Moss and the Welsh Fogging System. 75 



with the view of testing the proportions of plants in a 

 young closely-grazed pasture in which moss had made 

 its appearance, but when the grass was let up in the 

 enclosed plot the moss soon disappeared, or nearly so, 

 and a close observation showed that much of it had 

 been dragged up by the rising grass ; I could see it 

 in some cases hanging to the seeding stems. The soil 

 of the enclosed plot soon became comparatively soft, 

 while that of the field was hard and, comparatively 

 speaking, consolidated. I have also observed the same 

 point in the case of pleasure grounds, part of which had 

 been hayed for a great many years past, while part 

 had been kept as lawn. The latter was full of moss, 

 while the former had hardly any, and the surface of 

 the lawn was hard, while that of the hayed land was 

 soft and open. Whenever, then, moss appears in a 

 pasture it would seem to be advisable to let the pasture 

 up in the summer, on the Welsh fogging system, and 

 put on stock either in November or in the early spring. 

 Many of our hill pastures — in fact, most of them — are 

 heavily afflicted with fog, and if, say, 50 or 100 acres 

 were annually treated on this system, I think that the 

 whole pasture could then be gradually improved, and 

 that at no further expense than that of fencing off, with 

 moveable fences, the pasture to be operated on. 



It has been pointed out to me — and, indeed, it is 

 sufficiently obvious— that iu the case of pastures pre- 

 served for winter and spring use there would be a 

 certain risk from snow, and, were the pasture composed 

 of short grasses, this might be serious ; but by using 

 liberally the seed of the tall grasses this risk would be 

 much reduced, and it is a risk that the fanner might 

 easily provide against by keeping some hay in reserve 

 for such a contingency. But in any case, it should be 

 considered that the risk of relying on foggage for 

 winter and spring use would certainly be less than 

 relying on turnips, which are not only liable to turn out 

 a poor crop, but to be much injured by frost, and 



