54 PEEMANENT AND TExMPORAEY PASTURES. 



do so. And the liye Grass yields a bulk of hay during each of 

 the first two years such as coidd not possibly be obtained with- 

 out it. Again, the Rye Grass fosters the growth of other varieties 

 and aids the general progress and development of those grasses 

 wdiich are slow in coming to maturity. On all these grounds I 

 advocate the use of Perennial Eye Grass seed in prescriptions for 

 permanent pastures. Even on land unsuitable for maintaining 

 Rye Grass permanently, excellent service will be rendered by the 

 plant while it lasts. On such soils it will yield up its place when 

 other kinds are sufficiently established to occupy the land, but 

 meanwhile crops of valuable herbage will be secured. 



Most of the Rye Grass seed sown in England is saved in Scot- 

 land and in the North of Ireland, and I have no doubt that its 

 acclimatisation in those cold districts tends to maintain its hardi- 

 ness and its permanency. But the popular notion that the first 

 year's crop of Perennial Rye Grass seed produces onl}^ an annual 

 plant is a mere fiction, although to ensure all the crop being the 

 perennial variety maiden seed should be rejected for permanent 

 pasture. 



Per alternate husbandry Perennial Rye Grass may be re- 

 garded as indispensable for all soils. Even on land where it 

 certainly woidd not be permanent, it should be liberally sown for 

 a short term of years. The excellence of its herbage, tlie great 

 weight of produce, its early and late grow^th, and the fact that it 

 endures the tramphng of stock, are all strongly in favour of its 

 free employment. 



Exceplionally heavy dressings of nitrogenous manures applied 

 to Rye Grass when in mixture with other varieties are inimical to 

 its existence because the manures enable other strong-growing 

 grasses to obtain the ascendency. But Rye Grass sowai alone, or 

 when mixed w^itli Broad Clover only, is greatly increased by the 

 application of manures, proving that the plant has no inherent 

 objection to them. Both at Chiswick where it w^as grown alone, 

 and at Rothamstead where it only formed a portion of the herbage, 

 nitrate of soda had a marked effect upon its growth, and tlie fact 



