Laying down Land to Grass. 
I am unable to say, but the want of effect of bone-manure was 
year after year most apparent. Nor is my experience in this 
matter singular ; I have met with many who have tried bones 
with the same want of success. Coal or cinder-ashes have a 
very marked effect on both old and new pastures ; I attribute 
this to their mechanical action in keeping open the surface and 
preventing it getting " hide-bound ; " for I have noticed similar 
effects to proceed from the application of road-scrapings, brick- 
dust, and sharp sand. 
The sowing of renovating grasses and white clover about the 
third or fourth year will, as a rule, be found desirable ; the 
quantity should of course be regulated by the extent to which 
the grasses have lost plant : about 6 lbs. of seed per acre will 
generally suffice ; the chain or flexible harrow should be passed 
over the ground once or twice. The whole of my grass-land, 
new and old pasture, is gone over with a flexible spiked harrow 
twice a year — spring and autumn. At the end of the autumn, 
in addition to disturbing any moss which may have formed, or 
rough grass which may have become matted, the effect of the 
harrowing is to distribute the cattle-droppings, and to let in any 
grass-seeds which have ripened and fallen on the surface. 
In conclusion I would observe, that the question as to the best 
method to be pursued depends very much upon whether the 
laying down has to be done by the landlord or the tenant. If 
by the former, and the land is similar in character to my own, 
I should have no hesitation in deciding in favour of the two- 
year dead-fallow system, feeling assured that the time lost at the 
beginning would be speedily regained, and this whether sowing 
or inoculation were adopted. If by a tenant, he would scarcely 
be justified in pursuing this course, unless the rent were re- 
mitted for two or three years, or he was in possession of a long 
lease with liberal covenants, or in some way reimbursed for 
effecting this permanent improvement. 
To the ordinary tenant who resorts to laying down, or is com- 
pelled — for reasons which need not be entered upon — to adopt 
this course, the plan of sowing upon a sainfoin or lucerne layer 
offers many advantages, the chief of which is there is no great or 
immediate sacrifice, valuable crops are being taken off during the 
time the grasses are establishing themselves, and by the applica- 
tion of light dressings of manure a pasture will in a very few years 
be obtained, the value of which will depend to a great extent upon 
the manner in which it is treated. When a choice of fields for 
laying down can be exercised, I should prefer those which are 
difficult and expensive to till, particularly hill-sides and uneven 
ground. 
If corn-growing should remain as unprofitable as it has been 
