368 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION M. 



addition of any seed whatever. I have seen a field of excellent pasture so 

 uniform throughout that no one in a company of farmers and scientific agricul- 

 turists could tell any difference between one side and the other, and yet one 

 part of the field was seeded with the most perfect mixture which a leading 

 seedsman could devise, while the other part got no seed at all. The whole 

 field, however, had been well dressed with basic slag. I have still a vivid 

 recollection of sowing down 46 acres to grass in the spring of 1901 on 

 the University Farm at Cambridge. The seed ^* was put in with a thin cover 

 crop of peas and oats, and the weather subsequently proving extremely unsuit- 

 able for germination and growth. In July the whole area was a mass of weeds, 

 and few, if any, of the grass and clover plants introduced as seed had persisted. 

 A more derelict-looking piece of ground it would be hard to imagine, and the 

 mowing machine was run over it to clear up the rubbish. But from such 

 an unpromising beginning an excellent pasture has resulted, in my opinion 

 phosphatic manuring, not the primary seeding, being the determining factor. 



These are the kind of results that cause one ' furiously to think ' whether 

 it is not worth while to investigate along the lines indicated, even if these 

 appear to conflict with conventional practice. For this suggestion I hope I 

 may claim the support of Stapledon and Jenkin, who say, in connection with 

 white clover, ' On many types [of soil] phosphatic manure [is] all that is 

 necessary to hasten the appearance of the indigenous plant,' and, further, 

 ' Undoubtedly when putting land down to long duration grass as much or more 

 can be done by making the habitat as suitable as possible to the desirable 

 indigenous species, as by including their commercial counterparts in the 

 mixture.' '^ 



Important as is the position of the fine old pastures of England in the 

 agricultural economy of the country, and interesting though it may be to 

 examine questions of seeding, a much more important line of inquiry is opened 

 up by the problem of the improvement of our second- and third-rate pastures. 

 What proportion of the grass land of the country falls into the lower categories 

 it is impossible to say, but the most superficial acquaintance with rural England 

 is sufficient to carry conviction that the aggregate area of such land is enormous. 

 Most of the poor grass land of the country is associated with the heavier 

 classes of soil, and has been abandoned to grass on account of the high costs 

 of cultivation, including, in many cases, the necessity of drainage. It is, for 

 arable purposes, essentially wheat land, with an occasional crop of beans, and 

 the regular intervention at comparatively short intervals of a bare fallow. 

 Other areas of poor pasture, smaller in aggregate extent than the clays, but 

 still of much importance, are to be found on all the geological formations of 

 the country. Of the 14^ million acres of permanent grass in England and 

 Wales, 70 per cent, is under pasture and only 30 per cent, under hay, and of 

 the poorer classes of grass land it is certain that the proportion that is grazed 

 is still greater. It is evident therefore that the improvement of pasture is 

 relatively a more urgent matter than the improvement of meadows, though with 

 over 4^- million acres of permanent grass made into hay in England and Wales 

 during 1918, the latter problem is also one of enormous importance. The most 

 famous experiments on the effects of manure on permanent hay are those 

 started in 1856 by Lawes and Gilbert on the Meadow at Rothamsted, and con- 

 tinued ever since on the lines originally laid down. The results have thrown 

 a flood of light on the principles of manuring, which has been of the greatest 

 assistance in the elucidation of problems in agricultural chemistry and soil 

 physics. They have also shown unmistakably the effects of the more im- 

 portant elements of plant food on the yield of hay and on its botanical com- 

 position, but even supported as they were by elaborate chemical analysis of the 

 produce, they leave us uncertain in regard to the feeding value of the herbage. 



A very large number of experiments have been carried out which had for 

 their object the determination of the quantitative results attributable to the 

 use of manures, singly and in combination. In many cases these experiments 

 were supported by a botanical and not infrequently by a chemical analysis of 



" Cambridge University, ' Guide to Experiments at Burgoyne's (University) 

 Farm,' 1906, p. 72. 

 '* Op. cit., pp. 61-62. 



I 



