MEADOW HAT 77 



the cereals are less able to collect ash constituents 

 from the soil ; if, therefore, grass is mown for hay, 

 manures containing potash, lime, and phosphoric acid 

 will be required. Owing to the accumulation of humic 

 matter in the surface soil of grass land it becomes after 

 many years impoverished in lime, which is dissolved, 

 and removed in the drainage water ; dressings of lime, 

 chalk, or basic slag, will in such cases greatly improve 

 its fertility. Like the cereal crops, grass is greatly 

 increased in luxuriance by the application of soluble 

 nitrogenous manures. 



Farmyard manure, or the feeding of cake, corn, or 

 roots on the land, is the most appropriate manuring 

 for permanent pasture, if a high quality as well as 

 quantity of produce is desired. Large crops of hay 

 may be obtained by manuring with nitrate of sodium, 

 together with kainite and superphosphate ; but such 

 treatment produces a coarser herbage. 



The natural clovers of a meadow are destroyed 

 by the continued application of highly nitrogenous 

 manures, and especially of ammonium salts, a hay 

 consisting almost exclusively of grass being produced. 

 The clovers are developed by the application of ma- 

 nures supplying potash or lime without nitrogen ; basic 

 slag is of great use for this purpose. The effect of 

 pasturing with sheep or cattle is to check the develop- 

 ment of coarse herbage, and to promote the growth of 

 the finer grasses and clover. 



The perennial character of meadow herbage, which 

 usually includes a variety of leguminous plants, pre- 

 sents favourable conditions for the collection of nitrogen 

 from the atmosphere. Land is often laid down tem- 

 porarily to grass with the view of restoring its fertility. 



