268 ULSTER ROUND LOUGH NEAGH 



Not far from the eastern shores of Lough Neagh 

 we visited an exceptionally good farm ; it was about 

 double the size of the usual holdings in the district, 

 which mostly lie between 30 and 100 acres, and the 

 well-kept hedges which lined the drive from the road 

 to the house set the note of all the rest of the manage- 

 ment. The land was nearly level and the soil a free 

 working reddish loam shading off to clay in the 

 bottoms, which were occupied by permanent pasture. 



On this farm the harvesting of grass seed formed 

 a prominent feature ; not only was the usual rye grass 

 grown but also Crested Dogstail, a special venture 

 of this particular farmer. The land has to be made 

 particularly clean and also brought into high condition, 

 but in any case the crop leaves the land very foul, 

 because Crested Dogstail makes but little growth in 

 its first year and never forms a close sward covering 

 the ground. The grass is cut with a scythe, gathered 

 into bundles like small sheaves of corn, which are 

 afterwards built into shocks in the field, carefully 

 crowned to shoot off the rain, until they are mellow 

 enough to be threshed. The yield of seed is never 

 high, about 5 cwt. per acre, and the returns are very 

 variable, but 3 to $ per cwt. may be obtained for 

 the seed as it leaves the farmer's hand. The grass 

 is only sown as a one year's ley, and a little clover 

 may be mixed in, as it improves the quality of 

 the threshed hay, which, as in the Ards, is all 

 exported to Liverpool. Besides its rather speculative 

 character and the difficulties of harvesting, the pure 

 grass ley forms a very poor preparation for the 

 succeeding oat crop, for which a liberal manuring 

 must be applied. Our host was also experimenting 

 with one field of Cock's-foot for seed, but the dry 

 season had resulted in but an indifferent crop. 



