276 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



the winter. Four pounds of seed will be sufficient to supply 

 plants for transplanting. 



Having seen the value of this plant, for feeding purposes, on 

 the well-managed farm to which I have referred, I have gone 

 thus at large into its cultivation, believing that the account 

 would be interesting to my American friends. How far its cul 

 tivation can be recommended in the United States, experience 

 only can decide. Our severe winters, and deep snows, would 

 be much against it in the Northern States ; but there are localities 

 in which, undoubtedly, its cultivation would be beneficial. The 

 obtaining a green succulent feed for our stock in winter, woulc 

 be a most valuable acquisition. The labor required to prepare i 

 would prove a serious objection in a country where labor is difficult 

 to be procured, and where the almost universal practice is hurry 

 and despatch, and things are but too often only half done. 



18. CLOVERS AND GRASSES. The introduction of cultivated 

 grasses, though not recent, is, .properly speaking, an improve 

 ment of modern husbandry. In British agriculture, various 

 kinds have been introduced; but I shall speak of those which are 

 the most prominent. For the great mass of my readers, botanical 

 descriptions and distinctions would be use! ja and misplaced 

 and I shall, therefore, refer to these grasses in terms which are 

 familiar. 



In the cultivation of them, two courses are pursued the 

 one, that of laying down land to permanent pasture or meadow ; 

 the other, that of giving them their place for one, two, or three 

 years in a regular rotation. The subject of breaking up perma 

 nent pasture, or long-established mowing fields, has been much 

 discussed and controverted ; and the decision of the question will 

 depend on many qualifications. The English are strongly opposed 

 to the breaking up of such lands ; the Scotch keep very little 

 land, which is capable of being brought under the plough, in per 

 manent grass. Undoubtedly, the largest profit might be obtained 

 from breaking up the land, and letting it take its place in the 

 regular course of crops ; but the difficulty to be contended with, 

 where it is to be brought back into permanent pasture or mow 

 ing, is that of getting again a firm and substantial sward. This 

 is not so difficult as is supposed ; for I have often seen, where the 

 land is well cultivated, and not too severely cropped, and is laid 



