QUANTITY OF GBASS SEED TO AN AGUE. 185 



bushel, or perhaps half a bushel of the lighter seeds, is often 

 sowed in the United States. I should attribute the more 

 general evenness and closeness of the English meadows in 

 a great degree to this, though, doubtless, much is due to the 

 moister climate. Land intended for permanent pasture re 

 ceives much more seed, and a larger variety, than that which 

 is intended to be mown only for a few years, and then be 

 brought to tillage again. Of the good policy of the English 

 practice for pastures (and the same applies to lawns and 

 public greens) I have no doubt. Among the great variety of 

 grasses in an English meadow, there will be one that springs 

 up and grows strongly, furnishing a wholesome and delicious 

 bite to the cattle, as early after the first warm breath of 

 spring as the ground will be dry enough to bear a hoof (and 

 on drained lands it is rarely not so). This will be succeeded 

 by others, and in May by others ; and in July, those natural 

 to the driest and warmest soils will be in perfection ; and so 

 through the year there is a constantly renewing perfection. 

 A ranker sward, and one that would for a season support 

 more cattle, I think would be obtained from sowing a smaller 

 quantity and less variety of seed. 



I am not prepared to recommend the English practice for 

 mowing lands. To obtain the largest quantity of grass hay 

 from an acre, without regard to quality, plough deep, manure 

 deep, and sow one variety of seed in such quantity that when 

 it comes up it will speedily tiller, and occupy the whole 

 ground, yet not stand so closely as to greatly crowd and 

 compress the stools, thereby dwarfing the reeds from their 

 natural size, and obstructing the flow of sap in their vessels. 

 Cut it when it has attained to its greatest size, while it is 

 yet entirely succulent, just at the time that the blood of the 

 plant begins to be drawn up into the forming seed, and the 

 bottom dries into such tough, close, ligneous fibre that 



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