CHAPTER IV 

 SELECTION OF PASTURE PLANTS 



Undesirable Methods 



Sowing " Hay Seeds. "^ — The sowing of "hay seeds" cannot be too 

 strongly condemned, as they consist principally of chaff, dust and impurities ; 

 while it is probable that a single lb. of a prepared mixture of average 

 commercial seeds contains on an average as many germinating seeds of 

 desirable fodder plants as 40 lbs. of hay seeds : besides which, the latter 

 contains hundreds of thousands of noxious weed seeds. 



The results of all the experiments which have been made with " hay 

 seeds " conclusively demonstrate that their produce is always small, of inferior 

 quality, and infested with numberless objectionable plants. 



A sample of "hay seeds" recently analysed in the laboratory of the 

 Consulting Botanist to the R. A. S. E. contained : — 



Yorkshire fog . . . 



Perennial rye -grass 



Wavy hair-grass... 



Brome-grass 



Italian rye-grass 



Crested dogstail-grass 



Buttercup, Sorrel and other weeds 



S°-5 

 33'° 

 io"5 



2"S 



0-5 

 °'5 



Mr. Carruthers significantly adds : "And I have had worse." 

 Going to Grass. — The old method of allowing arable land or worn-out 

 leys to slowly form pastures by producing spontaneously whatever fodder 

 plants they might is, fortunately, very seldom practised now. 



In rainy districts a covering can soon be obtained for the ground ; but the 

 herbage consists principally of Creeping bent-grass, Yorkshire fog {Holcus 

 lanatus), Creeping buttercup (Ratmnculus repens), Sheep's sorrel (Ritmex 

 acetoselld), etc. ; and it can only be improved by seeding directly with what is 

 called a renovating mixture, or indirectly with the seeds contained in liquid 

 manure, as explained on page 62. The latter method must be considered as 

 very costly, since a large proportion of the fertilizer applied is necessarily 

 wasted if the land be not completely occupied with good plants ; and in any 

 case, it is very much more profitalsle to commence by sowing a judiciously 

 composed mixture of seeds that will yield a good return the first year. 



