52 PEKMANENT AND TEMPORARY PASTURES. 



gravel is least suitable for it, but it answers on a gravelly clay, is 

 at home on all loams, and positively revels in tenacious land. 

 Even pure clay is not too stiff for it. The poorer and drier the 

 soil the shorter will be its duration. On the contrary, tlie richer 

 and more moist the land, always supposing the drainage to be 

 good, the greater the certainty that Eye Grass will be perma- 

 nent. It responds quickly to irrigation, either of pure water or 

 of liquid manure, but stagnant water soon kills it. The liabit of 

 tlie plant points to the secret of successful treatment. It roots 

 only in the surface soil, and as poor land speedily becomes ex- 

 hausted by the rapid growth, of necessity the plant dies. 



Pastures which are stimulated by the droppings of cake -fed 

 cattle, or which are dressed at proper intervals with farm-yard 

 manure, contiuue to grow Rye Grass year after year without the 

 sowing of seed. Of course if a crop of liay is cut early enough, 

 seeding is impossible, and if the pasture is grazed the cattle will 

 take care that seed does not ripen. I have a pasture containing 

 a large proportion of E.ye Grass, and the cattle never permit the 

 heads to flower, but keep both culms and herbage cropped 

 close, although the Cocksfoot culms in the same field are an 

 annual nuisance. 



Perennial Rye Grass will grow under conditions that are 

 fatal to other grasses ; it is the most certain to germinate and 

 to produce a crop ; it comes quickly to maturity, and is unin- 

 jured by the tread of cattle. While other grasses are dependent 

 upon season and weather, Rye Grass is able to liold its own 

 under all circumstances, enduring winter frost and summer heat. 

 Another great advantage is that it is so little deteriorated by being- 

 allowed to grow old before it is cut. In fact, there is no doubt 

 that it improves in quality as it becomes nearly ripe, and pro- 

 bably the discrepancies between some chemical analyses and the 

 experience of farmers in feeding stock are traceable to the too 

 early cutting of the crops. 



The high feeding value of Perennial Rye Grass is shown 

 by Dr. J. Augustus Voelcker's report and analysis, which are 



