42G 
Farminr/ of Coj'nioall. 
7 Gallons rye-grass (half Italian, half Pacey's). 
4 ditto Cocksfoot. 
3 lbs. Roughed stalked meadow. 
8 lbs. Red clover. 
And where the land is intended to remain for four or five years 
in pasture (not permanent), he recommends white clover and 
trefoil to be added; and if the land be poor, a larger proportion 
of the cocksfoot, and less of the rough- stalked meadow. The 
consequence of sowing so large a quantity of common rye-grass, 
frequently as much as 12 gallons ])er acre, is to stifle every other 
kind of seed. Hay in Cornwall, with a few exceptions, is seldom 
cut until it is perfectly ripe, which not only depreciates the hay, 
but the pasturage afterwards. In the blades and stems of the 
young grasses there is much saccharine matter, which, as they 
grow up, is gradually changed, first into starch, and then into 
woody fibre ; and the more completely the latter change is effected, 
the riper the plant becomes, and the less soluble are the substances 
it contains." * Thus the ripening of grass-seeds not only seri- 
ously injures the hay, but in every instance takes away a very 
considerable portion of the decomposable matters in the soil, the 
exhausting effect of which on poor land is very considerable. 
Hence, both theory and practice indicate to the Cornish farmers 
the necessity of cutting their hay before it has attained its full 
stage of ripeness. Another error they commit is, that during the 
saving of the hay they expose it too long at one time to the rays 
of the sun, roasting it first on one side, and then on the other; 
after which it is carried to the rick. It is probable that the drying 
of hay in this manner occasions, to a certain extent, the change 
from starch to woody fibre after it is cut. Hence, the more 
quickly the drying is effected, the less extensively will changes 
of this kind take place ; and this teaches the Cornish farmers 
another lesson : — the necessity of the hay being frequently turned 
and rapidly dried during the ''saving." The crops of hay in 
Cornwall, and the grasses which follow, are miserable in the 
extreme, which proceeds partly from the method of " making," 
and partly from the system usually adopted of taking two wliite 
crops in succession, and laying the grass seeds down with the 
last one. This part of the subject will be considered at greater 
length (51). 
41. Turnips. — The introduction of artificial manures, and of the 
manure seed-drill, has effected an important change in the culti- 
vation of this invaluable root. Swedes should properly succeed 
the wheat, or lay oats ; and when this takes place the land is 
* See Karkeek's 'Essay on Fat and jNIuscle.' Jour. Roy. Agr. Soc, 
vol. v., part i. 
