76 THE GRASSES— PERENNIAL RYEGRASS. 



excellent service will be rendered while it lasts ; and, 

 by yielding up its place when other kinds are suffi- 

 ciently established to occupy the land, weeds are kept 

 in check, and crops of. valuable herbage are secured 

 meanwhile. On all those grounds Mr. Sutton advocates 

 the use of Perennial Eyegrass in prescriptions for per- 

 manent pastures ; and adds that for alternate husbandry 

 it may be regarded as indispensable for all soils. Even 

 on land where it certainly would not be permanent, it 

 should be liberally sown for a short term of years. 



A burning sand or thin gravel is least suited to it, 

 but it answers on a gravelly clay, is at home on all 

 loams, and positively revels on tenacious land. The 

 poorer and drier the soil the shorter will be its 

 duration. The roots are very shallow ; and, as a poor 

 soil speedily becomes exhausted by the rapid growth, 

 of necessity the plant dies. Pastures which are stimu- 

 lated by the dropping of cattle, or are dressed at proper 

 intervals with farmyard manure, continue to grow Eye- 

 grass year after year without the sowing of seed. 



The objections which have been urged against the use ■ 

 of Perennial Eyegrass for pastures are largely owing 

 to the improper employment of Annual Eyegrass in its 

 place. The latter is only adapted for one year's ley, 

 and its use in a permanent prescription is no better 

 than a fraud. 



Dr. Stebler's views on Perennial Ryegrass read to 

 the effect that while sometimes highly praised and at 

 other times denounced, still it is, in spite of all, one of 

 the best of our forage plants, and should never be 

 omitted when laying down good land. It will not 

 suit moory or dry light land, but for heavy clay soils 

 its place could not be filled by any other grass. It 



