838 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



much less injurious than those of the former ; but their bite being closer is more apt to 

 tear up the plants, than the bite of the horned tribe. In Middlesex cattle are generally 

 removed from meadow-lands in November ; horses in the month following, and sheep 

 allowed to remain till February. In Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and on many river- 

 meadows, every description of stock is allowed to remain till April, and sheep to May. 

 In some districts, the whole of the after-growth is preserved from every species of stock 

 till the following May, when it is fed off for sheep : but this greatly retards the hay 

 crop for that year. It is evident that a good deal must depend on the farmer's other re- 

 sources for keep to his stock. 



5236. The after-grass, where manure is very abundant, is sometimes made into hay or 

 rouen, a soft and not very nutritive food, given to cows or sheep ; but this is reckoned a bad 

 practice, even in the neighborhood of London, where manure may be had in abundance. 

 It is also the usage of some to leave the after-grass on the ground without being eaten 

 till spring, when it is said to be preferable, for ewes and lambs, to turnips, cabbages, or 

 any other species whatever of what is termed spring-feed. This mode of management, 

 w^hich is strongly recommended by Young, and in some cases by Marshal also, is un- 

 known in the north, where, though it is, in many instances, found beneficial, with a view 

 to an early spring growth, not to eat the pasture too close before winter, it would be at- 

 tended with a much greater loss of herbage, than any advantage in spring could com- 

 pensate, to leave the after-growth of mown grounds untouched till that season. 



5237. A system of alternate mowing and feeding is practised on some hay lands, partly 

 to save labor and manure, and partly to subdue mosses and coarse grasses. On some 

 soils even rich grass lands, when annually mown, become subject to weeds ; for it tends 

 to encourage moss, and gives advantage to the stronger rooted grasses, which gradually 

 change, and deteriorate the nature and quality of the herbage. The bottom becomes 

 thin, the white clover disappears, and coarser plants occupy the ground. When this takes 

 place, the pasture should be fed, instead of being mown, for the space of two or three 

 years, until the weeds have been subdued, and the finer grasses re-appear. 



5238. By adopting the plan of mowing and feeding alternately, a farmer, it is said, 

 may goon longer without the application of manure, but his fields, in the end, will be 

 ruined by it. It is contended, that to maintain a proper quantity of stock, the land must 

 be accustomed to keep it, particularly in the case of sheep ; that where land has been 

 used to the scythe, if manured for pastures, it will often produce more grass, but that 

 grass will not (cceteris paribus) support so much stock, nor fatten them nearly so well ; 

 and that old pasture will not produce so much hay as land that has been constantly 

 mowed ; for each will grow best as they have been accustomed to grow, and will not 

 readily alter their former habits. On the other hand, it is asserted, that many expe- 

 rienced farmers prefer the system of feeding and mowing alternately, as they find, that 

 under that system, the quality and quantity of the hay has been improved ; and the pas- 

 turage, in the alternate year, has been equally sweet and productive. 



Sect. II. Of j)ermanent Pastures. 



5239. Permanent jmsfures may he divided into two kinds : rich or feeding lands ; and 

 hilly or rearing pastures. Under the former, we may comprehend all old rich pastures 

 that are capable of fattening cattle ; and under the second, such as are adapted to rearing 

 them only, or are more advantageously depastured with sheep. 



SuBSECT. 1. Of rich or feeding Pastures. 



5240. Feeding pastures may include such as are equally fit for hay -lands, or for being 

 converted to arable husbandry ; their characteristic being, that they are used for feeding 

 stock, and keeping working animals and milk-cows in good condition. We have men- 

 tioned in a former chapter, that pasturage for one, two, or more years, is frequently in- 

 terposed in the course of cropping arable land, to prevent that exhaustion of the soil which 

 is commonly the consequence of incessant tillage crops. The same culture and manage- 

 ment that is recommended here for rich grass lands, is equally applicable to them ; there 

 being no difference, excepting that the latter are generally considered less suitable for 

 fatting heavy stock, such as large oxen, than rich old turf. 



5241. The culture and management of feeding pastures, whether of a few years or per- 

 petual duration, may be considered in regard to those necessary operations that have been 

 already noticed, under the former section, such as the extirpation of weeds and noxious 

 shrubs, clearing away ant and mole-hills, the application of manure, the time of stock- 

 ing, the number of the animals, and whether all should be of one or of difl^'erent species, 

 the extent of the enclosures, and the propriety of eating the herbage close, or leaving it 

 always in a rather abundant state ; all these are questions which it is scarcely possible to 

 decide in a satisfactory manner, by the application of general rules. They can only be 

 resolved, with any pretensions to utility, by a reference to the particular circumstances 

 of each case ; for the practice of one district, in regard to these and other points, will be 



