24 PERMANENT AND TEMPOEARY PASTURES, 



one of the varieties which compose it may be, can by any possi- 

 bihty be suitable for universal application. The attempt to put 

 forward even a first-class mixture of grasses for all soils and all 

 purposes savours essentially of empiricism. The dogmatism which 

 proclaims the ' universal mixture ' of grasses is near akin to the 

 pretensions of the quack medicine vendor that his particular 

 nostrum wUl infallibly cure all the complicated evils under which 

 humanity sufiers. Those who possess the widest experience on 

 this subject are least inchned to lay down rigid rules. Land 

 agents who have had the management of large estates in various 

 parts of the country, and who have had greater opportunities 

 for extensive observation than most men, are exceedingly careful 

 to consider differences of soU, subsoil, and the purpose to which 

 each individual pasture is to be devoted; and their success is 

 chiefly attributable to the wise apphcatiou of general knowledge 

 to special cases. 



It is interesting to pursue the various phases of the question 

 as they are exemplified in the current pubhc journals. A fashion 

 comes into vogue for a time, to be superseded and condemned 

 by the fashion which follows. Some pet theory is driven hard, 

 and takes the public fancy. It is declared to be iufalUble ; that 

 wisdom will die with its author ; and that all preceding writers 

 were mere presumptuous novices. The past fifty years furnish 

 many amusing instances of this kind. Some time ago a cry 

 was raised that Italian Eye Grass was the saving clause in British 

 agriculture. It was not only to be grown alone and in alternate 

 leys, but no permanent pasture could possibly be successful which 

 did not contain a large proportion of it. When this theory ex- 

 ploded there was a rebound to the other extreme. Italian Eye 

 Grass was said to be generally unfit for a permanent pasture, 

 and in this opinion I concur, although I do not agree with 

 those who allege that Italian Eye Grass deteriorates into twitch, 

 and is therefore unsuitable for cultivation. Italian Eye Grass never 

 yet produced twitch, although it is quite possible that the seeds 

 of that pest may have been sown with an impure sample of it. 



