CHAP. v. PREPARATION OF LAND FOR SEEDING TO GRASS. 823 



would his solicitor or his physician. It comes to a matter of con- 

 fidence between buyers and sellers, and the former can only proceed 

 upon the principle, " By their work ye shall know them." The best 

 seed is usually worth the extra money asked for it. It is true that a 

 farmer, every time he constitutes himself a committee of ways or 

 means, has to look at every expenditure as one that may possibly be 

 reduced to narrower limits. But it is questionable whether it is wise 

 economy to pinch the seed bill. A very few pounds will make a great 

 difference in the character of the seed which is supplied and, in the 

 long run, will more than justify the additional outlay. It must never be 

 forgotten, however, that good seed deserves a clean seed bed more, it 

 demands it. 



PREPARATION OF SOIL. No farm crop, Mr. Button truly observes, 

 requires more care in the preparation of the land than does a crop of 

 permanent grasses ; and there cannot be greater folly than to sow costly 

 seeds, especially of the finer varieties, on land which has not been 

 adequately prepared to receive them. 



" Sharp sands and gravels are not well adapted to the formation of 

 pastures, but heavy loams and most strong clays are eminently suitable 

 for grasses and clovers, and will produce abundant crops. The fact 

 that heavy soils are expensive to work in arable cultivation is an 

 additional reason why they should be laid down to grass. When there 

 is a choice of two fields, one sloping to the north and the other to the 

 south, preference should be given to the former, because it will be less 

 liable to burn in a hot summer. 



"If the land is naturally well drained, there will be a fortunate 

 saving of expense, but otherwise this operation should be preliminary 

 to all else. 



" Beyond question, the very best preparation for a spring sowing of 

 permanent grass seeds is a bare fallow in the previous summer. This 

 affords the opportunit}^ of destroying successive crops of indigenous 

 annual weeds, and, within three months from the date of sowing, it is 

 important that these should be got rid of by scarifying and dragging 

 rather than by ploughing, for the plough is only too certain to bring to 

 the surface a fresh stock of weed seeds ready to germinate in the 

 following spring. Many influences may aid or hinder the work of 

 preparation. It depends not only upon the character of the soil and 

 the previous cropping, but also upon the atmospheric conditions which 

 prevail while the operations are in progress, and it is here that the 

 advantage of a bare fallow is realised. There are the whole summer 

 and early autumn in which to accomplish the task. 



"Deep ploughing should be carried out first, and if Bub soiling is 

 considered necessary there is all the greater reason for doing it early. 

 Then, by means of the scarifier and the roller, the soil can be cleaned and 

 so far prepared to receive the seeds that in the following spring only 

 one or two turns with the harrow will be necessary to perfect the seed- 

 bed. There are good reasons for insisting on a thorough preparation 

 of the land in the first instance. Careless and half-hearted work 



