CHAP. T. TEMPORARY GRASS LAYERS. 829 



the arable farmer. On the other hand, the arable farmer would not 

 then, as now, be compelled to sell his stock immediately his roots 

 were exhausted, or pay the grazier to summer the animals for him. 

 When neither arable nor pastoral land yields a profit, the system 

 has the merit of reducing expenses to a minimum. 



" Great arable farms, without enough pasture to keep half-a-dozen 

 cows, and large grazing farms that are wanting in sufficient arable 

 land to grow straw and roots for winter consumption, should both be 

 regarded as evils, demanding prompt rectification. The admirable 

 system, pursued in Lancashire and in Scotland, of annuall}' laying 

 away in artificial grasses a proportion of each farm for a period of 

 three or four years, is so successful that it is surprising the practice 

 has not long since been adopted all over the country. 1 Instead of 

 this, the sowing of broad clover alone is still the rule, and the ad- 

 mixture even of rye grass the exception. In comparatively few 

 instances it is usual to sow with the clovers such heav} r cropping 

 varieties as rye-grass, foxtail, and timothy, without which the best 

 results cannot be obtained from the alternate system." 



Temporary grass layers may remain down for one, two, three, four, or 

 more years. They are "almost invariably sown with spring corn, and 

 they require substantially the same treatment as permanent pastures, 

 although, as the varieties of plants employed are strong growers, there 

 is not quite the same necessity for extreme caution in preparing the 

 land. A temporary pasture may, in a genial, showery summer, afford 

 useful grazing for horned stock soon after the corn is cut ; and as the 

 grasses are robust and comparatively coarse, although none the less 

 nourishing on that account, they will not be injured by the hoofs of 

 the cattle. The rolling should be done in November, instead of 

 waiting until spring. Supposing stock to be kept off the ground, and 

 the autumn to prove warm and genial, it will sometimes be possible by 

 the end of October to get a cut of useful green food." During wet 

 weather in autumn it is not wise to allow bullocks to roam over heavy 

 land. Some farmers object to feeding off " seeds " in autumn by sheep, 

 but the treading by sheep is superior to any other form of consolida- 

 tion, the only precautions necessary being that the land should not be 

 too wet, nor the plant too small. 



"For one year's ley the species employed must be restricted to those 

 which yield a large and immediate return. Annual or Italian rye grass 

 should form the basis of the mixture, and an addition of perennial rye 

 grass is generally desirable, as also a very small quantity of cocksfoot. 

 For grazing, broad clover is preferable to cow grass, and white clover is 

 also a necessary constituent. But for hay, alsike should replace white 

 clover. Trefoil is of doubtful value ; upon many soils it is indigenous, 



1 On this point an Eastern Counties (English) farmer writes us : 



"Soil and climate are really answerable for short leys in other districts. In the eastern 

 counties it is found more profitable to make short leys, as it is not easy to grow rye grass 

 without injuring the prospects of the wheat crop, which follows. Our climate is not moist 

 enough for grasses in rotation. We also find the expenses of cleaning the land after long 

 leys too great, and the land is always more foul for it right thiough the rotation. We also 

 find it is more likely to encourage clover sickness. " 



