558 AGRICULTURE. 



healthy, clean, and productive state, there can be no objection 

 to their permanence ; but whenever a pasture becomes over- 

 grown with weeds, or filled with worthless or unproductive 

 grasses, it is time for it to take its place in a system of rotation 

 and renovation, at the same time regarding the needs of the 

 soil in respect to fertilizing and cleaning from rocks, briers, and 

 other shrubs. 



Drainage of Grass-Lands. Generally speaking, there is the 

 same benefit to be derived from the proper drainage of grass- 

 lands, that is so conspicuously shown in lands devoted to other 

 crops. All lands with an impervious subsoil of stiff clay, or 

 soils that are water-clogged, may be greatly benefited by proper 

 draining, both in the quality and quantity of the grass product. 

 On such land, properly drained, the grass will start earlier in 

 the spring and will continue to grow later in the fall than with- 

 out drainage. All soils which rest upon a porous subsoil do not 

 need it, and land may have so strong a slope that the water is 

 discharged from it with sufficient rapidity without the aid of a 

 drain. Wet, water-soaked pastures generally abound in rushes 

 and sedges, which may grow luxuriantly, but are coarse and 

 innutritious. The valuable grasses on such pastures are injured 

 or destroyed by the tramping of cattle, whose hoofs penetrate 

 the wet ground. 



The Selection of Grasses. The selection of the proper kinds 

 of grasses to be employed for meadows or pastures must depend 

 on several circumstances, such as soil, drainage, habit of growth, 

 productions, etc. No one kind of grass can be expected to be 

 adapted to all conditions, neither can any given mixture of 

 grasses. There has been a great amount of empiricism in this 

 matter. One man finds a certain grass to be very thrifty and 

 productive on his farm, and thinks he has found the great desid- 

 eratum, and at once proclaims his grass, perhaps gives it a new 

 name, and recommends its use, without regard to the condi- 

 tions or circumstances which may be absolutely essential to 

 its success. 



Others purchase seed of the new grass, perhaps at exorbitant 

 prices, and, without a knowledge of its peculiar habits or wants, 

 give it a trial and find it a failure, probably because climate or 

 soil, or other essential conditions, are unsuitable to its wants. 



