502 Report on Laying down Land to Permanent Pasture. 
February if the weather be open, as the wheat will defend the 
young grass from any injury by frost ; but if the wheat is very 
backward, or stands thin on the ground, the sowing may with 
advantage be deferred." In very wet climates some of the small 
delicate seeds are liable to perish if sown as early as February. 
When they have to be sown on autumn-wheat, however, the time 
most suitable will sometimes depend on the forwardness of the 
wheat-plant, as the operation should not be deferred after that 
is 3 inches high. April is, on the whole, the safest month, 
when the weather is more genial than earlier in the year, and 
the risk of drought is not so great as at the commencement of 
the summer season. The light and heavy seeds are sown either 
together or separately. The only point to be regarded is that 
they be evenly distributed. A proficient sower may sow them 
mixed and at one operation. The safest method is, perhaps, to sow 
them separately, one man following the other, as adopted by 
Mr. James Howard ; or if both the light and heavy seeds be 
mixed, one-half can be sown in one direction, and the remainder 
the reverse way, or across the ridges. A good plan of distri- 
bution is for the sower to increase the quantity of land by half 
the width commanded by his hand each time he goes along the 
field, which is, in reality, sowing half the seeds at a time. Thus, 
if sowing a 12-foot ridge, he would sow from back to back, and 
from furrow to furrow alternately. In this way any tendency to 
throw the seed thicker to the right or left hand would be corrected, 
for each half-ridge would be treated to the same kind of sowing. 
Many persons sow the light seeds by hand, and the heavy by 
barrow. Whatever system is adopted matters little so long as 
an even distribution of seed is secured. After the seeds are 
sown, they should be covered by a light harrow, or a brush or 
chain-harrow, and rolled down to give an even surface to the 
land. 
Few correspondents have given an estimate of the cost per 
acre of laying land down to permanent pasture. When drain- 
ing and summer-fallowing are necessary preparations, and the 
seeds are sown without a crop, the expense must be very consider- 
able. On some lands, naturally clean and easily worked, the 
outlay is not greatly in excess of the usual expenditure for arti- 
ficial grasses in the rotation, and is only increased by the 
additional quantity of manure applied, and the extra cost of 
the mixtures for permanent grass, the latter, according to Mr. 
Alfred Tucker, being at the rate of 15s. to 18s. per acre. Mr. 
Outhwaite estimates his total outlay at lOZ. per acre, which 
amount, he says, does not include the cost of seeds, which were 
provided by his landlord. Upon what particular items this 
expense has been incurred he does not say ; but he states that 
