COUNTIES OF EDINBURGH AND LINLITHGOW. 23 



SOWS 10 lbs. of mixed clovers with IJ bushel of ryegrass — one- 

 half home grown, that is British, and one-half foreign. This 

 quantity is found to answer well upon his farm. Mr AYilson, 

 Lochend House, Linlithgow, sows 8 to 10 lbs. of mixed clovers 

 with 5 or 6 j)ecks of perennial ryegrass. Both quantities are 

 often exceeded on other farms. A good mixture for pasture land is 

 8 lbs. white clover, 5 or 6 lbs. of red, 2 lbs. of alsyke, with 6 pecks 

 of mixed ryegrass. A little cowgrass and trefoil added will be 

 an improvement. For hay, 10 lbs. of red clover, 4 lbs. of white, 

 2 lbs. of alsyke, 3 pecks of perennial ryegrass, and 3 pecks of 

 Italian is a mixture which is found to answer well. Farmers 

 have discovered that in the matter of seedim^ with grasses it is a 

 wise maxim to err on the safe side, and so secure a thickly-set 

 sole or sward. We made several inquiries as to clover sickness; 

 it is experienced in some cases, and is undoubtedly owing to 

 want of potash.* A good dressing would be highly beneficial to 

 many of the soils. In Edinburgh, about two-thirds of the grasses 

 under rotation are made into hay or cut green for cattle ; the 

 remainder is grazed by stock. In the neighbourhood of the city, 

 a considerable quantity is annually cut and consumed in the city 

 byres and stables. A large area is let every year for the purpose 

 at high rates. This year (1876), clovers and artificial grasses for 

 cutting made L.19 to L.20 per acre, but in times of scarcity we 

 have heard of L.30 beinf;^ reached. In Linlithcjow about three- 

 fifths of the entire crop is made into hay. There is a very small 

 acreage of permanent meadow-land reserved for this purpose, 

 amounting only to 1300 acres in Edinburgh and 718 in Linlithgow. 

 Towards the end of June, or as soon as most of the flowers are in 

 bloom, cutting of the grasses for the hay crop commences. This 

 is now almost entirely done by the mowing machine, although 

 the scythe is still employed' on small holdings or where the crops 

 are much weather beaten. When seed is not intended to be 

 taken, early cutting is deemed most desirable, as the farmers are 

 fully alive to the fact that the hay is more valuable, and the after- 

 crop heavier. The best time to harvest clover is a little before 

 the period of full blossom ; if allowed to stand longer the stalks 

 partake too much of the woody fibre ; if taken before, the juices 

 are not properly formed. But the time of cutting seems to be 

 much better understood than the making of the hay after it is 

 •cut, for although the Lothian farmers are abreast of those in 

 many other parts of Scotland in the matter of hay-making, 

 nevertheless, almost all of them allow the grass to lie too long iu 

 the swathe. A day or two is sufficient, with careful manage- 

 ment, to get it ready for large cock, after which it is better to 



"* We may here remark that a friind of ours applies kainit or potash salts 

 where the land was formerly clover-siek ; now ho raises splendid crops of clovers 

 which are never thrown out iu the winter mouths, as they were before pota.sh was 

 used. 



