489 



GRASS LAND. 



GRASS LANp. 



470 



" The foregoing table (ii. 1.) is drawn out with a view to the strictest 

 economy as regards the original outlay : yet by introducing 4 Ib. 

 Lolium italicum for 5 Ib. Lolium permne, the bulk of pasture will be 

 increased, and the quality improved ; and where the value of the seeds 

 of Lolium italicum does not exceed three or four times those of 

 Litlium permne, a more profitable return upon the whole will be 

 yielded by its introduction. 



" The next table (ii. 2.)cont,iins a greater proportion of the more rare 

 and valuable sorts of seeds, although these will add considerably to 

 the first expense, yet the unproved produce will annually give a 

 greater return ; and to the mixture in both tables may be introduced 

 with advantage, on dry and elevated sheep pastures, 2 Ib. to 4 Ib. of 

 Pestuca ovina ; on dry light lands, 4 Ib. Ackillea, Afillefolium ; on dry 

 calcareous soils, 6 Ib. to 10 Ib. Onobrychis satiru* ; in some cases 1 Ib. 

 to 2 Ib. of Cicftorium Intybus ; and 2 Ib. Apium petroselinum on lands 

 where sheep are subject to liver-rot; and in all cases when a crop 

 of hay is intended to be taken the first year, 2 Ib. Lolium perenne, 

 1 Ib. Lolium italicum, and 2 Ib. Trifolium prateme should be added." 



In a recent volume of the English Agricultural Society's ' Journal," 

 some valuable information was given by Mr. Thompson, its editor, and 

 Mr. Dixon, a Cheshire land agent and agriculturist, on the manage- 

 ment and improvement of grass lands, of which we give the following 

 account : 



Mr. Thompson's paper is more especially devoted to the consideration 

 of the best method of treating newly laid down grass, in order to suc- 

 cess in the production of a good permanent pasture. He states that, 

 after long experience and repeated failures in the attempt to establish 

 a pasture by folding sheep year after year on the young grass, he 

 " became satisfied that to graze sheep on young seeds intended for 

 permanent pasture was a mistake, and that in all probability it had 

 been the cause of several previous failures. Up to that time," says 

 Mr. Thompson, " I had never succeeded to my own satisfaction in laying 

 down land to grass ; but since making a rule rigidly to exclude sheep 

 for some years from newly-laid grass during the season of active growth, 

 I have never had a failure, though I have twice had occasion, for local 

 reasons, to lay down fields of which the soil was ctrong clay. The 

 method which I have found to answer best has been to sow a liberal 

 allowance of the hay-seeds of the district, with a sprinkling of cow- 

 grass and white clover ; to sow them with a crop of wheat (one of the 

 ehort-strawed varieties) ; to mow the first year, and as soon as the hay 

 is removed, to give a good dressing of farm-yard manure, and then for" 

 some years pasture it with cattle, beginning for the first year or two 

 with young stock, until the turf is clone and strong enough to bear the 

 treading of heavy cattle. If farm-yard manure is not to be had, 3 cwt. 

 of best Peruvian guano per acre will prove a tolerable substitute, 

 though by no means equal to the former. For some years a newly-laid 

 pasture will, unless the land be of very superior quality, require assist- 

 ance from time to time to keep it in an improving state : an occasional 

 dressing of farm-yard manure is, of course, the best ; but as this is 

 rarely obtainable in sufficient quantity, it must be eked out by other 

 means." 



The following are among the more striking of the experiences of 

 various top-dressings for pasture land recorded by Mr. Dixon : 



1. On Honing titimt. " A great improvement by bone manure was 

 effected by Captain De Hollenworth, of Hollenworth Hall, Cheshire, 

 between the years 1840 and 1843. In those three years about 1500?. 

 was expended on bones, principally boiled, and about it. in value was 



to the acre. Boiled bones at that time cost U. per ton ; raw 

 n bones, 71. per ton. The land where the manure was used ia 

 nearly 600 feet above the sea ; old turf ; the climate does not mature 

 well : character of the soil varies, some peaty, on aluminous 

 shale or stone ; other parts a lightish gray soil, on aluminous slaty 

 stone. It was on the latter description of soil that the bones effected 

 thu greatest change. The grass had sometimes been eaten off, and 

 sometimes mown for hay. The quality of the herbage was totally 

 changed within the first two years after boning. Some of the meadi >w 

 land which had been let t 30. per acre was readily raised to 31., 

 and still made more money for the tenant when turned either to the 

 f' "ling and breeding of sheep or the feeding of cattle. In the year 



841 Mr. Willi.ini-i.in, a tenant fanner residing at Huxley, near Tarpor- 

 ling, expended 374/. in bones, principally boiled. Mr. Williamson's 

 farm is 50 miles south-west of Captain De Hollenworth's farm, 



feet above the sea. The whole of the bones were applied to grass 

 land, at a cost of 2/, 10. per acre. Mr. Williamson's pasture land has 

 a peculiarly close-textured soil and subsoil, approaching nearly to the 



a clay, though brown-red in colour, and effervesces violently when 



ested with spirits of salts. Previous to boning, the herbage on : 

 pastures was of the poorest kind imaginable, there being few if any 

 plants except the small carex ; in the second summer after boning 

 the cfcrex had disappeared, and the pasture had become long and thick - 

 t with white clover, cow-gram or marl clover, and trefoil. The 



airy stock had also been increased from 40 to 52 cows : the 40 COWH 

 had been -at times almost starved ; the 52 cows had abundance, and 

 more than they could feed down, and sheep were purchased for the 

 excess keep." 



2. On Honiny vrltlt /Irainage." In the year 1838 I inspected a farm 



i west of Captain De Hollenworth's. The altitude of this was 

 about 80 feet above the sea. Up to August in that year 250?. had 



been expended in boiled bones (cost 4?. per ton) ; the quantity applied 

 to the acre was about 16 cwt., the soil and subsoil being much the 

 same as on Mr. Williamson's farm ; the herbage growing on it of the 

 same kind, but apparently more scanty. Several small fields had not 

 been dressed with the manure, nor had any stock been in these fields 

 during the summer up to the month named. So little, however, was 

 the herbage, that I computed that not more thaii 20 stones of hay 

 could be obtained from an acre. In 1839 I again inspected this farm, 

 and the pastures showed considerable improvement. The dajry stock 

 on the farm the preceding year consisted of four cows, which had been 

 increased to eight. It is proper to mention here, that the land in 

 question had been in grass for a long series of years, its wetness and 

 natural cohesiveness having been a bar to any attempt at converting it 

 to tillage. The extent of the farm in question is 98 acres. In 1842 

 the dairy stock on this farm was 24 cows, and in the autunln of that 

 year 80 sheep were put on the land to consume the superabundant 

 grass on the pastures. In November, 1843, 1 again inspected this farm. 

 The weather had been wet for some weeks, and I was sorry to see 

 much good herbage on the land almost lost for want of the surface- 

 water being properly carried off. Within the past two years I have 

 been three times over this farm ; it is still in a bad state from want of 

 efficient drainage, and the bones seem to have lost much of their 

 former effect." 



3. On Limimj. " In the year 1845 a gentleman purchased several 

 hundred acres of land in small farms, all lying in a district of country 

 about 600 feet above the level of the sea, neither the land nor its occu- 

 pants being in a position to help one another. But the gentleman 

 wishing to see the land of his early days wear a more pleasing appear- 

 ance, even at great cost, the thing was to be attempted. It was almot 

 to an acre old grass land, as corn at that elevation will not often reach 

 maturity. I was engaged to direct the re-modelling of the fields, and 

 the manuring of nearly all the property. Most of the soil lay on poor 

 clay or shale, and lime was used to a great extent. Rather extensive 

 draining was done on the clay land ; and the material thrown out of 

 the drains being of a soft and very cohesive character, we did not 

 return it into the drains. It was mixed with lime ; and our object 

 being to destroy or reduce the nature of the clay, we put clay and linns 

 together in about equal bulk : the lime nearly burnt the tlay ; to do 

 that about 14 days were required. The compost was then turned over 

 altogether in a powdery state. In due course it was applied to the 

 land, and in a few weeks there was ample evidence that the practice 

 was correct. The compost acted sooner than lime alone would have 

 done ; it has been equally, or, I might say, to some extent more effective. 

 About 1000 tons of lime have been used on these small farms, at the 

 rate of 8 or 9 tons to the acre, and a great improvement brought abotit. 

 The lime costs here 12. per ton. It was 'brought 80 miles by water, 

 and 24 miles by carts. In one year after the lime had been applied, 

 10. to 15a. per acre advance in rent was readily obtained. Bones have 

 been used here to a limited extent, but, unless applied in double the 

 quantity sufficient for most lands in low altitudes, the change is not 

 satisfactory.'* 



In some soils which are not congenial to grass the seed does not take 

 so well as in others ; and there is a great difficulty in producing a good 

 sward. In this case recourse may be had to planting, or, as some call 

 it, inoculating grass. This is done by taking pieces of sward from an 

 old meadow, and spreading them over the surface of the land to be 

 laid down, after it has been ploughed and prepared in the same 

 manner as it would be to receive the seed. The turf of the old 

 meadow is taken up with a peculiar instrument in strips two inches 

 wide and these strips are cut across so as to form little square pieces, 

 which are spread over the ground, leaving about five or six inches of 

 interval between every two pieces. The heavy roller presses them 

 into the ground. These tufts soon spread and fill up all the intervals 

 with a complete old sward. This is a very effectual and certain method 

 of producing a permanent pasture. Some attention is required to 

 prevent weeds in the intervals between the tufts at first : by 

 going over the field with a narrow hoe, all weeds may be easily kept 

 down; and the roots and tillers of the grass soon fill up the vacant 

 spaces. 



The fertility produced by grass which is fed by cattle and sheep has 

 given rise to the practice of converting arable land to pasture for a 

 certain time in order to recruit its strength. The old notion was that 

 the land had rot, which by a confusion of ideas was associated with 

 the rest of the labourers and the horses. Ploughing was called 

 working the land ; and some men talked of working out the heart of 

 the land by ploughing. That the ploughing of land does not diminish 

 the productive power of all soils that are fit for cultivation, will bo 

 readily allowed. The sea sand no doubt, where a few bents have taken 

 root, would not be unproved by being stirred ; neither would very 

 light soils under a burning sun : but in our moist climate there is 

 seldom any danger of over-ploughing. The land, by being in grass, 

 has much vegetable matter added to it from the fibres of the roots 

 which die and decay, as well as from the other parts of the grass, which 

 draw nourishment from th*e atmosphere and impart it to the roots. 

 Thus in time an accumulation of vegetable soil is formed ; and when 

 the laud is ploughed the rotting of the sward greatly increases it. 

 Every species of plant thrives well in this improved soil ; and tho 

 vigour of the growth is ascribed to the recruiting effects of rest, by a 



