GRASS. 



the grafs, and render it unficrluly ; ths heavy iron, or ftone 

 roUiT, Ihouldbe ufL-d occaiioiiully, when tiic Turfacc is dry, to 

 prefs down all iiieqiuilllics fo clofc as to prcfervc a firm, even, 

 fniooth furfacc. And in line-kept ihoit grafs-grounds, thi- 

 roUinn- fhould be perfumied occalionally a day or two before 

 mowing, to fettle the furface firm and finooth, which greatly 

 eontribulcs to the eafy and exact performance of the work : 

 the bufincfs of rolling in fmall, or but moderately large fliort 

 grafs-grounds, is niolUy performed by men ; bnt in very 

 • extcnlive gronnds, it is fometimcs done by a horfe ; having 

 a large roller for the purpofe, with fliafts like a cart, and 

 the horfe at tlie time wearing a fort of leathern flioes, very 

 broad at bottom, made fo as to lace on occafionally, like 

 mens' half-boots, to prevent his feet cutting the fnrtace in 

 holes, and rendering it uneven, and of a bad appearance. 



Where thort grafs-grounds are defaced by wild daifies, 

 dandelion, or other weeds, the firft may be removed by 

 ■ having the blade of an old broad-fword fixed in the end of a 

 long pliable pole, which, as it cuts both ways, by fweeping 

 it backwards and forwards, it will head down the daifies at 

 a o-reat pace ; which may be repeated two or three times 

 a- week, or as often as there may be occafion for it. 



The others Ihould be extirpated by means of an iron for 

 the purpofe, made in the form of a fmall docking-iron. 



In the autumnal finifliing mowings, the grafs {liould be 

 generally cut down as clofe and even as polhble, that the 

 i'ward may remain in a neat even furface over the winter 

 Jeafon, and appear well in the early fpring. 



Thefe directions for the management of fliort ornamental 

 grafs-grounds, regard only fuch as are required to be kept 

 conftantly fliort, clofe, and even in the furfacc, as is necel- 

 fary in the principal lawns, plats, walks, and other divifions, 

 fitiiated within the limits of the main pleafure-ground. In 

 the outward confiderably extended dillricf s, continued into 

 fields, parks, &c, it is not neceffary to have them cut fo 

 frequently ; two or three common mowings in a fummer, 

 with occafional rollings afterwards, may be lufficient. 



GuA.ss-/>iv;;7A, in our Ciifoms, grnzirig, or turning up the 

 earth with a plough. Hence the cu'lomary fervice for the 

 inferior tenants of the manor of Amerfden in Oxfordlhire, to 

 bring their ploughs to do one day's work for their lord, was 

 called grafs-hearlh, or gnift-hiirt. 



GliAss N://tdmli-v, that fort of huftiandry which has a re- 

 lation to the management of grafs-land, or fuch as are under 

 the condition of fward. This, in a great meafurc, confifts 

 in the proper clearing, manuring, palluring, or feeding down, 

 ftutting up, cutting or mowing, and the prefervation of the 

 crops. This fort of management is far from being perfeftly 

 tmderllood in manv parts of the kingdom, and confequently 

 the grafs-land is frequently in the moll coarfe and wretched 

 ftate, being over-run with various kinds of coarfe and 

 aquatic plants, as well as thofe of the mofs, and other 

 defcriptions. See Hl'sbandkv, Grass, Meadow, and 

 Pasturu. 



GRASH-land, that fort, or defcription of land, which is 

 moftly preferved in a ilate of lierbage or Iward. The forts 

 of land that are the mod adapted for this purpofe are, accord- 

 ing to fome late writers, 



I ft. Such as are fituated near large populous towns, where 

 manure is cheap and plentifid, and where the produce of grafs- 

 land is conftantly on demand, and, of courfe, dear. 



zdlv- Such lands as are placed on the banks of rivers 

 and brooks, that may be improved by irrigation to a much 

 higher value than can poffibly be done under any other me- 

 thod of cultivation. 



jdly. Such lands as lie in vallies of mountainous 

 tountries, efpecially chalky foils, where old meadow-land is 



fcarce and valuable, and the greater part of the arable lani 

 IS ot that nature and quality, that it is impolfible to convert 

 it to good fward-laiid. And 



4thly, All inch cold ftroug groimd of the grafs kind, 

 which, if ploughed up, would not be applicable to the pur- 

 pofes of the turnip-hufbandry, or thofe of modern farming, 

 and which, under the bcft pi-acticc of wheat-huftiandry, 

 would not be fo valuable as they are at prefent in the con- 

 dition nf hvard. 



The forming of grafs-ground is cfFefted with different 

 degrees of difficulty in different inllances ; in fome parts of 

 the illand it is acconiplilhcd, in general, with great care and 

 facility, the foil having a natural tendency to the produttioti 

 of grais herbage, when left in an nnploughed ftate, reverting 

 to jiallure without labour, expence, or even the fowing of 

 feed : wlii'.e, in other cafes, all the art of man has been 

 found incfteCtnal, to make good gi-afs-land. Even after 20 

 years fruitlefs expectation and expence, the land-holders have 

 often been obliged to reftore the ground again to a ftate of 

 tillage -huftiandry. 



It is remarked, that confequently the great difficulty iit 

 this bufinefs is to difcriminate what fort of land is fuitable 

 and proper for grafs, and that which is improper for the 

 purpofe. The beft meadow-land does not always make 

 the beft tillage -land, nor does the beft arable-land always 

 make the beft pafture, but frequently the reverfe. To make 

 this difcrimination, it is neceffary to confider well the pro- 

 cefs of nature in propagating and perpetuating grafles. Th'? 

 great object of nature is to perpetuate all her fpccies ; but 

 I'pon the plants created for the fupport of animals intended 

 for the food and ufe of man, file feems to have bellowed more 

 than ordinary care. Different kinds of animals propagate 

 in different modes, fome oviparoufly and fome viviparouily. 

 Plants having no locomotive motion are endowed with a 

 power of propagating in both modes. In trees and flirubs, 

 and many kinds of plants, the alTiftance of man is required to 

 obtain viviparous production, by grafting, budding, &e. 

 But, in graffes, nature does her own work, and that in both 

 modes. We have only to attend to her examples, and we fha'I 

 feldom err. In trees and Ihrubs, the bud is the viviparous 

 produdlion ; in graftes, the root performs the fame office. 

 Graffes are as much the offspring of roots as of feeds. Every 

 new root contains the germ of a future plant ; and, as the 

 feed-ftalks of graffes niuft ncceffarily be frequently cropped 

 by animals, nature makes up the deficiency by an inereafe 

 from the roots. Molt of the beft graffes arc, in their nature, 

 biennial ; but nature, by giving them the power of propa- 

 gating by the root, has in effeft made them perennial : a 

 much more certain mode of propagation than by feed, as 

 being increafed inftead of being injured by the biting and 

 ti'eading of animals, and by the produce being perfeft in one 

 year inftead of waiting two, as in the production by feed. 

 But this procefs does not go on fuccefsfuUy, unlefs the land 

 is peculiarly apt for the produtlion of graffes. If it is too 

 wet, the graffes will be injured in the winter by rain and 

 froft, and will foon be fuperfeded by ruffles and other aquatic 

 plants : if too dry, they will be killed by the fnmmer's heat» 

 and give place to molfes, fern, heath, &c. No laud will, it 

 is conceived, make a good meadow, unlefs it is deep enough 

 to admit the roots of graffes to run down out of the reach 

 of the fummer's heat, and that it be retentive enough to hold 

 water juft fo long as to produce fermentation, with fncli an 

 ahforbent under-ftratum as will drain it before putrefaition 

 takes place. 



Some proportion of grafs-land ffiould always be attached 

 to every farm, in order that a proper and fuitable fupply oi 

 winter and fummer food may be provided for fuch aiiijiials as 



luay 



