JOURNAL 
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 
OF ENGLAND. 
I. — The Management of Grass Land. By Robert Smith, late 
of Burley, Rutland. 
Prize Essay. 
The Grasses, numerous as they are, may be truly spoken of as 
indigenous to the whole earth : they seem to arise spontaneously, 
and are found to clothe the surface of every zone, taking a sub- 
stance varying according to the soil and climate, and forcibly 
pointing out the importance of assimilating our modern culture to 
the waywardness of nature. The best grasses — those which are 
most productive and nutritive — are found in the more even cli- 
mates — such climates as have the least cold in winter, and no 
excess of heat in the summer : these attain a greater length and 
have less bottom-grass in the warm climates ; and in the cooler 
ones there is a preponderance of bottom-grass, it being there 
found to spread more evenly or thicker near the ground, is of a 
darker green appearance, and less subject to run up to bents. 
No department of agriculture is more simple in execution than 
the general culture of the grasses; yet, from their great variety, 
and required adaptation to the various soils, &c., considerable 
judgment is necessary to carry out new designs, and to effect per- 
manent improvements on the old grass or meadow lands. 
In entering upon the general details of the effective manage- 
ment of grass lands, viz. " The actual practice in the management 
of downs and inferior pastures, meadows, and grazing-ground," it 
is advisable to treat upon each description separately, as the ma- 
nagement should vary according to the influence of local circum- 
stances ; for there is a difference in the productive powers, each 
class having its peculiar affinities and functions in the vegetable 
kingdom. 
It is a matter not unworthy of comment, that while every agri- 
cultural publication teems with information of every order for the 
VOL. IX. B 
