812 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK ix. 



minuteness of the seeds, and the generally fibrous nature of the roots 

 of grass-plants, it is requisite to the formation of a good meadow that 

 the soil should be previously brought into the highest possible degree 

 of pulverization ; otherwise the irregularity of the surface will not only 

 occasion corresponding irregularity in the produce of the grass, to the 

 great injury of the crop, but will likewise be found highly inconvenient 

 when the meadow is mown. This necessary degree of fineness may 

 be obtained in various ways, according to the nature of the soils : 

 either by frequent ploughing and harrowing, or, on lighter soils, by the 

 raising of turnips, potatoes, tares, and other fallow crops, which, by 

 the shade they afford, as well as by the culture they require during 

 their growth, are calculated to promote the reduction of the soil to a 

 friable state. 



Hitherto nothing has been said about renovating, and it is true that 

 with liberal management it is quite possible to restore the fertility of 

 grass land without sowing seed at all. But it will take time, perhaps 

 many years, and it savours rather of a penny-wise and pound-foolish 

 policy to occupy a long period in effecting an amelioration which might 

 be accomplished in a single season at a very trifling outlay beyond that 

 necessarily incurred in carrying out incidental improvements. In 

 every case where the plant stands thin on the ground it will pay to 

 harrow in a few pounds of the finer grasses and clovers per acre. " The 

 seed may either be sown," says Mr. Sutton, " before the grass starts 

 growth in February, or immediately the hay has been cut in June. 

 February is, however, a very good time. On damp land, preparation 

 should be made by an application of salt to the most weedy parts, and 

 a severe dragging over the entire surface. A well-mixed compost of 

 lime, the contents of ditches, and any other available rich material, 

 should be distributed over the whole meadow, and the seeds can be 

 sown on any day when the ground is dry enough to permit the roller 

 to be used. Cattle may be allowed to depasture the land, but sheep 

 must not be admitted until the following year. Upland pastures may 

 be treated in a similar fashion." 



The struggle for existence amongst the plants of a meadow does 

 not strictly partake of that kind of internecine warfare which is waged 

 between, for example, the individual members of a wheat crop. 

 Leaving out of consideration the leguminous plants and miscellaneous 

 herbage, there exist among the score or more species of Gramineae 

 which are represented in a meadow various morphological and physio- 

 logical peculiarities which powerfully affect the extent to which a 

 given species shall be abundant or otherwise. Shallow or deep roots, 

 the presence or absence of stolons or other kinds of prostrate or under- 

 ground stems, are examples of structural characters whilst the periods 

 of duration of the root-stock, the time of ripening of the fruit, and 

 the capability of thriving under varied seasonal conditions, are instances 

 of the functional peculiarities which most influence the position any 

 species of grass is to take when pitted in the struggle against other 

 gramineous species. 



Concerning the extent to which the proximate constituents of 



