Laying doicn Cla7j-land intended for Permanent Pasture. 369 
them better in cultivation than in grass, and will carry more 
stock while consuming green crops such as vetches, clover, 
cabbages, rape, and mangold, alternately with wheat, barley, 
and beans, than it would do in permanent pasture. 
But there are a great number of clay-land farms which have 
been given up to their owners in wretched condition. The 
tenants have impoverished their land and themselves by holding 
on as long as they were able — hoping against hope — and leaving 
their landlords no alternative but to endeavour to restore these 
farms to such condition as would be likely to attract new 
tenants, a costly proceeding any way ; but it would appear that 
the most likely way to attain the object is to lay down a large 
portion of such farms to grass. How is this to be done ? 
I assume that the land is drained. This is an absolute neces- 
sity. Obviously then the first thing is to get it clean from 
couch-grass ; and if, as was the case this year (1881), this can 
be effected by the aid of steam in June, and there be a sufficiency 
of rain afterwards to get a fine natural tilth in July, the grass 
seeds may then be sown ; and if aided by 5 cwt. per acre of fish 
guano, containing 8 to 10 per cent, of ammonia, and 35 per 
cent, of phosphates, or the equivalent thereto, the grass seeds 
will be established before winter. It may be that they will 
require to be eaten off carefully in September. If the land 
cannot be got ready for the seeds by the end of July, the sowing 
will be done in the following spring without a corn crop upon 
a stale furrow, merely scarifying the land to get rid of surface 
weeds. The mixture which I have used is — 1 bushel cocksfoot 
(to IJ bushel according to percentage of growth), ^ bushel 
perennial rye-grass, 6 lbs. cow-grass, 2 lbs. Dutch clover ; the 
percentage of growth guaranteed being, cocksfoot 40, rye- 
grass 70, cow-grass 80, and Dutch clover 80. This mixture 
cost last spring less than 15*. per acre, but the prices ad- 
vanced before the close of the season, and are now still higher. 
Having secured the plant of grass, the next consideration is 
how to treat it ; and here my view will be opposed to 
those generally entertained. The prevailing idea is that no 
sheep should be allowed to go upon newly laid down land. 
I would have no other stock for the first three years ; but in 
this way. Assuming that the seeds were sown in July, the 
tilth and the weather favourable, they should be so strong in 
September as to require to be eaten down, otherwise they would 
be liable to injury from frost before spring. This should be 
done by lambs folded upon them, and getting as much space 
twice a day as they will eat level, with an allowance of oilcake, 
malt-dust, and clover-chaff, the back hurdles being moved every 
second day to prevent the lambs biting off again the young seeds 
VOL. XVIII. — S. S. 2 B 
