FAKMEES' INSTITUTES. '289 



John Shuker, of Shropsliire, on mo.'it tenacious soil, used 40 lbs. per acre of 

 the following : 



Lbs. 



Meadow foxtail 2 



Timothy 4 



Alsike clover 2 



White " 2 



Perennial rj'e-grass 6 



Italian '• 5 



Lbs. 



Crested dogstail 4 



Sweet vernal 1 



Cocksfoot o 



Tall fescue 4 



Meadow fescue - - 4 



Rouffh-stalked meadow grass o 



For slialy soils lie used 32 Ib^. per acre of the following : 



Lbs. 



Tall fescue 2 



White clover 4 



Alsike •' 2 



Eib-grass 2 



Perennial rye-grass 8 



Lbs. 



Sweet vernal 2 



Crested dogstail _ 3 



Meadow fescue 2 



Cocksfoot 3 



Sheep's fescue 2 



Eough-stalked meadow grass 2 



R. H. Huntley, of Coldstream, England, in the report of this year (1875) 

 says he "laid down three fields to permanent grass by the process known as 

 •inoculation.'" All succeeded finely. "With a plow he turned from an old 

 pasture field strips of turf four inches Avide. These were cut up with spades 

 into pieces four inches long. They were put all over the new field in little holes 

 one foot apart. Then the field was rolled. I have quite often seeded small 

 pieces of lawn in this way. It is a surer and more rapid way than by using seed 

 for lawns. 



TEKilANEXT PASTURES. 



It is the general belief in Great Britain, so far as I can learn, that permanent 

 pasture when properly managed yields a better quality of grass or hay than one 

 newly seeded, and that the quantity does not diminish with the age of the past- 

 ure. They often seed a new piece Avithout any crop, like oats or wheat. Some- 

 times the mixtare of light seeds is sown, and then the mixture of heavy seeds 

 sown by itself on the same ground to spread all evenly. If the ground is well 

 prepared, a newly seeded field will need no manure for two or three years. 

 Most British pastures will grow jioor and thin and run out, as we say, unless 

 they are manured and otlierwise properly attended to. If we continually take 

 off and plunder a field what other result can be expected? Manure often goes 

 upon the arable land with us. 



J. Dixon of Cheshire, England, in a prize essay for 1858, says: "After 20 

 years of experience I have no hesitation in pronouncing bones to be preeminent 

 above all other manures for the improvement of grass lands, when permanency 

 as well as cost are considered." He is decidedly in favor of raw bones, ground 

 and applied in early spring. He cites one case treated with broken hones 70 

 years previous, where the effect was still very marked. In one case, about 1,000 

 lbs. of bones to the acre in two years caused the yearly rent of an acre to go from 

 30 shillings up to 60 shillings, with a greater profit to the tenant. He gives 

 other cases, — among them a farm of 160 acres on which the farmer expended 

 £300 sterling worth of bones in a year. The stock formerly kept consisted of 

 20 cows, and 3 or 4 horses and colts. After treating with bones the fields pas- 

 tured 43 cows, 16 head of young stock, 5 horses and 3 colts, and one-forth of 

 the farm in tillage. Similar results were produced on almost every farm in the 

 neighborhood. 



Professor Voelcker (Royal Journal of Agriculture, 1868, p. 643) says: "The 

 effects produced by the application of bone-dust to pastures are very variable. 



37 



