No. 4.] THE GRASS CROP. 259 



Soft brovae grass (Broimi ft mains'), .... June. 



ItnYian rye grass (Loli/nii Ualictmi), .... June 



((>) Second class (low-growing grasses) : — 



Red top, Rhode Island bent (^47?yW«,s r?</^ar«.s), . . July. 



English rye grass (io^t«?Hjjcrc?t«c), .... June. 



Crested dog-tail (Ci/iwsaruft cristatus) .... June to July. 



CoTaxvaon'Oi&nnix grass {Olyceria fluitans), . . . June to July. 



The degree of success upon permanent meadows, as far as 

 the quality and the quantity of the annual yield are con- 

 cerned, depends largely- on the care taken to ascertain the 

 most adv^antageous relative proportion of both mentioned 

 classes of grasses under existino; local circumstances. To 

 secure the highest attainable yield requires careful local ob- 

 servations. Receipts for mixtures of grass seeds which have 

 proved advantageous in one locality cannot always be relied 

 on as best in any other place. For this reason, instead of 

 discussing the merits of any of the many mixtures recom- 

 mended by seed dealers and others, I refer to the mixture 

 used in my own case at Amherst, which is stated on a subse- 

 quent page. 



Course adopted in reclaiming an Old Meadow. 



The area engaged in the experiment amounted to from 

 nine to ten acres, running from south to north along the 

 western slope of a natural grove. The main part of the 

 land is fairly on a level, slanting slightly towards the north 

 and rising somewhat from the centre of the field towards the 

 grove; this part is somewhat springy. The southern end 

 of the land is exposed to an occasional overflow of w^ater 

 from adjoining hillsides. The outlet for the water, coming 

 from liotli sources, had evidently been gradually obstructed 

 by soil washed down from elevations along the north end of 

 the field. As a natural consequence, a large part of the 

 ground had been changed into an unsightly swamp. The 

 entire area was covered with a worthless growth peculiar to 

 exhausted dry lands and wet meadows, the latter in par- 

 ticular. The surface soil consisted of a sandy loam, from 

 two to three feet in thickness, which was here and there 

 underlaid by either a thin layer of hardened clay or a coarse, 

 gravelly material. The general character of the surface 



