GRA 



GRA 



when there is not a decided advan- 

 tage in making hay, feeding should 

 always be preferred. At all events, 

 the great object of the farmer should 

 be to have his land in good heart and 

 tilth, and free from weeds, when the 

 grass is sown. If his grass be good, 

 he is certain of good crops after it, 

 with little trouble or manure." 



The seeds to be sown on an acre, 

 when the land is laid down to grass, 

 are as follows : Red clover, eight 

 pounds ; Timothy, two pecks ; Ken- 

 lucky blue grass, five pounds ; white 

 clover, six pounds, or orchard grass, 

 two pecks ; rye grass, two pecks, 

 may be introduced. This is for a field 

 intended to remain four or five years 

 in grass. 



" The introduction of artificial 

 meadows in districts where the soil 

 seemed not well adapted for pasture 

 has greatly increased the number of 

 cattle and sheep reared and fattened, 

 and has caused greater attention to 

 be paid to the means of improving 

 the breeds of both. Thus a double 

 advantage has arisen : the public is 

 benefited by an increased supply, and 

 the farmer is rewarded by an addi- 

 tional source of profit. 



" In the neighbourhood of large 

 towns there are many meadows, 

 which, without being irrigated, are 

 mown every year, and only fed be- 

 tween hay harvest and the next 

 spring. These require frequent ma- 

 nuring to keep them in heart, and with 

 this assistance they produce great 

 crops of hay every year. Sometimes 

 the meadows are manured with sta- 

 ble dung which has been laid in a heap 

 for some time, and been turned over 

 to rot it equally. This is put on soon 

 after the hay is cut, and the rains 

 wash the dung into the ground ; but 

 if a very dry and hot summer follows, 

 little benefit is produced by the dung, 

 which is dried up, and most of the 

 juices evaporated. A better method 

 is to make a compost with earth and 

 dung, and, where it can be easily ob- 

 tained, with lime. The best earth is 

 that which contains most vegetable 

 matter ; and as many of these mead- 

 ows are on a stiff clay soil, which re- 

 G o 



quires to be kept dry by open drains 

 and water furrows, the soil dug out 

 of these and carted to a corner of the 

 meadow makes an excellent founda- 

 tion for the compost. It is sometimes 

 useful to plough furrows at intervals 

 to take off the superfluous surface 

 water in winter ; the earth thus rais- 

 ed by the plough is excellent to mix 

 in the compost ; having been turned 

 over with dung, sweepings of streets, 

 or any other manure, so as to form a 

 uniform mass, it is spread over the 

 land in winter ; and in spring a bush- 

 harrow is drawn over the meadow, 

 and it is rolled with a heavy roller. 

 When the meadow is moss bound, or 

 of a light soil, it may be dressed with 

 the clod crusher (roller) or with a 

 weighted harrow. All this compost 

 is soon washed into the ground, and 

 invigorates the roots of the grass. It 

 is better to put on a slight coating of 

 this compost every year than to give 

 a greater portion of manure every 

 three or four years, as is the practice 

 of some farmers. The grazing of 

 cattle has generally been a more prof- 

 itable occupation than simply tilling 

 the land. The capital required is con- 

 siderable, but the current expenses 

 are not great. The grazier is not sub- 

 ject to such total fadures as the farm- 

 er of arable land is in his crops, ^^'lth 

 a little experience and prudence, he 

 can always reckon on a certain re- 

 turn. An acre of good grazing land 

 is supposed to produce 200 pounds of 

 meat in the year. By uniting the 

 raising of corn and the grazing of cat- 

 tle and sheep, the greatest profit is 

 probably obtained, and this is the 

 great argument in favour of the con- 

 vertible system of husbandry." 



The foregoing is principally from 

 the Rev. W. L. Rham. 



GRASSHOPPERS. The popular 

 name of the genus Gryllus, or lo- 

 custs. They are, for the most part, 

 devourers of herbage, numerous spe- 

 cies living on grass and the leaves of 

 trees. The method of destroying the 

 common meadow grasshoppers is, to 

 manure the grass immediately after 

 cutting, and while the young insects 

 are abundant, with air-slacked lime, 



349 



