I 
PAS 
when the ground lies in hills ^ and will alfo caufe the 
turf to thicken, fo as to have what the people ufually 
term a good bottom. The Grafs likewife will be the 
fweeter for this hufbandry, and it will be a great help 
to deftroy bad weeds. 
Another improvement of upland Failures is the feed- 
ing them every other year ; for where this is not prac- 
tiled, the land mull be manured at leaft every third 
year •, and where a farmer hath much arable land in 
his pofteffion, he will not care to part with his ma- 
nure to the Failure, Therefore every farmer fhould 
endeavour to proportion his Failure to his arable land, 
efpecially where manure is fcarce, otherways he will 
foon find his error ; for the Failure is the foundation 
of all the profit, which may arife from the arable land. 
Whenever the upland Pailures are mended by ma- 
nure, there fhould be a regard had to the nature of 
the foil, and a proper fort of manure applied : as for 
inilance, ail hot fandy lands fhould have a cool ma- 
nure ; neats dung and fwines dung are very proper 
for fuch lands, as alfo marie and clay but for cold 
lands, horfe dung, allies, or land, and other warm 
manures, are proper. And when thefe are applied, 
it fhould be done in autumn, before the rains have 
foaked the ground, and rendered it too i’oft to cart 
on y and it fhould be carefully fpread, breaking all 
the clods as fmall as poffible, and early in the fpring 
harrowed with bullies, to let it down to the roots of 
the Grafs. When the manure is laid on at this fea- 
fon, the rains in winter will wafh down the falts, fo 
that the following fpring the Grafs will receive the 
advantage of it. 
There fhould alfo be great care had to the dellroying 
of weeds in the Failure, every fpring and autumn ; 
for where this is not praftifed, the weeds will ripen 
their feeds, which will fpread over the ground, and 
thereby fill it with fuch a crop of weeds as will foon 
over-bear the Grafs, and render it very weak, if not 
deftroy it ; and it will be very difficult to root them 
out, after they have gotten fuch pofleffion ; efpeci 
ally Ragwort, Hawkweed, Dandelion, and fuch other 
weeds as have down adhering to their feeds. 
Thefe upland Pailures feldom degenerate the Grafs 
which is fown on them, if the land is tolerably good ^ 
whereas the low meadows, which are overflowed in 
winter, in a few years turn to a harfh ruffiy Grafs, 
but the upland will continue a fine ftveet Grafs for 
many years without renewing. 
There is no part of hufbandry, of which the farmers 
are in general more ignorant, than that of the Pas- 
ture •, moll of them fuppofe, that when the old Pas- 
ture is ploughed up, it can never be brought to have 
a good fward again ; fo their common method of ma- 
naging their land after ploughing, and getting two 
or three crops of Corn is, to fow with their crop of 
Barley, fome Grafs-feeds, as they call them •, that is, 
cither the red Clover, which they intend to (land two 
years after the Com is taken off the ground, or Rye- 
grafs mixed with Trefoil •, but as all thefe are at moll 
but biennial plants, whofe roots decay foon after their 
feeds are perfected, fo the ground having no crop up- 
on it, is again ploughed for Corn j and this is the 
ccnftant round which the lands are employed in, by 
the better fort of farmers •, for I never have met with 
one of -them* who had the leaft notion of laying down 
their land to Grafs for any longer continuance ; there- 
fore the feeds which they ufually fow, are the beft 
adapted for this purpofe. 
But whatever may have been the pra&ice of thefe 
people, I hope to prove, that it is poffible to lay 
down land, which has been in tillage, with Grafs, in 
fuch manner as that the fward fhall be as good, if not 
better, than any natural Grafs, and of as long dura- 
tion. But this is never to be expefted, in the common 
method of lowing a crop of Corn with the Grafs- 
feeds •, for wherever this hath been praftifed, if the 
Corn has fucceeded well, the Grafs has been very 
poor and weak ; fo that if the land has not been very 
pfQod, the Grafs has fcarcely been worth Handing-, for 
the following year it has produced but little hay, and 
PAS 
the year after the crop is worth little, either to mow 
or feed. Nor can it be expefled it fhould be other- 
wife, for the ground cannot nourifh two crops ; and 
if there were no deficiency in the., land, yet the Corn 
being the firft, and moft vigorous of growth, will keep 
''the Grafs from making any confiderable progrefs ; fo 
that the plants will be extremely weak and but very 
thin, many of them which came up in the fprinp- be- 
ing deftroyed by the Corn for wherever there are 
roots of Corn, it cannot be expected there fhould be 
any Grafs. Therefore the Grafs muft be thin, and, 
if the land is not in good heart to fupply the Grafs 
with nouriftiment, that the roots may branch out af- 
ter the Corn is gone, there cannot be any confiderable 
crop of Clover ; and as thefe roots are biennial, many 
of the ftrongeft plants will perifh foon after they are 
cut ; and the weak plants, which had made but little 
progrefs before, will be the principal part of the crop 
for the fucceeding year, which is many times not 
worth Handing. 
Therefore, when ground is laid down for Grafs, there 
Ihould be no crop of any kind fown with the feeds j 
and the land ffiould be well ploughed, and cleaned 
from weeds ; otherwife the v/eeds will come up the 
firft, and grow fo ftrong, as to overbear the Grafs, 
and if they are not pulled up, will entirely fpoil it. The 
beft feafon to fow the Grafs feeds upon dry land is 
about the middle of Auguft, if there is an appearance 
of rain for the ground being then warm, if there hap- 
pen fome good ihowers of rain after the feed is fown, 
the Grafs will foon make its appearance, and„get fuf- 
ficient rooting in the ground before winter, fo will not 
be in danger of having the roots turned out of the 
ground by the froft, efpecially if the ground is well 
rolled before the froft comes on, which will prefs it 
down, and fix the earth clofe to the roots. Where 
this hath not been praftifed, the froft has often loof- 
ened the ground fo much, as to let in the air to the 
roots of the Grafs, and done it great damage j and 
this has been brought as an objection to'the autumnal 
fowing of Grafs ; but it will be found to have no 
weight, if the above dire&ion is pradlifed nor is 
there any hazard in fowing the Grafs at this feafon, 
but that of dry weather after the feeds are fown for 
if the Grafs comes up well, and the ground is welt 
rolled in the middle or end of Odlober, and repeated 
the beginning of March, the fward will be clofely 
joined at bottom, and a good crop of hay may be ex- 
pended the fame fummer. In very open, expofed, 
cold lands, it is proper to fow the feeds earlier than 
is here mentioned, that the Grafs may have time to 
get good rooting, before the cold feafon comes on 
to flop its growth ; for in fuch fit nations, vegetation 
is over early in the autumn, fo the Grafs being weak, 
may be deftroyed by froft : but if the feeds are fown 
in the beginning of Auguft, and a few Ihowers fol- 
low foon after to bring up the Grafs, it will fucceed 
much better than any which is fown in the fpring, as 
I have feveral years experienced, on fome places as 
much expofed as moft in England. But where the 
ground cannot be prepared for fowing at that feafon, 
it may be performed the middle or latter end of 
March, according to the feafon’s being early or late ; 
for in backward fprings and in cold land, I have often 
fowed the Grafs in the middle of April with fuceefs i 
but there is danger in fowing late of dry weather, 
and efpecially if the land is light and dry ; for I have 
feen many times the whole furface of the ground re- 
moved by ftrong winds at that feafon, fo that the feeds 
have been driven in heaps to one fide of the field. 
Therefore whenever the feeds are fown late in the 
fpring, it’ will be proper to roll the ground well foon 
after the feeds are fown, to fettle the furface, and pre- 
vent its being removed. 
The forts of feeds which are the beft for this pur- 
pole, are the beft fort of upland hay-feeds, taken 
from the cleaned Paftures, where there are no bad 
weeds if this feed is lifted to clean it from rubbifh, 
three, or at moft four bufhels, will be fufficient to 
fow an acre of land. The other fort is the Trifolium 
pratenfe 
