CHAPTER II. 
ONE YEAR’S LEY. TWO TO THREE YEARS’ LEY. THE AFTER 
MANAGEMENT OF CLOVERS AND PASTURES, 
» HE continued fall in prices and depreciation of 
i} agricultural produce is causing the majority of 
landowners and tenant farmers to lay down to 
grass more and more every year. They naturally 
reason that they cannot be worse off than they are at the 
present time, and such cultivation on their part decreases 
their labour bill, while the commercial value of the land 
remains unaffected. Upon this subject of laying down both 
temporary and permanent pastures, we now propose to offer 
some practical remarks and suggestions, and although many of 
our facts may not be novel to the reader, still there may be 
valuable hints among them which have hitherto escaped 
his attention. 
A most careful selection should be made in the first 
instance of seeds suitable to the land proposed to be dealt 
with, and not a general mixture taken at random, nor one 
which is sold as suitable for all soils regardless of district. A 
general mixture, which the seller advocates as suitable for any 
land, will be found not only wasteful in use, but sometimes 
more a nuisance to the grower than a benefit. Like the 
sower in the famous parable, some will grow up and choke 
the others; some will not grow at all; and an even, strong, 
and thick crop must neither be expected nor looked for from 
such a selection. 
