THE SELECTION OF GRASSES AND CLOVERS. 23 



a little knowledge on this subject is a very dangerous thing. No 

 prescription, however excellent every one of the varieties which 

 compose it may be, can by any possibility be suitable for 

 universal application. The attempt to put forward even a first- 

 class mixture of grasses for all soils and all purposes savours 

 essentially of empiricism. The dogmatism which proclaims the 

 ' universal mixture ' of grasses is near akin to the pretensions 

 of the quack medicine vendor that his particular nostrum will 

 infallibly cure all the complicated evils under which humanity 

 sufferSo Those who possess the widest experience on this subject 

 are least inclined to lay down rigid rules. Land agents wjio have 

 had the management of large estates in various parts of the 

 country, and who have had greater opportunities for extensive ob- 

 servation than most men, are exceedingly careful to consider differ- 

 ences of soil, subsoil, and the purpose to which each individual 

 ])asture is to be devoted; and their success is chiefly attributable 

 to the wise application of general knowledge to special cases. 



It is interesting to pursue the various phases of the question 

 as they are exemplified in the current public journals. A fashion 

 comes into vogue for a time, to be superseded and condemned 

 by the fashion which follows. Some pet theory is driven hard, 

 and takes the public fancy. It is declared to be infallible ; that 

 wisdom will die with its author ; and that all preceding writers 

 were mere presumptuous novices. The past fifty years furnish 

 many amusing instances of this kind. Some time ago a cry 

 was raised that Italian Eye Grass was the saving clause in British 

 agriculture. It was not only to be grown alone and in alternate 

 leys, but no permanent pasture could possibly be successful which 

 did not contain a large proportion of it. When this theory ex- 

 ploded there was a rebound to the other extreme. Italian Jlye 

 Grass was said to be entirely unfit for a permanent pasture, 

 an opinion I most heartily share, although I do not concur 

 in the denunciation that it is a vile introducer of twitch, and 

 about as suitable for cultivation as couch itself. Italian Rye 

 Gi'ass never yet produced twitch, although it is quite possible 



