436 
Laying down Land to Grass. 
established : for at least seven years the field was not worth half 
the rental, the grass it produced not being sufficient to support 
the few young horned-stock turned out upon it, cake or other 
extraneous food being a necessity. I subsequently laid down 
other fields upon the same method, and with the same unsatis- 
factory results. The conclusion I came to was that much truth 
was expressed in the old Suffolk couplet : — 
" To break a i^astuve will make a man 
To make a pasture will break a man." 
About sixteen years ago I was induced to try the system of 
inoculation. The previous preparation of the land in this case 
had been a summer or dead fallow. Strips were ploughed out 
of a good permanent pasture, and pieces about the size of the 
palm of the hand laid down about 9 inches asunder, the man 
treading down each piece with his foot. Mixed seeds were 
subsequently sown, and a light roller passed over the ground. 
There can be no doubt that a good pasture is more quickly 
obtained by this method than by anj' other ; the chief drawback 
is the expense. I calculated that the cost of the experiment 
was not less than 3Z. IO5. to 4/. per acre. Another drawback 
is the injury done to the pasture from which the strips are 
taken ; this to a great extent has been avoided by the plan 
of ploughing out very narrow strips, adopted by the Duke of 
Manchester, who has practised the system of inoculation at 
Kimbolton (a few miles from here) with eminent success. The 
Kimbolton Park experiments, with the improvements in the 
method introduced by his Grace, are well described in the 
'Journal' for 1876, Volume XII. 
On one side of my inoculated plot is old turf, and on the 
other newly-sown pasture, all three being in the same field. 
Several years ago my bailiff called my attention to the fact that 
the stock preferred the inoculated portion to either of the others, 
and to the present time this preference is constantly observable 
by the closeness with which the grass is grazed down, and also 
by the cattle being seen so frequently upon it. 
Before trying the plan of inoculation, I had become convinced 
of the necessity of giving poor clay-land, intended for grass, 
a summer fallow and laying it down without a corn-crop. My 
reasons were, (1) to clean it thoroughly, (2) to restore its fertility, 
and (3) to obtain a fine and suitable tilth. 
In consequence of the summer of 1862 being continuously 
Avet, the cleaning of a field particularly foul and full of couch- 
grass was rendered impossible ; I resolved therefore upon 
giving it another year's fallow, solely with a view to get it 
clean before laying it down. The result of this accidental 
