256 



PAS 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PAS 



and the weak plants, which had made but little progress 

 before, will be the principal part of the crop for the succeed- 

 ing year, which is many times not worth standing. Hence, 

 when ground is laid down for grass, there should be no 

 crop of any kind sown with the seeds, and the land should 

 be well ploughed, and cleaned from weeds : otherwise, the 

 weeds will come up at first, and grow so strong as to over- 

 bear the, grass , which, if they be not pulled up, must be 

 entirely destroyed. The best season to sow the grass-seeds 

 upon dry land is about the middle of August, if there be an 

 appearance of rain ; for the ground being then warm, if there 

 happen some good showers of rain after the seed is sown, the 

 grass will soon make its appearance, and get sufficient root- 

 ing in the ground before winter; so will not be in danger of 

 having the roots turned out of the ground by frost, especially 

 if the ground is well rolled before the frost comes on, which 

 will press it down, and fix the earth close to the roots. 

 Where this has not been practised, the frost has often 

 loosened the ground so much, as to let in the air to the roots 

 of the grass, and done it great damage ; and this has been 

 brought as an objection to the autumnal sowing of grass; 

 but it will be found to have no weight, if the above direction 

 be practised : nor is there any hazard in sowing the grass at 

 this season, but that of dry weather after the seeds are sown ; 

 for if the grass comes up well, and the ground is well rolled 

 in the middle or end of October, and repeated in the begin- 

 ning of March, the sward will be closely joined at bottom, 

 and a good crop of hay may be expected in the same summer. 

 In very open exposed cold lands, it is proper to sow the 

 seeds earlier than is here mentioned, that the grass may have 

 time to get good rooting, before the cold season comes on 

 to stop its growth ; for in such situations vegetation is over 

 early in the autumn, so the grass being weak may be de- 

 stroyed by frost; but if the seeds be sown in the beginning 

 of August, and a few showers follow soon after to bring up 

 the grass, it will succeed much better than any that is sown 

 in the spring. But where the ground cannot be prepared 

 for sowing at that season, it may be performed in the middle 

 or latter end of March, acco r ding to the season's being early 

 or late ; for in backward springs, and in cold land, the grass 

 has been sown in April with success : but in sowing late 

 there is danger of dry weather, especially if the land be light 

 and dry, so that whenever the seeds are sown late in the 

 spring, it will be proper to roll the ground well soon after 

 the seeds are sown, to settle the surface, and prevent its being 

 removed by the strong winds which at that time prevail. 

 The sorts of seeds which are the best for this purpose, are 

 the best sort of upland hay-seeds, taken from the cleanest 

 pastures, where there are no bad weeds ; if this seed be 

 gifted to clean it from rubbish, three, or at most four bushels, 

 will be sufficient to sow an acre of land : the other sort is the 

 Trifolium Pratense, eight pounds of which will be enough 

 for one acre of land. The grass-seed should be sown first, 

 and then the Dutch Clover-seed may be afterwards sown ; 

 but they should not be mixed together, because the Clover- 

 seed being the heaviest, will fall to the bottom, and conse- 

 quently the ground will be unequally sown with them. After 

 the seeds are sown, the ground should be lightly harrowed, 

 to bury them ; which operation ought to be performed with 

 a short-toothed harrow, otherwise the seeds will be buried 

 too deep. Two or three days after sowing, if the surface of 

 the ground be dry, it should be rolled with a barley-roller, to 

 break the clods and smooth the ground, which will settle 

 it, and prevent the seeds from being removed by the wind. 

 When they are come up, if the land should produce many 

 weeds, these should be drawn out before they grow so tall 



as to overbear the grass ; for where this has been neglected, 

 the weeds have taken such possession of the ground, as to 

 keep down the grass and starve it ; and when these weeds 

 have been suffered to remain until they have shed their seeds, 

 the land has been so plentifully stocked with them as wholly 

 to destroy the grass ; hence it is one of the principal parts 

 of husbandry, never to suffer weeds to grow on land. If the 

 ground be rolled up two or three times at proper distances 

 after the grass is up, it will press it down, and cause it to 

 make a thicker bottom ; for as the Dutch Clover will put out 

 roots from every joint of the branches which are near the 

 ground, so by pressing down the stalks, the roots will mat 

 so closely together, as to form a sward thick enough to cover 

 the whole surface of the ground, and form a green carpet, 

 which will better resist the drought. For if we examine the 

 common pastures in summer, in most of which there are 

 patches of the Trifolium Pratense growing naturally, we shall 

 find these patches to be the only verdure remaining in the 

 fields. And this, the farmers in general acknowledge, is the 

 sweetest food for all sorts of cattle ; yet never had any notion 

 of propagating it by seeds till of late years. Nor has this 

 been long practised in England, for till within a few years 

 there were not any of the seeds sowed in England ; though 

 now there are many persons who save the seeds produced 

 upon their own lands, which are found to succeed full as 

 well as any of the foreign seeds which are imported ; as this 

 White Clover is an abiding plant, and certainly the very best 

 sort to sow, where pastures are laid down to remain : for as 

 the hay-seeds which are taken from the best pastures will be 

 composed of various sorts of grass, some of which may be 

 but annual, and others biennial; so when those go ofF, there 

 will be many and large patches of ground left bare and naked, 

 if there be not a sufficient quantity of White Clover to spread 

 over and cover the land. Hence, a good sward can never be 

 expected where this is not sown; for in most of the natural 

 pastures, we find this plant makes no small share of the sward; 

 and it is equally good for wet and dry land, growing naturally 

 upon gravel and clay, in mort parts of England; which is a 

 plain indication, how easily this plant may be cultivated to 

 great advantage in most sorts of land throughout this king- 

 dom. The true cause why the land that is in tillage is not 

 brought to a good turf again, in the usual method of hus- 

 bandry, is from the farmers not distinguishing which grasses 

 are annual, from those which are perennial : if annual or 

 biennial grasses be sown, they will of course soon decay; so 

 that, unless where some of their seeds may have ripened and 

 fallen, nothing can be expected on the land but what will 

 naturally come up. This, together with the covetous method 

 of laying down the ground with a crop of corn, has occa- 

 sioned the general want of increasing the pasture in many 

 parts of England, where it is now much more valuable than 

 any arable land. After the ground has been sown in the 

 manner before directed, and brought to a good sward, the 

 way to preserve it good is, by constantly rolling the ground 

 with a heavy roller, every spring and autumn, as has been 

 before directed. This piece of husbandry is rarely practised 

 by farmers ; but those who do, find their account in it, for it 

 is of great benefit to the grass. Another thing should also, 

 be carefully performed, which is, to cut up Docks, Dandelion., 

 Knapweed, and all such bad weeds, by their roots, every 

 spring and antumn ; this will increase the quantity of good 

 grass, and preserve the pastures in beauty. Dressing these 

 pastures every third year, is also a good piece of husbandry, 

 for without it no one can reasonably expect to obtain good 

 crops. Besides this, it will be proper to mow one season, 

 and feed the next ; but where the ground is every year mown, 



