828 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. uoex ix- 



In former editions of " The Complete Grazier," mixtures of grass 

 seeds were prescribed for permanent pasture under various conditions 

 of soil and situation. In the light of the fuller knowledge acquired 

 in recent years it is not deemed expedient to quote such prescrip- 

 tions. The fact that in no two cases are the circumstances pre- 

 cisely similar, whilst in many instances they differ very widely, is 

 sufficient to demonstrate the difficulty it might be said, the im- 

 possibility of devising prescriptions generally applicable. It is the 

 seedsmen who have acquired the largest and the most varied experi- 

 ence under this head, and to a trustworthy seedsman the farmer is 

 recommended to submit his case. Failing this, he should learn 

 what he usefully can from the experience of others in his immediate 

 neighbourhood, particularly in circumstances as similar as possible 

 to his own. In either case he will not omit to bring to bear upon 

 the problem the fruits of his own practically-acquired knowledge. 



ROTATION GRASS-CROPS. By alternating grass with corn and root 

 crops, especially in the case of soils upon which it is difficult to 

 establish permanent grass, land may be profitably worked with less 

 capital arid at a reduced outlay for labour. 



Apart, however, from the question of an unsuitable soil, there are 

 other weighty reasons 1 for the adoption of a system of alternate 

 husbandry. " Two-thirds of many farms might with advantage always 

 be in artificial grass. A great saving would be effected in tillage 

 operations, horseflesh, and labour. The land would break up at the 

 end of the period in excellent condition, and full of clover roots as a 

 store of nourishment for the succeeding grain crop. The custom of 

 maintaining agricultural holdings that are either almost entirely 

 arable, or almost entirely pastoral, has failed to meet the necessities 

 of the time. What is needed is a combination of arable and pastoral 

 husbandry, so that when corn does not pay and stock is profitable, 

 or vice versa, each occupier may obtain benefit from one branch of 

 his business. The grazier would be profited in being able to winter 

 his own stock instead of selling it to make a winters manure for 



1 In his prize essay on " Permanent and Temporary Meadows and Pastures," Mons. H. 

 Joulie, a leading French agriculturist, arrives at the following conclusions : 



" 1st. That the cultivation of roots and cereals deprives the soil of nitrogen, whilst that 

 of grass and leguminous plants, temporary or permanent, on the contrary, causes it to 

 accumulate in the soil. That nitrogen being the most expensive manure to buy, it is not 

 economical to devote part of the land permanently to arable and part to grass, for while 

 the one uses up the nitrogen, the other accumulates it in excess. On the contrary, it is 

 preferable to alternate on the same piece of land the cultivation of roots and cereals with 

 that of grass leys, so as in a measure to repair by the second the loss of nitrogen which the 

 first cause to the soil. By this means cultivation can be kept up indefinitely without 

 purchased nitrogen, provided that the land be maintained in a fit state of richness as 

 regards the mineral elements which are indispensable to healthy vegetation. 



" 2nd. The practical application of this principle is, that the temporary occupation of 

 the land by a grass ley for two or three years, which takes its turn in the rotation of crops, 

 should be preferred. We thus secure the improvement of the soil obtainable from the 

 cultivation of Leguminosse (clover, lucerne, vetches, &c. ). But as this class of plant will 

 not succeed on every soil, temporary "leys" with gramineous (grass) herbage ought to 

 give, where leguminous plants do not succeed, analogous, if not equally good results, and 

 so assist materially in solving the problem of producing cereal, root, and other crops with 

 increasing economv." Journal of the Roval Agricultural Society, vol. xviiL 2nd series, 

 1882, page 222. 



