PREFACE 



TO 



THE FIRST EDITION 



A SHORT paper on ' Permanent Pastures,' written by my father 

 at the desire of the late Mr. Philip Pusey, appeared in 

 the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 

 vol. xxii., part ii. By special permission this paper was after- 

 wards pubHshed as a pamphlet, and, having run through eleven 

 editions, the duty of re-editing it fell to me in 1880. At my 

 father's request I revised and enlarged the work ; and two 

 editions, numbering together twenty thousand copies, have 

 since been disposed of. 



The laying down of land to grass is now a question 

 vital to the interests of agricultm-e ; and it has appeared to 

 me that, instead of further enlarging the pamphlet, a more 

 comprehensive treatment of the subject is necessary. 



In preparing this volume I have derived valuable assist- 

 ance from information most readily afforded on certain special 

 subjects by Mr. W. Carruthers, the accomphshed Botanist 

 to the Royal Agricultural Society of England. 



I have found of great practical value the record of ' Agi'i- 

 cultural. Botanical, and Chemical Results of Experiments on 

 the Mixed Herbage of Permanent Meadows,' compiled jointly 

 by Sir J. B. Lawes, Bart., Dr. J. H. Gilbert, and Dr. 

 Maxwell T. Masters, which contains the results of minute 

 and painstaking observations extending over a period of twenty 

 years. I wish further to thank Dr. Masters for his kindness 

 in verifying the accuracy of the botanical descriptions of the 



