13G GRASSES. 



It has been disputed, whether grass seeds should be 

 sown with or without grain. The result of much care- 

 ful inquiry, however, has been, that where equal pains 

 are taken, the futufe crop of grass will succeed equally 

 well in either method ; while the same tilth answers 

 for both crops. Barley is considered preferable to oth- 

 er grain, to sow grass seeds with. In cases where the 

 soil is so rich, that there might be some risk in sowing a 

 full crop of grain, less seed is sown, even as low as one- 

 third of the usual quantity ; and in that case, the grain, 

 nurses the young plants of grass, and protects them from 

 the rays of too hot a sun. 



Land intended to be converted from tillage to grass, 

 must either be dry by nature, or be made so by art, be- 

 fore it is possible to get a valuable crop of grasses ; all 

 the best sorts abhor a wet bottom when they are young, 

 and will not root deep enough in it, to bear the vicissi- 

 tudes of the seasons. 



It is a bad system to mix seeds of different plants be- 

 fore sowing them, in order to have fewer casts. It la 

 better to sow each sort separately, as the expense of go- 

 ing several times over the ground is nothing compared 

 to the benefit of having each sort equally distributed. 

 The seeds of grasses, being so light, ought never to be 

 sown in a windy day ; wet weather ought likewise to be 

 avoided, as the least degree of poaching is injurious. 



The species of grass appropriated to any particular 

 soil or application being determined upon, its seeds can- 

 not be sown too plentifully, and no economy less deserv- 

 ing the name can possibly exist, than the being sparing 

 of grass seeds. The seeds of grain may easily be sown 

 too thickly ; but with respect to those of grass, it is 

 scarcely capable of occurring. The smaller the stem, 

 the more acceptable it is to cattle ; and when the seeds, 

 particularly of some grasses, are thinly scattered, their 

 stems tend, as it is called, to wood, and the crop is lia- 

 ble to be infested with weeds. 



Some think that if ground is well manured, good 

 grasses will come in of themselves. Perhaps so ;-— but 

 how long will it be before that happens ? Clean seed, 

 and that which is known to be suitable to the soil, 

 should alwaj'S be sown. For though grasses will gra- 

 dually come in, no great crop is to be expected the first 



