THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



361 



good daily ration of cake or corn is the most profitable 

 mode of grazing. I know this : it is becoming universal 

 in the best grazing districts ; and while the price of wool 

 and mutton is so profitable, it is likely to obtain general 

 practice, and deservedly so. Another reason for it is, 

 that young sheep (shearlings) are now generally fatted 

 off, and in many flocks the hoggets also. Now this can 

 scarcely be done with any breed, however high their 

 fatting qualities may have attained to, without these 

 artificial aids. No management can exceed the high 

 keeping for such purposes. It may be expensive, 

 but it is not all expended upon the animal : a beneficial 

 result is found in the pasture, and every year it is found 

 to increase in fruitfulness and the grass in nutritive 

 value. There may be a limit to this artificial course of 

 management, but I believe if judiciously carried out 

 upon animals properly bred and properly managed, it is 

 illimitable. 



The store sheep, i. e,, the hoggets, guile ewes, and 

 backward shearlings, may take the inferior pastures, for 

 which they are qualified to graze ; and these pastures 

 are also suited to them. Inferior pastures are not 



adapted for good animals : they deteriorate in condition 

 rapidly ; but inferior animals will thrive gradually upon 

 them, and as they become fitted for the better herbage 

 they should be removed and pushed on by the artificial 

 aids named above. In any case the allowance of man- 

 golds should be given, and a ration of corn or cake. In 

 this way they will soon be ready to take the place of 

 those sold off from the best pastures, and thus a con- 

 siderable extra number may be fatted yearly. It is 

 worthy of remark that such is the demand for animal 

 food in this country, that every exertion should be made 

 by every grazier to supply it. And no way can equal a 

 liberal course of managcioent pursued throughout his 

 whole flock : it will pay in the number : it will pay in 

 the wool : it will pay in the mutton : it will pay in the 

 subsequent crops on all seed lands. It is an expendi- 

 ture of tenants' capital for both immediate and prospec- 

 tive advantage. This is another grand reason for a more 

 secure tenure and equitable tenant-right. The landlord 

 cannot fail to be benefitted by such liberal management, 

 and every enterprising tenant ought to have every en- 

 couragement to induce such expenditure. 



NOTES ON MEADOWS AND PASTURES. 



By JAMES BUCKMAN, F.G.S., F.L.S., 



Pbopessor of Botany and Geology at the Royal Agricultural College, 



We have hitherto considered the meadow as being 

 composed of grasses, in the which we have shown that 

 a number of ]>lant8, other than grasses, take up a posi- 

 tion as part of our wild or native Flora, many of which, 

 so far from being of any service to the pasture, are so 

 injurious as only to be considered as weeds. 



But there is yet another section of meadow denizens, 

 which are deserving of the greatest attention, namely, 

 plants dlff"erent from grasses, but yet possessing valuable 

 feeding properties ; whilst a few deserve notice either 

 from apetetic or medicinal virtues, which entitle them to 

 a place in the meadow, side by side with the grasses ; 

 some of which, indeed, from their possessing these feed- 

 ing properties, are classed with grasses by gentlemen, 

 editors of journals and others, whose propriety would 

 be sadly shocked to hear one talk of " sparrow grass," 

 and who yet will speak of clover as a grass. The ob- 

 jects, then, of this class, to which we now claim attention, 

 will be those that are usually found forming part of the 

 meadow ; the nature of which will be best comprehended 

 from the following list : 



LIST OF MEADOW AND PASTURE PLANTS NOT 

 GRASSES. 



A. FEEDING PLANTS. 



Trifolium pralense — Red clover. 



„ medium — Zigzag clover. 



„ repens — Dutch clover. 



V //■<ijfi/(?r«;«— Strawberry-headed trefoil, 

 Lotus corniciUatus — Crowfoot, 



B. APETETIC, OR SALUTARY MEDICINAL PLANTS. 

 AcJiillcea miUefolia — Yarrow, 



Tormenlilltt officinalis— T!Qxmetii\\. 

 Thymus serpyllum — Wild thyme. 

 dgrimQiiitt e«p«(eri«— Agrimony. 



a. Feeding Plants. — A meadow can scarcely be said to 

 possess the highest character, unless it be capable of pro- 

 ducing clover. At the same time, this idea must be care- 

 fully qualified, as it should not be concluded that any 

 kind of clover is an evidence of condition, for even the few 

 species which we have selected are sufficient to mark 

 considerable variations in this respect, as will be seen 

 from the remarks we now offer upon them, 



Trifolium pratense in its wilder form — that is, in the 

 shape in which we find it with natural pasture, when it 

 springs up spontaneously ; and in quantity — is an evi- 

 dence that the soil is of medium or ordinary mechanical 

 texture, as if decidedly sandy it would be almost absent, 

 and probably the T. medium, or T. repens would take 

 up its room ; but if decidedly wet clay the T. frmjiferum 

 would be more likely to occur. The first then shows 

 that we may have present sand, clay, and lime, where, 

 as before observed, it flourishes well, where we have 

 these soil-elements in the proportions best calculated for 

 pasture growth. Hence, then, red clover is a plant of 

 general occurrence ; and if, in districts favourable to its 

 growth, it should (as frequently happens) gradually de- 

 cline, it is usually because these elements have lost their 

 balance ; and hence it is that lime — which is a substance 

 more capable of being exhausted than either the argil- 

 laceous or the arenaceous matter of soil — from time to 

 time gets deficient. So, then, the restoring of lime will 

 result in the restoration of the clover, where it has de- 

 clined from this cause of absence. Mere manures will 

 not do it ; but simply a dressing of lime or old mortar 

 will oftea cause an immense growth of clover in the 



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