MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS AND PASTURES. 9 J 



be very useful in combination with others if it assists to assimilate 

 the nutriment contained in them with the tissues of the animal 

 containing it, in other words it may act as a tonic, a dissolvent 

 or an adjuvant. 



In view of what has been said it will be clear that in the judi- 

 cious selection of different varieties of grass to occupy different 

 localities and to subserve different purposes, a wide field is 

 afforded for the application of physiological, botanical, geological, 

 meteorological and chemical knowledge. Every variety of grass 

 was intended by the Creator to serve to some valuable purpose ; 

 it is the business* of practical agriculture to find out what that 

 purpose is and to place it in the locality and under the conditions 

 best suited to its most profitable development. 



I trust you will give earnest heed to the problems I have stated 

 as on their solution the successful culture of grass must forever 

 depend. Hundreds and thousands of acres of land are occupied 

 by grass in this county yielding the most meagre returns, and 

 scarcely paying for the labor of gathering because it has been 

 seeded with a kind of grass ill-adapted to its capacity. If you only 

 seed these lands with the proper kind of seed they will at once give 

 remunerative crops. For example the Danthornia subspicalum, 

 although not so valuable for fodder as some other kinds, yet will 

 grow on clay grounds where Timothy will not flourish, and the 

 same remark is true of the Cyriosurus cristatus or crested dog's-tail. 

 Surely it is better to sow such grasses as these which yield some 

 profit than to leave the land naked, or to allow its occupation by 

 noxious weeds. It is impossible in the present state of our 

 knowledge to say with certainty what species of grass is exactly 

 adapted to any given soil or situation. We cannot look upon this 

 knoll or that intervale, or yonder plain and say this grass will 

 grow better and prove more profitable if sown here than any 

 other. But we can say without hazard of contradiction, that for 

 every spot on earth there is a grass or a combination of grasses 

 which is better adapted for profitable cultivation than any other 

 although we cannot say exactly what they are. If farmers were 

 more familiar with the several species they would recognize this 

 truth more fully and thus be prepared to contribute original 

 observations to the general stock of knowledge ; if for several 

 years in succession you carefully observe the soils and situations 

 where each variety grows most spontaneously and with the 

 greatest luxuriance, and furnish the result of your observations to 



