197 



is finer, and very highly esteemed by all who feed horses for the turf or 

 road. The former is termed new land, and the latter old land hay ; and 

 the diflerence of value amounts to five dollars per ton in favor of the 

 latter in the English markets. "Phese pastures of permanent grass, exist 

 to a considerable extent in all the large farms in England, and are held 

 sacred from the plow, by the land owners. Top dressing, with barn 

 yard and other manures, is used to keep them in tilth, and occasionally 

 they are ripped with the plow, at distances of eight or ten feet apart, 

 that the roots may have room to expand, and that the hide or turf may 

 be prevented from binding together. I have said so much of the grass 

 seeds, of which the feeding pastures and meadows of England are com- 

 posed, and which give to that country its perennial spring appearance, 

 characterized by that eminent man, William Cobbett, as the consequence 

 of the "drip, drip," of the atmosphere, common to that country. The 

 variety and number of grasses termed -artificial, is great, and appears to 

 me unnecessary to enumerate ; they are all good, and from their variety, 

 most beneficial to animal life. From among them, I may, however, be 

 allowed to mention the Lucerne grass, known to the nations of antiquity, 

 and held by them in great estimation. Its requirements are a deep, rich 

 soil, well manui-ed and clean weeded. The soil so prepared by good 

 cultivation, is sown with ten pounds of seed per acre, in drills of one 

 and a half feet apart ; and as soon as the plant appears, these intervals 

 are stirred with the cultivator, and the plants weeded and cleaned by hoe 

 and hand. It is advisable to crop it lightly the first year, but after that 

 it may be cut several times, three at least; from such cropping I have 

 known a produce of upwards of six tons per acre. It is a perennial, 

 and therefore justifies all the care and attention necessary to the first 

 stages of its growth. It is liked by all cattle, and its nutritive proper- 

 ties are considerable; it is well calculated for stall feeding, a practice 

 which has given to England, above all other lands, the superior beef of 

 which she justly boasts. I would not, however, have it understood 

 that I prefer this grass so exclusively ; on the contrary, I think red 

 clover, which requires much less care in its cultivation, very little infe- 

 rior. Sainfoin, too, of this class, with many of the leguminous plants, 

 are equally advocated for superiority. The great point in my mind, is to 

 increase the produce of the earth — a sense in which I would read all 

 who write upon Agriculture. From Adam Smith downward, this say- 

 ing will be maintained: "that he who makes two blades of grass grow 



