GRAYLING INSTITUTE. 289 



June grass, or Kentucky blue grass (Poa pratensis), is too well known to 

 need an extended description. The same may be said of red-top, a favorite 

 grass for bottom lands. Meadow fox-tail, fowl meadow grass and blue-joint 

 are well worth trying. It must be borne in mind that, for the best results in 

 pasture or meadow, no one sort sown alone will give so good returns as two, 

 three or more sown on the same ground. Seeds of the common sorts of 

 grasses are not difficult to get; but of others the seeds are often poor and 

 much adulterated. Unless you know what you are getting, the only safe 

 way is to have the seeds examined, before purchasing, by an expert. 



DRAINAGE. 



The advantages of drainage are many, even for growing grass, though it is 

 probably true that grass land does not require to be drained as thoroughly as 

 that which is arable. Drainage prevents damage from flooding for long 

 periods when not desired. It is a protection against drought; it enables the 

 grasses to start earlier in spring and grow later in autumn ; it deepens the 

 soil and prevents baking in dry weather; it allows the plant to receive greater 

 benefit from fertilizers applied to the soil ; it allows air to penetrate the soil ; 

 it prevents frost from heaving out the plants; it makes hauling of loads 

 easier, and renders the land less liable to injury from the treading of cattle; 

 it improves the better grasses, which thereby encroach on those of less value, 

 including many sedges, rushes and useless weeds. Much of our grass land, 

 especially that in permanent pasture and meadow, would be vastly improved 

 by thorough drainage. 



If water, in a wet season, stand nearer than two feet of the surface in a 

 small hole dug in the ground, the land needs draining. 



Fifty-five correspondents, in a recent report in England, agree that it is 

 certainly unadvisable to break up any tolerably good pastures for the purpose 

 of converting them into arable land. In 1881, nearly half the land occupied 

 for agricultural purposes in Great Britain was in permanent pasture and 

 meadow, and the proportion is on the increase. The proportion is greatest 

 where the air contains most moisture. The late George Geddes, of New 

 York, in 1882, reported a discussion of the Onondaga Farmers' Club. Men 

 who had moist lands, with water under them, believed in permanent pasture. 

 Men who cultivated dry soils, well adapted to a rotation of crops, easily plowed, 

 and especially subject to severe droughts, were very decided in the opinion 

 that permanent pastures are of little value as compared with grain crops, and 

 hay and pasture in rotation. Rocky land and steep hillsides are best kept in 

 grass. 



The amount of rainfall has very much to do with the sorts of grass to be 

 used and their treatment. 



In Holland an acre of permanent pasture is said to carry one cow and a 

 sheep. In Herkimer county, New York, rich permanent pastures carry one 

 cow to each acre and a half, while in much of New England, Professor Stock- 

 bridge says, " Eight acres are required for one cow, and then she comes home 

 at night looking disappointed." 



Secretary W. I Chamberlain, of Ohio, in the Country Gentleman, says: 

 *' Our pastures are not so productive as we suppose. A fine old pasture of 

 three years' standing, when mowed in a good season, yielded less than a ton 

 to the acre, and in one season less than half a ton per acre. The grass was 



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