TEMPORARY PASTURES 127 



Oat Grass, Alsike Clover, White Clover, and Yarrow. It is 

 very desirable that the pasture should not be too closely 

 grazed by sheep during the summer months of the first two 

 or three years, and it is better, when practicable, to mow the 

 crop the first year after laying down. The rye grasses ensure 

 a sufficiency of herbage during the time other varieties are 

 attaining full development. The two oat grasses are included 

 because they are native to the Holkham district. With 

 suitable modifications in the constituents, and a considerable 

 addition to the quantity of seed per acre, as may be needed by 

 local conditions of soil and climate, this mixture, which has 

 given such good results on poor soils in Norfolk, might prove 

 useful in other districts. 



Temporary pastures are, as a rule, sown with spring corn, 

 and they require substantially the same treatment as per- 

 manent pastures, although, as the grasses employed for the 

 former purpose are strong growers, there is not quite the same 

 necessity for extreme caution in preparing the land ; but even 

 here laxity and carelessness entail a sufficiently heavy penalty. 



A temporary pasture may, in a favourable summer, 

 afford a valuable bite for horned stock soon after the corn is 

 cut ; and as the grasses are robust and comparatively coarse, 

 although none the less nourishing on that account, they will 

 not be injured by the hoofs of cattle. The rolling should be 

 done in November, instead of waiting until spring. Supposing 

 stock to be kept off the ground, and the autumn prove warm 

 and genial, it will sometimes be possible by the end of 

 October to get a cut of useful green food. 



The pasture needs bush-harrowing and rolling down early 

 in spring before being laid in for hay. The first year's crop 

 will mainly consist of Rye Grasses and clovers, but the bottom 

 of a three or four years' ley may be expected to improve for 

 at least two years, and the Foxtail, Timothy, Cocksfoot, and 

 other plants will increase in bulk in the third and fourth 

 seasons. 



