174 IIORTIIS GRAMTNKUS WO B U R N RNS I S. 



or of less valuable plants. The seeds of clover, yarrow, 

 and of the bush vetch, can be had from the seedsman. As 

 soon as the plants of grasses have come up, the surface of 

 the land should be occasionally rolled, as the plants thereby 

 sooner establish themselves firmly in the ground, and make 

 more vigorous and rapid growth than when the surface is 

 less firm and consolidated. In the end of autumn, or early 

 in the spring, a top-dressing of rotten dung, or finely-pul- 

 verized compost, should be applied to the seedling grasses, 

 in such a manner as to prevent the necessity of bush- 

 harrowing for the first year ; a handy workman with a shovel 

 can spread the compost regularly and finely among the 

 plants. The use of the roller should not be neglected, on 

 every favourable opportunity of dry weather. As soon as 

 the seeds are ripa|> which may be known by passing a spike 

 or panicle between the fingers, advantage should be taken 

 of favourable weather to mow the grass, laying it in thin 

 swaths, and carefully turning it as often as necessary until 

 the crop is sufficiently dry to thresh out ; which operation 

 must be effected as soon as possible, either on the spot or in 

 the barn, as the circumstances of weather and convenience 

 may appear to the intelligent farmer most to require. 



By the ordinary practice of returning such soils to perma- 

 nent pasture, disappointment is sure to follow ; and to at- 

 tempt to form a valuable permanent sward on soils not 

 adapted to the growth of these grasses, were equally un- 

 wise ; though, if the subsoil be avourable, the land may be 

 so much improved, at a moderate expense, by the means 

 recommended, as to fit it for the growth of the best 

 grasses. 



I have witnessed the results of several experiments on 

 different grasses, on a large scale, conducted by Mr. Wil- 

 son on the farms of the Duke of Bedford, at Woburn. In 

 one instance, a field containing twenty-five acres of old 

 pasture land, where it was desirable to change the quality of 

 the grass, was converted into tillage for eight years : the 

 crops of grain during that time were most luxuriant. The 

 following grass seeds were then sown : meadow fox-tail 

 {alopecurus pratensis), rough-stalked meadow-grass {poa tri- 



