20 PEEMANENT AND TEMPOEAEY PASTUEES. 



inducement to make the attempt is the probable saving of a con- 

 siderable outlay in breaking up the land and getting it ready to 

 sow down again. 



The first process in converting an old ley should be a 

 vigorous harrowing in the autumn, and it must be no child's 

 play. There need not be the least occasion for alarm in the 

 apparent wreck of the standing plant. The more ruthlessly it is 

 torn the better chance will there be for the grass seeds, and the 

 more satisfactory the ultimate pasture. Follow up with a top 

 dressing of cake-fed manure or compost early in the winter, and 

 the land will then be, although only in a hmited and imperfect 

 manner, prepared to receive the grass seeds in the following spring. 

 The advantage of shelter provided by the old clover plants will 

 more than outweigh any possible harm which even crude manure 

 might inflict on the young grasses in the spring. 



So little remains to be said on this part of the subject that 

 perhaps it will be convenient to dispose of it at once, although it 

 does not properly belong to this chapter. As to the choice of 

 seeds, it is mere waste to sow fine or weak-growing varieties 

 on an old clover ley. The adverse circumstances of the case 

 will afford them little chance of struggling into life, to say 

 nothing of a profitable existence. The sorts selected must be 

 the stronger and more robust of the perennial grasses, and 

 the seed should be got in early, before the clover has time to 

 shoot vigorously in spring. Accomplish the task in February if 

 possible ; bush-harrow after sowing, and as a finish put the roller 

 over every part of the field. 



A different but very frequent case of emergency is that of a 

 piece of glebe or other land that has been neglected for many 

 years until it has become a perfect mat of couch or Alopecurus 

 agrestis. In despair of cleaning it at a reasonable cost, the rector 

 or owner decides to allow it to ' go to grass,' as hundreds of acres 

 have actually gone, particularly since 1879. Wisely it is considered 

 desirable to give Nature some assistance, but it is almost a mis- 

 nomer to dignify that assistance by the name of preparation. In 



