52 PEEMANENT AND TEMPOEAEY PASTUEES. 



gravel is least suitable for it, but it answers on a gravelly clay, is 

 at home on all loams, and positively revels in tenacious land. 

 Even pure clay is not too stiff for it. The poorer and drier the 

 soil the shorter will be its duration. On the contrary, the richer 

 and more moist the land, always supposing the drainage to be 

 good, the greater the certainty that Eye Grass will be perma- 

 nent. It responds quickly to irrigation, either of pure water or 

 of liquid manure, but stagnant water soon kills it. The habit of 

 the plant points to the secret of successful treatment. It roots 

 only in the surface soil, and as poor land speedily becomes ex- 

 hausted by the rapid growth, of necessity the plant dies. 



Pastures which are stimulated by the droppings of cake-fed 

 cattle, or which are dressed at proper intervals with farm-yard 

 manure, continue to grow Eye Grass year after year without the 

 sowing of seed. Of course if a crojD of hay is cut early enough, 

 seeding is impossible, and if the pasture is grazed the cattle will 

 take care that seed does not ripen. I have a pasture containing 

 a large proportion of Eye Grass, and the cattle never permit the 

 heads to flower, but keep both culms and herbage cropped 

 close, although the Cocksfoot culms in the same field are an 

 annual nuisance. 



Perennial Eye Grass will grow under conditions that are 

 fatal to other grasses ; it is the most certain to germinate and 

 to produce a crop ; it comes quickly to maturity, and is unin- 

 jured by the tread of cattle. While other grasses are dependent 

 upon season and weather. Eye Grass is able to hold its own 

 under all circumstances, enduring winter frost and summer heat. 

 Another great advantage is that it is so little deteriorated by being- 

 allowed to grow old before it is cut. In fact, there is no doubt 

 that it improves in quality as it becomes nearly ripe, and pro- 

 bably the discrepancies between some chemical analyses and the 

 experience of farmers in feeding stock are traceable to the too 

 early cutting of the crops. 



The high feeding value of Perennial Eye Grass is shown 

 by Dr. J. Augustus Voelcker's report and analysis, which are 



