THE SELECTION OF GRASSES AND CLOYEES. 25 



The misuse of Cocksfoot may be cited as another example. 

 Instead of being reserved for those soils and purposes for which it 

 possesses an undoubted value, it has been recommended for the 

 production of high-class hay everywhere, and even for sowing on 

 geological formations for which it is totally imsuited. I have 

 seen pastures literally ruined by the introduction of Cocksfoot. 

 Alternate leys on the Chiltern Hills, where Eye Grass and Clover 

 had previously answered well, have, by the introduction of 

 Cocksfoot, yielded almost unsaleable hay, and, having once been 

 allowed to seed, the Cocksfoot has proved a pest difficult to 

 eradicate. Those who are familiar with the art of forestry are 

 well aware that it would be futile to attempt to grow elm timber 

 on sandy land, or larch on land which is only fit for Scotch fir. 

 And if an opinion were promulgated that any single kind of 

 timber should be grown upon every estate in the kingdom, it 

 would excite general ridicule. Had the laying down of grass 

 received the careful attention which has been devoted to forestry, 

 it would be considered just as unreasonable to sow Cocksfoot on 

 all soils and for all purposes, as to recommend elm trees to be 

 planted everywhere. 



The sowing of Poas has been condemned as unnecessary 

 because it happened that some varieties of this grass were in- 

 digenous where the experiment was made. But a New England 

 farmer will not hesitate to sow Poa pratensis alone, and long 

 experience has proved that he does not prize this grass too highly. 

 On the other hand, in certain districts of New Zealand, where 

 Poa pratensis develops into a twitch of the worst character, 

 the suggestion that it should be sown at all would only pro- 

 voke an expression- of incredulous amazement. Surely such 

 a widely different estimate of the value of a single variety may 

 well suggest a doubt as to the universal adaptation of any one 

 kind of grass to all soils and districts. Indeed, the whole ques- 

 tion is one of experience, and I am well persuaded that those 

 who possess the largest knowledge, obtained from the widest 

 sources, will concur in the opinion that each individual case 



