5 
PERMANENT PASTURE S 
SOWING DOWN WITH A CORN CROP. 
A point always open to consideration is, whether the grass seeds should be sown with or without a corn crop. 
The advantages put forward as pertaining to the practice of sowing with a crop are, that the corn is a protection to the 
young grass, and that it will repay a part of the expense of putting in the grass seeds. With regard to the shelter afforded to 
the young grass by the corn, an extra bushel of grass seed would answer all the purpose, and have the additional advantage of 
thickening the sward. The prevailing idea is that the corn will repay a part of the expense, and at first sight the practice would 
appear to be reasonable ; but there remains the risk of detracting from the success of the pasture by taking off a crop of com, 
which, in times such as the present, realises a very small margin of profit. 
We repeat it is very essential that permanent pasture should be put down in good heart ; and corn, especially if allowed 
to ripen, removes from the soil a large quantity of the plant food which is so necessary to develop the grasses. 
Although the loss of condition may be afterwards to some extent made good by the application of manure, still the finer 
grasses sometimes receive a check from which they cannot always recover. 
If, however, it is desired to sow the grass seeds with a corn crop, a decidedly light seeding of the latter should be -iven 
so that the young grass plant may not be smothered. 
Oats are sometimes sown with grass seeds and the crop cut early, by which means a large bulk of forage is secured and 
the early cutting favours the development of the young grass plant 
THE SEEDING OF GRASS LANDS. 
We now come to a very important point, namely, the selection and sowing of seeds. There are thousands of distinct 
species of grasses distributed over the world, and there is not a soil to which some of them are not indigenous-some -rowing 
best on dry sterile soils, others on rich soils ; some thriving in marshes, stagnant water, or slow stream, others on the sea° coast • 
but those which are suited for permanent pastures and alternate husbandry thrive best under cultivation, and are very limited in 
number. The varieties of grasses, &c., recommended, which are used more or less in our compositions, will be found on pages 8 and 9 
The varieties and quantities vary considerably according to the nature of the soil to be sown, and the success of the 
pasture will be in a great measure due to the skill exercised in deciding the varieties to be used and proportioning the amount 
o each variety. We have for many years followed a careful system of this kind, adapting the seeds to the geological requirements 
of the soil, which has proved successful in a degree probably beyond that of any other practice 
A well-constituted mixture for Permanent Pasture should for several reasons contain many varieties of grasses and clovers 
We hnd that some sorts will thrive best in one season, others in another season. Some varieties extract from the soil plant food 
which would not be utilised by others. Some mature earlier than others, and stock of all kinds do better on a mixture of foods 
a. n When fed continually upon the same thing. So that a well-mixed pasture has the advantage of being earlier, lasting longer 
and giving a heavier and better feed than one composed of a few sorts or a single variety of grass. 
TIME OF SOWING. 
The period for sowing grass seeds embraces a very wide range. It is really more a matter of weather than of anything else. 
We have, for instance, sown during every month from March to November inclusive. 
When clovers are included in the mixture, it is well not to sow too late in the autumn, as the clover plants are more 
liable to injury by frost than are the young grasses. 
Grass seeds with a corn crop may be sown simultaneously with the corn, or afterwards, when the corn is two or three inches high 
Dry weather is best for getting the seeds well in the ground. 
It is known that many of the permanent grasses take three or four years to become fully developed, and that the parent 
p!ant of rye grass does good service during these earlier years. These characteristics seem to work together most economically 
for the production of a full hay crop during the first tew years after laying down land to Permanent Pasture. 
We have occasionally seeded down pastures, etc., in prominent public positions (notably at the Royal Agricultural Society’s 
- how Ground, Kilburn, the Pans, Sydney, Vienna, Melbourne, Amsterdam, and other Exhibitions, etc.), which were admired for 
then- general excellence, and when asked to explain how such a thick sward could be produced in so short a time we instance 
hne tilth, good heart, cleanliness, and liberal seeding as the main requisites. The more important points in which’our treatment 
iffers from ordinary methods, m addition to the above, lie in a careful adaptation of the seeds to the peculiar physical formation 
ot the soil and the judicious proportion ot quantities. 
In sowing, we cannot too strongly urge the necessity of covering the ground evenly, every blank giving a chance for weeds 
to make their appearance. Such bare spaces should therefore be sown as soon as noticed. Here we see another advantage of 
sowing without a crop, or where the reverse has been done, of cutting early, for we find when this is not the case the bare places 
are invariably neglected. Sowing is best effected with the seed-barrow on a calm day, the light seed-harrow, chain-harrow bush- 
harrow, horse-rake, or Cambridge roller being used to cover the seeds, the implements varying with the description of soil and 
(unless where the Cambridge roller is used) a heavy flat roller finishing the operation. Where the land is very loose we recommend 
the use of a clod-crusher before sowing, to be followed by the bush-harrow after sowing. It is a good plan to wheel in the -rass seeds 
by t remselves in one direction, and then the clover seeds by themselves at right angles thereto; this secures uniformity of distribution. 
A firm seed-bed is of vital importance, and in all cases, when the soil will admit, the land should be firmly rolled before 
harrowing, the seed then sown and afterwards rolled again. Many failures arise from a neglect of this practice, whilst the superior 
appearance ot the headlands, where clovers and grasses have been recently sown, and where the surface is thus hardened by 
constant treading, drawing, etc., is the most practical evidence of the necessity for such treatment. 
CARTERS', 237, 238, & 97, HIGH HOLBORN. LONDON. -1901. 
