Safe Grass Mixtures most Desirable. 97 



reference to the table of relative productiveness (vide 

 Appendix I., the reader will see that they stand at 100, 

 while two of the other tall grasses — timothy and Italian 

 ryegrass — stand only at 75, while meadow fescue and 

 meadow foxtail — the two remaining tall grasses — only 

 attain a proportion of 70. The first three grasses are 

 thus 25 per cent, more productive than the secondly 

 mentioned grasses, and 30 per cent, more than the 

 last two alluded to. This question, then, naturally 

 arises — Why should we not use the first thi'ee grasses 

 exclusively for the large grasses of the pasture ? Add 

 to them, say, rough-stalked meadow grass, golden oat 

 grass, crested dogstail, and hard fescue to fill up the 

 bottom of the pasture, and also chicory, burnet, yarrow, 

 and kidney vetch, sheep's parsley, and lucerne — the 

 whole pasture would thus mainly consist of hardy and 

 di"ought-resi sting plants, with the addition of alsike, 

 late-flowering red clover, and white clover, and the 

 mixture would consist of fifteen kinds of plants, and 

 supply, too, that variety and kind of food which would 

 be welcome to stock. In these days, when farming 

 profits are small at the best, and it is always a 

 matter of doubt as to whether there may be any 

 profits worthy of the name, it is obviously of the 

 greatest importance to put down a seed mixture which 

 will at once give the greatest amount of production, 

 and, from the hardy and drought-resisting character 

 of the plants, the greatest safety of production when 

 seasons are dry or unfavourable. The season of 1896 

 was particularly dry, but, in spite of the great drought, 

 a mixture closely approximating to that suggested above 

 gave wonderful results, and the pasture remained of 

 a beautiful green colour. I may add that even in the 

 moister climates of Great Britain a preference should 

 certainly be given to drought-resisting plants when 

 laying down to either temporary or permanent pasture. 

 It is true that in the moistest climates a dry season 

 may not wither up plants which are not remarkable 



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