372 CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



years would, in a great measure, guide me. If I knew it 

 to have been grazed by cattle for a number of years, and 

 the produce of the farm sold off in the shape of beef, or 

 more especially as milk or butter, without an equivalent 

 being supplied by an allowance of cake, I would, without 

 hesitation, give it a dressing of bone dust, as a most ef- 

 fectual means of restoring the loss incurred ; twenty bushels 

 per acre applied early in winter would be enough. For 

 land regularly mown, a compost of lime, soil, and salt, 

 applied during the winter, is an excellent manure; or 2 

 cwt. guano and 1 cwt. superphosphate, given in March, 

 would produce a luxuriant crop. Except on grass land 

 which has been thoroughly exhausted the effects of bones 

 will not be so visible, but on such land they produce a 

 marvellous effect, as the exhausted pastures of Cheshire 

 have demonstrated. Vegetable Moulds. Coarse grass is 

 the natural and universal produce of such land; conse 

 quently, in an arable state, Italian rye-grass grows most 

 luxuriantly, and often to the exclusion of clover and the 

 finer grasses. Where required, 2 cwt. each of nitrate of 

 soda and common salt would produce a capital bite. A 

 bone manure, partially soluble, with a slight admixture of 

 a saline substance, will invariably produce good effects ; 

 but perhaps the best results on permanent pasture on these 

 soils have been obtained from a compound dressing of 

 lime, soil, and salt, the wonderful effects of which, on land 

 recently enclosed, and usually of a peaty nature, are fami- 

 liar to most of you. Loamy soils. For artificial grasses, 

 2 to 3 cwt. guano, or 2 cwt. nitrate of soda will be enough 

 if applied early in April. For permanent pasture, 2 cwt. 

 superphosphate, 1 cwt. guano, and 1 cwt. nitrate of soda 

 may be recommended." 



175. Meadows. Much of what has been said with 

 reference to pastures applies also to meadows where the 

 grasses are grown for the purpose of making hay. Mea- 

 dows may either be permanent, or made with what are 

 called artificial grasses, these artificial grasses coming under 

 the course of cropping in alternate husbandry. Where the 

 kinds of grasses are good and suited for the soil the points 



