IV SELECTION OF PASTURE PLANTS 43 



nutritious species, which will also provide palatable food for stock ; and it 

 is very important to entirely omit those grasses that produce flower-culms 

 freely in autumn. When eating the leaves of a grass, animals must of neces- 

 sity bite off the top of the undeveloped stem too, so that the appearance 

 of a flower-stalk in a well-grazed pasture is an obvious proof that that 

 particular plant has been passed over by stock ; and it is surely evident 

 that all species which are rejected by animals are undesirable, notwith- 

 standing their possibly high nutritive value as ascertained by chemical 

 analysis. 



The results of Mr. ^V. Carruthers' invaluable examinations of the herbage 

 of many of our most celebrated pastures show that inferior plants often 

 produce good feed on fertile lands. Indeed, one cannot but be impressed 

 with the low quality of some of the grasses which predominate in most of the 

 instances cited by him. It is, however, certain that much better results 

 would be attained if these indifferent species were replaced by nutritious 

 grasses that are rehshed by stock ; so that the composition of natural 

 pastures must never be accepted as a standard by which to lay down land 

 to grass. 



Additions and Weights. — Having selected our varieties, we must 

 consider the desirability of additions to compensate for mediocrity of soil 

 or aspect, lateness of sowing, complexity of mixture, and age or lightness 

 of any particular variety of seed. As a general rule, it is advisable to 

 add to each species, on account of complexity of mixture alone, 10 per cent, 

 when 3, 20 per cent, when 4, 30 per cent, when 5, and 50 per cent, when 

 many different pasture plants are comprised in a mixture, as they fit into each 

 other in their occupation of the soil. The fifty per cent, addition column 

 in either table should be used in the composition of permanent pastures. 



Proportions of Varieties. — The proportion (percentage) of a pasture 

 which each plant is to eventually occupy must be definitely fixed before 

 proceeding further, those species that may reasonably be expected to thrive 

 best under the specific conditions of soil, climate, etc., being most ex- 

 tensively employed. The requisite weight of each constituent of a mixture 

 is then simply ascertained, as exemplified in the following paragraphs. 



Suppose we desire to form a pasture of some years duration, using only 

 Alsike clover of 90 per cent, real value, White clover of 80 per cent, and 

 Perennial rye-grass of 77 per cent. Then it will be seen that these per- 

 centages of pure and germinating seeds are not sufficiently near to those 

 fixed for good average commercial qualities to permit of our employing 

 Table I. ; and the required weights must be deduced from Table II. 

 Presuming that the most suitable proportions (percentages) of Alsike clover, 

 White clover and Perennial rye-grass in a pasture be 20, 60 and 20 per cent, 

 respectively, we will calculate the exact weights of seeds, of the real values 

 mentioned above, needed to produce these proportions. If the seeds be 

 new, heavy and plump, and the sowing be made in good time on medium 

 soil, an addition of 10 per cent, for complexity of mixture only will be needed. 

 Referring to column 5 (the 10 per cent, addition column) in Table II , we 

 find that 9-9 lbs. of Alsike, 8-25 lbs. of White clover or 42-35 lbs. of 

 Perennial rye-grass, of 100 per cent, real value, are needed per acre for 

 a pure sowing with 10 per cent, addition. A pure sowing of any species, of 

 course, produces 100 per cent, (the whole pasture) of that species ; and in 

 the mixture we are composing we desire 20 per cent, of the herbage to be 

 Alsike clover, 60 per cent, to be White clover and the remaining 20 per 

 cent, to be Perennial rye-grass. Besides which, the seeds we have to use are 



