258 Management of Grass Land. 



which the soil was periodically reduced to a friable state are 

 necessarily abandoned, and it soon returns to its natural condi- 

 tion. I will assume that, before laying down to grass, the land 

 has been well fallowed and limed : that it is clean, in good heart, 

 and sown with seeds adapted to the locality. This is certainly 

 assuming a good deal ; but if any of these points have been 

 neglected, the failure that will certainly ensue must not be at- 

 tributed to the inherent difficulty of the operation, but to the 

 farmer's own neglect of the indispensable conditions of success ; 

 and my object in discussing the subject is not to repeat once 

 more what has often been said before, and is known to every in- 

 telligent farmer of any experience, but to grapple with the real 

 difficulty which remains to be met after all the above-named pre- 

 liminaries have been strictly complied with. I will assume 

 further, that the seeds have been sown with a crop of wheat, as 

 the shelter afforded by the growing corn is of great use to the 

 young seeds on strong land, and the value of the corn will enable 

 the farmer to afford a most liberal dressing to the young layer, 

 and still leave a good balance in favour of sowing with rather 

 than icitJiout a grain crop. After the corn has been harvested, 

 the fresh sweet bite afforded by the young seeds will be a strong 

 temptation to the owner to let a few sheep just " top it over," as 

 the phrase goes ; but the temptation must be resisted, as the 

 undoubted prompting of his evil genius, and not a hoof should 

 be allowed to enter the field. 



The next question that arises is whether any manure should 

 be applied the first season : I think not. The removal of the 

 corn crop has doubtless taken out part of the conditwJi of the 

 land, which must be restored in order to keep the young grasses 

 thriving, but the first season is not the one in which the want 

 will be felt, and I have seen a dressing of manure do harm by 

 smothering the young and delicate plants. The following season 

 the grass should be mown, and after the hay is removed occurs 

 one of the critical occasions which go far to deride the fate of 

 the young crop. Then it is that the resources of tlie farmyard 

 must be taxed to the uttermost. It must be borne in mind that 

 a crop of corn and a crop of hay have been taken from the land, 

 and that if the farmer does not make a handsome return for 

 these benefits, the consequences of his illtimed parsimony will 

 stare him in the face for many a long year. If the farmyard 

 manure at his command will not enable him fully to meet the 

 requirements of the case, let him eke out his dungheap with 

 compost, to which 2 cwt. of Peruvian guano or 10 bushels of 

 bones per acre have been previously added. Should the farmer 

 be unable to screw up his courage to deal with his grass after 

 this fashion — should he calculate that the bone or guano compost 



