THE HAY-FIELD AND ENGLISH HAY. 181 



To secure upon recently seeded grass lands, designed for 

 permanent meadows, during the earlier years a liberal sup- 

 ply of hay, requires a fair addition of seeds of tall-growing 

 grasses and other fodder crops, as clover and other legumin- 

 ous plants. These fodder plants ought to be selected largely 

 from short-lived species and varieties, to make, in due time, 

 room for the formation of a close sod. 



Incase of temporary grass lands, it becomes necessary, for 

 a good and early annual yield, to choose mainly the seeds 

 from those grasses, otherwise suited for existing local con- 

 ditions, which send out, at once, many tall blooming shoots. 

 The shorter the period designed for keeping the lands cov- 

 ered with grasses, the more ought low-growing perennial 

 grasses to be excluded, — except the lands shall serve sub- 

 sequently for pastures. 



The degree of success upon permanent meadows, as far as 

 the quality and the quantity of the annual yield is con- 

 cerned, depends largely on the care taken to ascertain the 

 most advantageous relative proportion of both mentioned 

 classes of grasses under existino- local circumstances. To 

 secure the highest attainable yield requires careful local 

 observations. 



Grasses raised upon one and the same lands should be 

 selected as far as practicable with reference to a correspond- 

 ing period of blooming ; they should be cut for hay when 

 the majority of them are fairly advanced in blooming. The 

 adoption of this course imparts to the crop the highest 

 attainable nutritive value. 



