PREPARATION OF THE LAND. 223 



be sown, in fact, at any period that either the mode of crop- 

 ping or the labour arrangements of the farm render most 

 convenient; the particular object for which it is sown, and 

 the intended duration of the crop on the ground being the 

 principal points to be considered. 



In the preparation of the ground for the seed it 

 should be borne in mind that ryegrass being an erect- 

 growing, fibrous -rooted plant, requires the surface soil 

 to be in a more compact and consolidated condition 

 than it would do if it were a creeping or a tap-rooted 

 plant ; therefore, after the land has been well tilled and 

 cleaned, it is always desirable to run the roller over 

 the surface, in order to give it that mechanical condition 

 which we know to be favourable to the growth of the 

 crop. The seed is usually sown with the broadcast bar- 

 row already described (p. 105), and should be merely 

 brushed in with the bush-harrow, and then left to germi- 

 nate. It is important that the seed should be covered 

 as thinly as possible; therefore, if seed -harrows be used, 

 they should be of the lightest description, and if the sur- 

 face require i, it may again have a turn of the light roller 

 over it. Where ryegrass is sown with other seeds which 

 it commonly is to a large extent, both with the clovers for 

 rotation crops and other grasses for permanent use the 

 quantities sown and the treatment it receives differ of 

 course from the foregoing. For " seeds," as the clover crop 

 is usually termed, from 1 to 2 bushels of Italian ryegrass 

 are mixed with from 12 to 20 Ibs. of the clovers, and used 

 in the four and five course systems. Where the seeds are 

 intended to be down a third year, the perennial ryegrass is 

 mixed with the Italian in about equal quantities ; when 

 used for mixing with other grasses for permanent pastures, 

 from 10 Ibs. to 15 Ibs. per acre is an ample proportion; of 

 this about one-fourth or one-third may be Italian, and the 

 remainder of the perennial species. The Italian comes to 



