92 THE STOCKFEEDER'S COMPANION 



In some cases meadow fescue l is included with the 

 timothy, to the extent of 6 or 8 Ibs. per acre, as it 

 flowers approximately the same time (June) and yields 

 hay of excellent quality. The mixture also ensures 

 a more uniform crop. In other cases, Italian rye grass 

 is included to give a fairly good crop of hay the first year. 

 The rye grass may, however, smother the timothy some- 

 what the first year, and if included, should not exceed 

 8 Ibs. per acre. The argument put forth is that timothy 

 does not generally grow a full crop the first year, and 

 Italian rye grass holds the land for the first year 

 and then dies out, leaving the ground entirely to the 

 timothy. 



Improving Poor Old Pasture. 



There are several ways in which this may be brought 

 about. Probably the first essential is that the land 

 should be drained in some way or other ; after this 

 a suitable manuring will be required. 



A very effective system is to lamb the ewes on 

 a rough pasture. The ewes then tread all the rough 

 grass away, and at the same time give the field a good 

 manuring. After the sheep are taken out of the field, 

 the herbage grows sweeter, and white clover develops, 

 thus giving an excellent class of herbage for the stock. 



In rough, sour, benty pastures a dressing of 2 to 

 4 tons cob (burnt) lime, or 10 cwts. ground lime per acre, 

 sweetens the herbage very considerably. Composts 

 of lime and earth are usually very effective. 



Generally speaking, an excellent mode of procedure 

 is to give the grass-land a dressing of 6 cwts. basic 

 slag, and 3 cwts. kainit per acre. Experiments in 



1 A pound each of rough-stalked meadow grass and white 

 clover is sometimes included to improve the aftermath. 



