92 PEEMANENT AND TEMPOEAEY PASTUEES. 



phosphate was apphed with such good eifect that in the following 

 summer a heavy crop of hay was cut. 



If the plant is evidently all right, there can be no doubt that 

 it will abundantly pay to give a top-dressing of farm-yard manure, 

 or some good artificial, to help the young grass into vigorous 

 growth. Bare spots caused by the laying of the corn or from 

 any other agency must be hghtly broken, sown, and rolled down 

 again. It will be quite necessary to l.ook these patches over in 

 the following spring to see that they have passed safely through 

 the winter, otherwise they must be sown once more. 



Should the failure be total, it will generally be impossible to 

 smash a hard stubble, and get it clean, fine, and firm by the first 

 or second week of September ; and therefore it is usual to defer 

 re-sowing until the following spring. On one occasion I have 

 risked sowing grass seeds on a stubble, after the manner common 

 with trifohum. The stubble was unusually clean, and, directly 

 the corn was carried, a heavy drag was put over the land and 

 the seed was bushed in. The success was very marked indeed, 

 but I do not feel justified in drawing large inferences from a 

 single experiment of this kind. 



After a corn crop the pasture sown with corn will not be in 

 the same condition for grazing as when grasses are sown alone. 

 The care and attention which can be devoted to the latter during 

 summer make all the difference. I know that horned stock are 

 sometimes turned on to the former after a dripping summer. 

 But if there are occasional instances when cattle may be put on 

 to a stubble containing young grass without inflicting injury, 

 there can be no doubt whatever about the folly of permitting 

 sheep to graze it. They bite extremely close, and with a snatch- 

 ing movement which uproots an immense number of the young 

 plants that have not sufiicient hold to bear the strain. Another 

 fact is worth consideration. Both cattle and sheep, if allowed 

 to graze too soon, are apt to pick out certain grasses and clovers 

 for which they have a partiality, leaving others to seed or to 

 develope into ugly tufts. Whenever this happens it is wise to let 



