THE SELECTION OP GEASSE8 AND CLOVEES. 51 



adverse conditions, may be freely admitted, and few, if any, 

 grasses are. But when true Perennial Eye Grass seed is sown 

 on soil that is adapted for it, and its natural requirements are 

 met, it will prove a lasting plant. ^ 



Perennial Eye Grass was in this country first sown in the 

 Chiltern parts of Oxfordshire, and is still of great service in 

 some portions of that district on cold sour clays, and on light 

 stony land so deficient in lime that it will not grow Sainfoin. 



The eminent Swiss botanist, Dr. F. G. Stebler, describes it 

 as ' one of the most valuable plants in our meadows. For pasture 

 on clay soils it cannot be replaced by any other plant, and there- 

 fore it is largely used in mixtures for forming pasture grass 

 of best quality. In the North of Germany there are even ex- 

 perienced growers who only sow Eye Grass with a little White 

 Clover. The duration of this plant varies much according to 

 soil and climate.' 



Perennial Eye Grass is indigenous in many districts, and 

 grows on a great diversity of soils. A burning sand or thin 



' Since the first edition of this work was issued, I have received from eminent 

 authorities upon Grasses many confirmations of this opinion. Sir John B. Lawes has 

 written me approving this view, and has also granted me the sight of some convinciug evi- 

 dence he has ohtained as to the permanent character and valuable qualities of Perennial 

 Rye Grass. Sir John visited Leicestershire for the express purpose of examining the 

 famous ox-pastures of that county, and subsequently had the herbage of the best two 

 pastures carefully analysed. The report, which I have been permitted to see, establishes 

 beyond a shadow of doubt the fact that Lolium perenne is the grass of which the pastui'es 

 in question principally consist, and that it must have existed in them for more than forty 

 years, although during that time it has never been allowed to seed. Further, it is clearly 

 shown that the pastures actually owe their high reputation to the abundant presence of 

 Perennial Rye Gi-ass and White Clover. 



Professor Fream, Consulting Botanist to the British Dairy Farmers' Association, has, 

 in an article published in the Mark Lane Express, made the following observations : 

 ' Readers who are familiar with what may be termed the " grass literature " of the last 

 half-dozen years will turn with some interest to Mr. Sutton's remarks on Rye Grass. He 

 writes in no dubious tone.' A verbatim quotation of the above paragraph follows, and 

 the Professor then says : — ' I am bound to express my concurrence with the position Mr. 

 Sutton takes up. Numerous confirmatory cases have come under my notice, of which I 

 need only mention one. In the natural herbage of the water-meadows bordering the 

 Hampshire Avon, Lolium perenne is, as I have found from repeated observation, a con- 

 stant and by no means insignificant constituent. These meadows are invariably out 

 before the Rye Grass has time to ripen, much less to shed its seed, so that the continued 

 presence of this grass can only he due to its perennial character.' 



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