AGRICULTUEAL GE ASSES. 65 



Another prejudice is that Itahan Eye Grass is a bad pre- 

 paration for wheat. On that point Mr. Dickinson's own words 

 can be quoted : ' Thirty sheep may be kept upon Itahan Eye 

 Grass, fed through hurdles, upon as Httle land as ten can be kept 

 upon the common system upon common grass, and the finest 

 crops of wheat, barley, oats, and beans may be grown after the 

 Itahan Eye Grass has been fed ofl" the two years of its existence. 

 Wheat invariably follows the Italian, and splendid crops are 

 grown.' 



Again, it is objected that twitch is produced by Italian Eye 

 Grass. With pure seed this is impossible, but plenty of Italian 

 Eye Grass seed with twitch in it is freely bought and sold every 

 year. The remedy is in the buyer's own hands. But if twitch 

 is already in the soil, a starved crop of Eye Grass may give the 

 couch an opportunity of asserting itself. Still the tendency of a 

 well-fed and frequently cut crop of Italian always favours the 

 destruction of twitch. 



Italian Eye Grass is very commonly sown with Broad Clover, 

 and in composite mixtures for alternate husbandry. It may also 

 be used with Avena elatior when a more durable crop is wanted 

 than can be obtained from Italian Eye Grass only. But the 

 most profitable way of growing it is alone, because the crop can 

 then be cut before any of the stalks become hard and lose their 

 nutritious quahties. Another reason why Itahan Eye Grass should 

 not be allowed to grow old is that the plant is extremely succu- 

 lent, and in warm thundery weather there is a risk of the roots 

 beginning to rot. On this account a very bulky crop cannot, in 

 a hot, damp summer, be safely left for seed. 



Seed may be sown at any time from spring to autumn. The 

 usual months are February, March, September, and October, and 

 the quantity three bushels per acre. The plant is rolled in spring, 

 the crop is cut frequently, and the land broken up in the follow- 

 ing spring twelvemonth. Many farmers make it a rule to sow in 

 October, and on warm moist soils crops have sometimes been cut 

 at Christmas, and again in the following April. Such experience, 



