Observations and Eo:pcnments on some English Pastures. 109 
that each square foot had its proper proportion ; and there was 
also some rye-grass fairly distributed over the field, but yet not 
so that each plant was equally distant from all its neighbours. 
The turf that was sent to Dr. Fream contained 89 per cent, of 
yarrow and 1 1 per cent, of grasses, of which rye-grass formed 
nine-tenths. There was not a single plant of cocksfoot, which was 
the predominant grass throughout the field. Had it been to the 
right or to the left of the spot fixed upon, the turf could not 
have failed to show a large percentage of cocksfoot. 
This North Curry pasture, tested by its feeding-qualities, 
was undoubtedly the best of the fourteen pastures that I in- 
spected. But even here the replacement of the Yorkshire fog 
and fiorin, and, I will add, the rye-grass, by foxtail, meadow 
fescue, and rough-stalked meadow-grass, would unquestionably 
have improved it. Not one of the pastures I visited is so good 
as it easily might be made. The extraordinary abundance of such 
objectionable grasses as Yorkshire fog and meadow barley-grass in 
some of the pastures is surprising. A little care in preventing 
these and other inferior or worthless grasses from ripening their 
seed, and the sowing seeds of the better grasses without break- 
ing the turf, accompanied with a little more liberal treatment 
in the way of manure, would very soon greatly improve all the 
pastures. 
The composition of these pastures shows the fallacy of seek- 
ing in natural pastures the standard for laying down arable land 
in permanent grass. The adoption of such a standard is to 
reverse the whole practice and principles of modern farming. 
The farmer is, so to speak, ever at war with Nature. He is 
always trying to improve the breeds of his farm-stock and his 
crop-plants. A reversion to the wild type is a misfortune and a 
loss. A plant of Nature's sowing on his farm, where it should 
not be, is a weed to be eradicated. Are all the observations and 
experience that have been collecting since the days of Linnaeus, 
and have been so much added to by Stillingfleet, Curtis, Sinclair, 
Moore, &c, and by many men still with us — are all these to be 
set aside ? 
In laying down land to pasture, as in sowing fields with 
wbeat or any other crop, we must try to surpass Nature. We 
must bring together the most nutritious perennial plants which 
will supply palatable food for stock as far as possible all the 
year round, and we must exclude the weeds and worthless 
grasses which we have found too abundant in natural pastures. 
We must also consider the almost universal complaint of the 
deterioration, if not failure, of new pastures after the third or 
fourth year, and avoid short-lived grasses. Such pastures have 
