66 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURE OF AYRSHIRE. 



but to maintain in vigorous growth such abundance of grass and 

 clover plants, the land must be in the most fertile condition. 

 Any one can see that all that is directly contrary to the rye- 

 grass-seed-saving practice. Now referring our seed raising 

 friends to Prov. viii. 33, we dismiss the subject. 



Debarring this practice of ryegrass-seeding, the general 

 cropping management of the inland dairy farmers is probably 

 as good as the nature of soil and climate will admit of. Haply 

 though perfectly correct in theory, yet green cropping in the 

 majority of seasons and on most Ayrshire soils is found quite 

 impracticable, and oftener more injurious than otherwise. Let 

 the clay soil farmer work a field or two of his lightest land, — 

 and few of them but have that much of comparatively light soil, 

 — under a four or five shift course, so as to secure the limited 

 but needful supply of mangold,- cabbage, turnip, &c, and sow 

 down the rest of the farm to lie always six years or more as cir- 

 cumstances may determine, breaking up with not more than two 

 crops, or oats followed by flax perhaps, and by no means seed- 

 ing the first year's grass. And 3 to 4 cwt. per acre of bone 

 meal or super-phosphite applied with the second white crop 

 would be of vast benefit to the ensuing pasture. All afterwards 

 required is to top-dress the sward well with good home-made 

 compost. If all the ditch scourings, waste banks, high " head- 

 riggs," and scrapings of every sort of rubbish be collected, and 

 mixed with due proportion of dung and lime, the compost will 

 be found the cheapest and most efficacious manure in the long 

 run, — not only fertilising, but adding to the depth of soil. Cir- 

 cumstances will determine, but during the months of March or 

 April, just before the grass comes away, is the best time to spread 

 the compost. There are hundreds of acres of cold wet clays in 

 Ayrshire which no amount of drainage will ever much improve, 

 and the above compost system is decidedly the best for these to 

 better the herbage. Hand-weeding of thistles, docks, or other 

 weeds, from out the tillage crops, and cutting the same down in 

 the pasture fields, every farmer knows must be attended to ; but 

 in the latter case, unless the thistles, docks, &c, be cut down 

 ere the plants come into blossom, the work may as well be 

 omitted. 



On most of the higher undrained clayish lands there is liter- 

 ally nought else growing save small blue sedges (popularly " blue 

 one-pointed grass), common rushes, jointed rushes or " sprets," 

 more or less of marsh bent grass, tufted hair grass, and a few 

 other aquatic weeds. It is needless to attempt growing good 

 grass or good crops of any thing on these lands till such time as 

 they are properly drained. But the small blue sedge is common 

 also in many drained pastures of clay soil, and when to such ex- 

 tent as is only too frequently seen, they are a standing proof to 



