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Englifh proverb. May come foe early come foe late, .makes 
the cow quake. The large fort here mentioned, grows 
naturally in the fouth of France and Italy, and- is only 
preferred in feme Engiith gardens for the fake of 
variety. 
If the feeds of this fort are fown in the autumn, or 
permitted to fcatter when ripe, the plants will come 
up ftronger, and flower much earlier, than when they 
are fown in the fpring, fo good feeds may always be 
expected from them, which can feldom be attained 
from the fpring plants in England •, and as two or 
three plants of this fort will be full enough in a garden 
for variety, fo thefe fhould be allowed to fpread ; for 
where they grow at a diftance from each other, the 
roots will fend out a great number of ftalks, which will 
be ftronger, and produce much larger panicles than 
thole which are too near together. 
The Cock’s- foot Grafs, Capon’s-tail Grafs, and Mil- 
let Grades are too coarfe todeferve attention in Eng- 
i land, though feme of their fpecies are very ufeful in the 
warm parts of America, where there is a great fear- 
city of finer Grafs •, and feme of thefe are much bet- 
ter adapted to thofe warm countries, than any of our 
European Graffes, for many of them lie flat on the 
ground, and emit roots from their joints, fo are well 
prepared for heat •, their ftalks are large and juicy, fo 
will live in heat where few of the European Graffes 
can be made to thrive. 
The land on which Grafs-feed is intended to be fown, 
fnould be well ploughed, and cleared from the roots 
of noxious weeds, fuch as Couch-grafs, F ern, Rufties, 
Heath, Gorfe, Broom, Reft-harrow, &c. which, if 
left in the ground, will foon get the better of the 
Grafs, and over-run the land. Therefore in fuch places 
where either of thefe weeds abound, it will be a good 
method to plough up the furface in April, and let it 
lie feme time to dry ; then harrow the roots into fmall 
heaps, and burn them. The allies fo produced, when 
fr fad on the land, will be a good manure for it. The 
method of burning the roots is particularly direbled 
under the article Land, which fee : but where Couch- 
grafs, Fern, or Reft-harrow is in plenty, whole roots 
run far under ground, the land mult be ploughed 
two or three times pretty deep in dry weather, and 
the roots carefully harrowed off after each ploughing, 
which is the riofbfure method to deftroy them. Where 
the land is very low, and of a ftiff clayey nature, 
which holds water in winter, it will be of Angular fer- 
vice to make feme under-ground drains to carry off the 
wet ; which, if detained too long on the ground, will 
render the Grafs four. The method of making thefe 
drains is preferibed under the article Land, which 
fee. 
Before the feed is fown, the furface of the ground 
fhould be made level and fine, otherwife the feed will 
be buried unequal. When the feed is fown, it muft 
be gently harrowed in, and the ground rolled with a 
wooden roller, which will make the furface even, and 
prevent the feeds being blown in patches. When the 
Grafs comes up, if there fhould be any bare fpots, 
where the feed has not grown, they may be fown 
again, and the ground rolled, which will fix the 
feeds ; and the firft kindly fhowers will bring up the 
Grafs, and make it very thick. 
Where the land is defigned to continue in pafture, it 
fhould be fown with the belt forts of Grafs-feeds, and 
white Dutch Clover, or what is commonly called Ho- 
neyfuckle Grafs in many parts of England, but there 
is a great difficulty of procuring hay-feeds which are 
good ; for in all the good paftures near London, which 
abound with the belt forts of Grafs, the hay is com- 
monly cut before the feeds of the Grafs are ripe ; fo 
that thofe feeds which are procured from the ftables 
where the horfes are fed with the belt fort of hay, are 
little more than chaff, or at beft are only fuch as are of 
the early kinds of Grafs, -wi th a great quantity of Plan- 
tain and other weeds : which has difeouraged many 
gentlemen from fowing them, nor has any one at- 
tempted to lave thefe feeds properly; and as it requires 
longer time, and more attention, to fave a quantity of. 
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feeds of the purer fort of Grafs than the generality 
of people care to beftow, fo I would recommend the 
letting feme of thole upland paftures, which .are 
cleaneft from weeds, and have the fweeteft herbage 
afide, to Hand for feeds ; and although by lb doing 
the hay will be lefs valuable, yet from the fale of 
the feeds, it may anfwer better to tiie pofieffor, than 
to mow it merely for the hay ; for any gentleman who 
has' regard to the beauty of his land, had better give 
fix times the price for fuch feeds, as is ufually paid 
for the ordinary feeds, fince the firft expence of feeds 
is not to be put in competion with the beauty and' ad- 
vantage of having fuch as are good •, for when the land 
is brought to a good fward (which may be done in 
one year, where it is properly prepared and fown with 
good feeds) it may be kept in good order, and by 
good management improved annually, and 'will con- 
tinue fo, as long as proper care is taken of it. I 
know feme land which was fown in the method here- 
after directed above forty years ago, which are now 
as good paftures as any I have feen, and may be al- 
ways continued fo. 
Thefe grounds abounded with many bad weeds, fo 
they had a winter andfummer’s fallow, in which time 
they were five times ploughed and ten times harrowed 
in order to deftroy the weeds, and make the furface 
of the ground fine ; in Auguft they were fown with 
the belt Grafs-feeds as could be procured, three bufh- 
els of this, and nine pounds of the white Dutch Clo- 
ver-feeds were allowed to each acre ; as there happened 
rains foon after the feeds were fown, fo the Grafs came 
up well ; but among it were a great number of weeds, 
which were drawn up and carried off the ground, and 
in the beginning of Obuober the fields were rolled with 
a Barley roller •, in the fpring the fields were again 
weeded, and afterward roiled, and that fummer there 
was more than two tons of hay per acre mowed off 
the land ; and by conftant weeding twice a year, 
fweeping it with a buffi-harrow, rolling and dreffmg 
of the land, the Grafs has been greatly improved fince, 
and is now as good pafture as any in England : and 
fince I have laid down great quantities of land in the 
fame manner, and with equal fuccefs ; therefore from 
many years experience can recommend it, as the fureft 
method of having good paftures. 
But I know the generality of farmers will objeeft to 
the firft lofs of their crop, and alfo to the after ex- 
pence of weeding, rolling, &c. as too great for com- 
mon praftice : however, I am well fatisfied from ex- 
perience, that whoever will be at the expence, will 
find their account in it ; for the crops of hay will be 
fo much better, and the after pafture alfo, that it will 
more than pay the expence, as from many exact ac- 
counts, which have been kept of the whole, is fuffici- 
ently demonftrated, and the verdure of thefe paftures 
is charming to all thofe who have any tafte of natural 
beauties. 
The proper management of pafture land is the leaft 
underftood of any part of agriculture ; the farmers 
never have attended to this, being more inclined to 
the plough, though the profits attending that have 
not of late years been fo great as to encourage them 
in that part of hufbandry ; but thefe people never 
think of laying down land for pafture, to continue 
longer than three years, at the end of which time 
they plough it up again, to few it with grain. 
There is a fort of ffriped Grafs which is preferved in 
many gardens for the beauty of its variegated leaves, 
which continue frelli the greateft part of the maimer. 
This fort is eafily propagated by parting^ the roots, 
either in fpring or autumn, for every offset will in- 
creafe to be a large root in one year’s time. It, will 
grow on any foil or in any fituation, therefore may be 
planted in any abje& part of the garden, where it will 
thrive, and afford an agreeable variety. _ This fort is 
by many perfons called ■ Ribband-grafs, from the 
ftripes of white and green, which run the whole 
length of the blade, like the ftripes in feme rib- 
bands. 
For 
