for plant tips, and 59 per cent for stems up to 8 mm thick. Figures for crude protein content varied from 18 per cent to 25 per cent for tips, and 8 per cent for stems. These data suggest that the leaves compare well with good pasture forages, whilst the stems are equivalent to the hay normally used for stock maintenance. There seem to be no reports of tagasaste containing compounds toxic to animals. Research results from Western Australia and New Tagasaste trees make excellent shelter plants for sensitive crops such as kiwifruit. Photo: R. Clarke and J. Rodehoffe. Zealand suggest that edible dry matter yields of I I tonnes per hectare per year can be obtained from dryland tagasaste. Being a deep-rooted perennial and therefore tapping subsoil moisture, tagasaste is able to produce green feed in rainless summers. It thus has obvious potential for providing high protein herbage to animals in summer and early autumn when pastures are generally of low nutritive value. However, there is a need for research to evaluate tagasaste under actual farm conditions in New South Wales. Tagasaste foliage could also be processed into high protein stock pellets; again, research is needed to evaluate this use. Shelter The value of trees as shade and shelter for livestock is well known. Mature tagasaste trees provide good shade and, if grown in closely planted hedgerows, form an excellent windbreak. The possibility of using the plant as horticulture shelter is being examined in New Zealand, with promising results; a novel approach is to grow a circle of tagasaste plants around individual, wind-sensitive young trees such as walnuts, removing the shelter plants after several years.
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