22 PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY PASTURES 



to sowing immediately after Potatoes is the difficulty of 

 consolidating the land; but by planting a first-early variety 

 the crop can be marketed in July, and before the grass seeds 

 are sown in August a persistent use of the harrow and roller 

 will do much to make a firm seed-bed. 



It will now be proper to refer to some of the emergencies 

 which arise when land must be laid away to grass at the 

 earliest possible moment, whether in a fit condition for the 

 purpose or not. One of the commonest instances is that of a 

 clover ley which it is desired to turn into a permanent pasture. 

 There is a natural feeling of reluctance to break up the clover 

 plant, and the hope is indulged that grass seeds will take upon 

 it. The objections to this course are many and serious, 

 although they are not always insurmountable. Possibly 

 indigenous weeds have already such a hold of the ground as 

 to afford very little chance of the grasses making head against 

 them ; and in soil crowded with clover roots the young grasses 

 have not a fair opportunity of establishing themselves. Still, 

 however undesirable the practice of turning a ley into a 

 permanent pasture must ever remain, necessity knows no law, 

 and sometimes this unpromising experiment is crowned with 

 success. Those who leave much to chance will deserve and 

 obtain a poor result ; but the man who is persistent and 

 determined to succeed will often secure an adequate return for 

 his labour and outlay. The chief inducement to make the 

 attempt is the probable saving of a considerable expense in 

 breaking up the land and getting it ready to sow down again. 



The first process in converting an old ley should be a 

 vigorous harrowing in the autumn, and it must be no child's 

 play. There is not the least cause for alarm in the apparent 

 wreck of the standing plant. The more ruthlessly it is torn the 

 better chance will there be for the grass seeds, and the more 

 satisfactory the ultimate pasture. Follow up with a top-dress- 

 ing of cake-fed manure or compost early in the winter, and 

 the land will then, although only in a limited and imperfect 



