Abstract
The establishment of oversown lucerne and white clover, in relation to time of sowing, was examined over two seasons on seven unimproved sites in the North Otago tussock grasslands - sunny and shady faces with lucerne at 450m, with white clover at 880 and 1070 m, and a flat site at 1330 m. Seedling establishment showed an optimum at times associated with 3 to 7" C earth temperatures at 10 cm depth, with poorer results at both earlier and later times. Nodulation was high at times associated with temperatures up to 5 to 6'C, but fell with later sowings. Best plant establishment also occurred at times associated with 3 to 7" C. 10 cm earth temperatures. These results suggest that optimum sowing dates for the sites used would range from mid-August to October with earlier sowing dates on the sunny faces.

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