PREFACE 



In the compilation of a treatise on any craft, the recorded experi- 

 ence of great authorities must of necessity be consulted, if not, to 

 some extent, form the basis of such treatise ; and though we have 

 striven in the pages following to concisely summarise chiefly our own 

 experiences in pasture-making from carefully kept records covering 

 nearly lOO years' work, we have great pleasure in specially acknow- 

 ledging our indebtedness to the following works : — 



1. The scattered writings of Mr. William Carruthers, F.R.S., 

 F.L.S., the accomplished consulting botanist to the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, who unites to Sinclair's exact knowledge of pasture plants 

 probably the most precise and extended acquaintance with English 

 pastures ever yet attained, and to whose kindly and untiring courtesy 

 is due much of what merit may lie in this manual. 



2. The scattered writingsof Sir John Bennett Lawes, F.R.S., LL.D., 

 of Rothamsted, whose profound knowledge of the subjects he has 

 made his own is equalled by his willingness to impart information, 

 and to whom also we owe much special aud invaluable help. 



3. The works, especially The Best Forage Plants, a laborious and 

 singularly accurate translation from the German by Mr. A. N. 

 McAlpine, B.Sc, botanist to the Highland and Agricultural Society of 

 Scotland, and Les Melanges de Graines Fourrageres, done into French 

 by M. C. Denaiffe, of Dr. G. Stebler, whose long experience as 

 Director of the Swiss Experiment and Seed Control Station enables 

 him to speak with special authority on forage plants and their seeds, 

 and whose esteemed and kind assistance we gratefully acknowledge. 



4. G. Sinclair's Hortus Gramineiis Woburnensis, still our standard 

 work. 



