250 MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS. 



No pasture, however luxuriant, is found to consist of one 

 grass alone. In all meadows sown alone, there will be 

 found naked spots, and these seem to depend upon some 

 incompatibility of the soil, at that point, with the grass 

 sown. These spots would be occupied possibly by other 

 species if sown, and thus the whole surface would be cov- 

 ered. Some grasses are disposed to turf the ground while 

 others form tussocks, therefore it is best to mix, if sowing 

 a tussock grass, a grass that will turf well. Some grasses 

 have a heavy under-growth of surface foliage while others 

 have this sparingly. These two" peculiarities would be 

 done away with if the two were combined. 



It is not, however, proper to combine the pasture grasses 

 with the meadow grasses. As a rule the former have creep- 

 ing roots and are more vigorous than the latter, and they 

 would soon overpower them and destroy the meadow. This, 

 of course, is spoken in reference to the perennial pasture 

 grasses. 



Another condition of mixing is the number to be com- 

 bined. As a rule, it is beyond question, that a meadow 

 sown with a variety of seeds will do better and make more 

 hay than when one kind is used. It is no easy matter to 

 explain why, but nature does it, and she rarely errs in her 

 primitive growth. To show the variety of growth on a 

 piece of natural meadow, the following table is given, which 

 was made from a careful count by Mr. Sinclair. It shows 

 that the greater the number of species, the greater the num- 

 ber of plants to the square foot, and where the species are 

 reduced the number of plants also decrease. The soil 

 should be supplied with seed enough to suit every constitu- 

 ent in it, and then if one fails another may answer the pur- 

 pose, and the difference in cost of a few seed is but a small 

 part to the value of a good meadow. 



