ONE YEAR’S LEY. 29 
not grow at all on land that has been forced, as was the 
case on part of the field we have alluded to; whereas, had we 
been patient and prepared a better seed bed we should have 
had a better layer, but should have been too late for the grain. 
This is but one of many examples we could quote in which 
the farmer has such difficulty in getting good crops of both 
seed and corn when they are sown together. What he 
generally does is to cultivate more in particular for the grain, 
sow his seed the hest way he is able, and curse the weather, 
or the merchant from whom he purchased his seeds, when 
disappointment occurs. 
With regard to the selection of one’s seeds, the first thing to 
ascertain is the particular Jé¢e noir of each variety, and to be 
careful when scrutinising samples to see that'it is absent from 
the parcel chosen. We believe we are right in asserting that 
more weeds are propagated by farmers selling their seeds to 
one another, neither the buyer nor the seller recognising nor 
having the power to remove the objectionable matter did they 
know of its presence. But when the grower offers his seeds to 
a merchant seedsman, if it is a desirable lot it is usually 
bought at once; but if it contains pernicious weeds, has been 
frosted, heated, or consists mainly of shrivelled flat seeds, if 
the merchant knows his business he refuses to entertain it at 
any price. The grower then has recourse to a second-class 
man, who will buy anything at a price, and the seeds become 
worked off somewhere to lovers of cheapness; or else the 
seller falls back upon his neighbours and friends, more often 
with disastrous results to both. A thorough knowledge of 
grass and clover seeds is what few indeed can-boast of. There 
are so many varieties, they are grown under such varying 
conditions, climatic influences which sometimes entirely alter 
their character, and they grow so differently upon different 
soils and under different circumstances, that many questions 
onnected with them will always remain highly controversial. 
