64 PEEMANENT AND TEMPOEAEY PASTUEES. 



Italian Eye Grass is so much preferred by stock, that when a 

 two years' ley which contains it is fed off, the cattle will not 

 allow a single flower-stalk to ripen. It promotes a great flow of 

 milk, and improves the flavour of butter and cheese. The cele- 

 brated Parmesan cheese is said to be made from the milk of 

 cows fed entirely on Italian Eye Grass. 



No wonder, therefore, that with such remarkable qualities 

 the plant should have been tried, and be still largely used, for 

 permanent pastures, although nearly every authority has pro- 

 nounced it unsuitable for that purpose. It is so gross a feeder as 

 actually to choke and smother the Poas and finer Fescues, instead 

 of simply nursing and ' sheltering them from scorching heat and 

 severe frost as the slower-growing Perennial Eye Grass does. 

 Valuable as Italian Eye Grass is for alternate husbandry in the 

 company of other strong-growing grasses, such as Cocksfoot and 

 Timothy, I have always objected to its use in permanent pastures, 

 even during the years when the contrary custom prevailed. This 

 view is now admitted to be sound, and the circumstances must 

 be altogether exceptional which warrant the use of it in forming 

 a permanent pasture. 



With singular inconsistency, some writers who disapprove 

 the use of Italian Eye Grass in a mixture of permanent grasses, 

 advocate its employment for renovating an old pasture. A more 

 illogical proposition has never been made, for when the brief 

 existence of the Italian Eye Grass terminates, the pasture will be 

 left in a worse state than before. 



There is a prejudice against this grass because it severely 

 taxes the soil, and it is quite true that Italian Eye Grass will 

 appropriate all the nourishment it can get. But that is an argu- 

 ment in its favour. It means that the plant is a powerful agent 

 in extracting material from the soil, which it yields up in valuable 

 food for cattle. Given the desire of obtaining from an acre of 

 liberally fed land the largest possible produce within twelve 

 months, and Italian Eye Grass has no equal for fulfilling the 

 condition. 



