■GOG 
Additional Remarks on 
have been desirous of gaining a knowledge of good seeds and 
grasses, have found themselves unable to compete with their less 
scrupulous brethren. 
Again, reverting to rye-grass, experience this summer has 
confirmed mj opinion as to the absolute necessity of excluding 
it from all orders for seeds for permanent pasture. I do not 
wish to say that there may not be some value in rye-grass which 
is not contained in some other grasses, although I have not 
perceived any ; but, on the contrary, I believe it has been the 
cause of much mischief, yet, as it is upheld by great authorities 
on grasses, I might not contest the advisability of ordering 1 lb. 
or 2 lbs. per acre were it not that if any, however small quantity, 
is ordered, it at once opens the door to its being supplied in 
inordinate quantity mixed with other seeds ; whilst, if none at 
all be ordered, it would be easy, when the grass comes up, to 
•detect the quantity of rye-grass which may have been included 
by the seed-inerchant. 
My observations lead me to believe that rye-grass is detri- 
mental to the formation of a new pasture, not only because it 
is a short-lived grass, but because, owing to the shortness of its 
roots, it exhausts the surface of the soil ; and when it dies, the 
bare space left is so impoverished that, though grass seeds may 
germinate upon it, they will fail to live unless highly manured 
by accident or on purpose. Besides, the feeding qualities of 
rye-grass, as determined by chemical analysis, do not encourage 
its cultivation ; and in my own experience it has proved, at 
some seasons of the year, injurious to the stock. 
The difference between growing grass and making a pasture 
is great. The formation of a good pasture for thick turf must 
be the work of time ; the length of time depends on a variety of 
circumstances, such as the amount of manure applied, the state 
the land is in, the climate, the quality of the seeds used, and the 
after-culture — all these being important elements. 
If land is in good heart, and sown with good seed, a large 
quantity of grass is grown, but a thick compact mass of 
herbage is wanting. I have seen many very good meadows 
composed of a compact mass of herbage, but always containing 
a large proportion of weeds and worthless grass, and yet of 
great value ; and the question to which, up to this time, 1 have 
no data on which to give an answer is. What will be the value 
of a meadow composed almost entirely of the best grasses, clovers, 
and herbs, when it has formed a thick turf and has accumulated 
in the soil that large stock of fertilising ingredients which Sir 
John Lawes says makes the establishment of a pasture so tedious 
and costly a process ? 
1 have watched with care the formation of my new pastures, 
