158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



enough, frequently, for fifteen plants to the inch, but rarely ob- 

 tain above two or three, and very frequently even less than that. 



The difficulty of procuring the seed, and its expense, have 

 been the strongest objections to the use of many species. A 

 demand for these species, however, would soon remove this 

 difficulty, and varieties would be kept for sale in Boston at a 

 reasonable price. When it is co;^sidered that the additional 

 expense of sowing a field or perm aient pasture with a greater 

 number of species will be, comparatively, very small, while the 

 additional yield will be proportionably large, — if the result is 

 as favorable as the opinion of many who have made the trial 

 would lead us to expect, — every farmer must admit that it is 

 for his interest to try the experiment, on a small scale, at least. 



It will be evident, after a moment's reflection, that very dif- 

 ferent mixtures, both as regards the species and the relative 

 quantities of each, will be desirable for different soils ; that dis- 

 similar mixtures would be required for alternate cropping or 

 laying down land for only a year or two, and for permanent 

 pasture. In our pratice it is most common to seed down for 

 some years, and not unfrequently this is done with the design 

 of cutting the grass for hay for a few years and then pasturing 

 the field, in which case our seeding down assumes the charac- 

 ter of laying down for permanent pasturage. Equally good, 

 but very different mixtures might be made, also, for the sam" 

 soils by different individuals who had different objects in view, 

 some desiring a very early crop, some wishing to select species 

 which resist the access of profitless weeds, and others to cultivate 

 those varieties which exhaust the soil the least. Each of these 

 mixtures may be best adapted to the specific object of the 

 farmer who makes it, and if composed of a sufficient number of 

 species, may be good and truly economical. 



The practice with many in New England has already been 

 alluded to as consisting usually of one bushel, or twelve pounds 

 of redtop, a half a bushel, or twenty-two pounds of Timothy, and 

 from four to six or eight pounds of clover. The pi"actice of 

 good farmers varies but little from this mixture. 



The following tables are recommended by Lawson & Son, of 

 Edinburgli. Only a few of the mixtures have been sufficiently 

 tried in this country, and they may need some modification to 

 meet the exigencies of our severe droughts. It may be proper 



