Tlie Improvement of Grass Lands. 
325 
of the falling off in fresh-laid pasture is clue to the old system of 
only putting on annuals, such as rye-grass and clover. These die 
out during the second or third year, and there is then virtually 
nothing but the seeds accidentally shed on the ground to grow, 
and these, being indigenous, are of little value, being the annuals 
seeded amongst the corn ; but if the land is laid with suitable 
grasses, and their growth is well stimulated by manure, little 
deterioration will be seen. In this opinion, however, I do not 
concur, as the falling off happens under the most careful manage- 
ment and with the most abundant manuring, still perhaps not to 
so great an extent where natural grasses are supplied. 
In some of these meadows patches are to be seen upon which 
stock do not care to graze. These should be gone over in the 
summer and a small portion mown with a scythe every day. 
The stock will pick up the portion so mown as it partially withers, 
and will graze it the second time without further trouble. Salt 
sown on these coarse patches will also have the desirable effect of 
making the stock eat it off closely. But whatever measures may 
be adopted, something should be done to keep those coarse 
patches down, as they otherwise become worse every succeeding 
year. 
Good Grass Land. 
A farm consisting of this class of land is about the most pro- 
fitable that a tenant can get. It is managed with the least trouble, 
but judgment is required alike to make the best improvements, 
and to make improvements of the most value. In this class are 
to be found the valuable meadows upon alluvial deposits, and 
those that get flooded from time to time by swollen rivers, the 
flood-waters being charged with chemical and manurial elements, 
which become mixed with the natural soil and form very valuable 
meadows. There are some tracts of land belonging to this section 
which are naturally fertile. At the same time there is a very 
large proportion upon which judicious improvement would be 
remunerative, and which would in some instances double their 
value, high as that value already is. 
The first step towards improvement will be to get rid of super- 
fluous water. The remarks as to the drainage of land in Class 2 
apply equally to this section ; and, further, there is even greater 
necessity for the drains to be deep. As much of the class of land 
comprised in this section lies low, there is often great difficulty 
in getting an outfall, as the drains have to be carried through the 
lands of other owners. Any difficulty that may thus arise can 
be overcome either by the Land Drainage Act of 1861, or by 
the employment of one of the Land Drainage Companies, whose 
special Acts of Parliament enable them to pass through the lands 
