CHAPTER VI. 



HINTS ON LAYING DOWN LAND TO GRASS. 



(COMPILED BY W. ADAMSON.) 



The utility of forming artificial pasture for stock, though 

 generally recognised, is not so frequently practised as might be 

 advantageous ; for, by means of it, not only double, but in some 

 cases four times the amount of food may be obtained from an acre 

 of land than it would produce under natural grasses. In such 

 varieties of soil and climate as exist in this country, different modes 

 of preparing the ground for the reception of grass seeds must be 

 followed. In some rich soils, where the climate is moist, good 

 results are obtained from sowing the seeds in the ashes of the burnt 

 scrub, at the rate of 30 Ibs. to the acre, without any other cultiva- 

 tion ; but such a mode would be inefficacious in ordinary soil, which 

 requires to be well and deeply tilled before the seed is sown. The 

 method of 'sowing grass seeds with a grain crop, as practised in 

 more temperate climates, is entirely unsuited to this country, and 

 should never be practised. Whether the land is new or old, it 

 should be broken up by ploughing and subsoiling in the course of 

 the previous season then, on the approach of seed time, well 

 worked and brought to a line tilth with cultivator, roller, and harrow, 

 any rubbish being gathered and burnt, and the ashes spread. The 

 ground will then be ready to receive the seed, which should be put 

 in as soon as the land is sufficiently moistened by the autumn rains. 

 Grass seeds should be lightly covered with a bush harrow, and the 

 ground immediately rolled ; but if clover seed is added, it may be 

 sown after the ground is harrowed, and covered by the roller. 

 Grass should not be allowed to seed the first year, as that tends to 

 cause the plants to die out ; as soon as the flower stems appear, it 

 should be cut with a scythe, or fed off by young cattle, but it must 

 at no period, and especially during summer, be eaten bare. The 

 seed should not be stinted in quantity or variety, as better 

 crops are obtained where different sorts are grown together 

 and the ground well covered, which can only be attained by using 

 a sufficiency of seed ; and though that is not always done, it is 

 decidedly uneconomical to limit the quantity. No less than forty to 

 fifty pounds to the acre should be sown on ordinary soils, with 

 clover seeds in addition. With regard to the proportion of the 

 different kinds to use, that depends so much on the nature of the 



