CATALOGUE OP' GRASS SEEDS. 
4*> 
SHEEP’S FESCUE MEADOW FOXTAIL CRESTED DOGSTAIL 
(Festuca Ovina) (Alopecurus pratensis) (Cynosurus Cristatus) 
MIXTURES FOR PERMANENT PASTURES. 
“ One thing is certain: that good pasture land is the foundation of the riches of a farm ”— Sinclair. 
The oft-repeated complaints of wornout and exhausted pastures, made to us by some of our best New 
England farmers, have long impressed us with the fact that there mu-t be something radically wrong with the 
manner in which our pastures are formed and cared for. Some remedy for this state of matters is imperatively 
necessary, and it seems to us that one most important line of improvement would be the sowing of a larger 
number of species of grasses in the laying out of these pastures. 
As we have already expressed as our opinion, farmers, as a rule, in preparing their mixtures of grasses to be 
used in the laying down of permanent pastures, confine themselves to too few varieties, thus failing to arrive at 
the most profitable results. The chief properties which give value to a grass are nutritive powers, produce, early 
growth, and reproductiveness (that is, the property of growing rapidly after being cropped). If one species of 
grass could be discovered that possessed all these qualities in a superior degree to every other, there won id be 
no necessity beyond that of botanical science lor us to acquire the knowledge which enables us to distinguish 
the different species of grasses, the soils and subsoils best adapted to their growth, natural habits, and compara¬ 
tive value; but the results of all experiments have proven that a combination of all the merits and properties 
which give value to a grass is not to be found in any single species, or in fact in any two or three. In sowing a 
mixture of a number of different varieties we are but following nature, who can be always depended upon as the 
best teacher. This can easily be demonstrated by the careful examination of any old. rich, permanent pasture, 
on which will invariably be found fifteen or twenty species of grass or forage plants growing in great profusion. 
Where, however, it is left to nature to supply the necessary plants to make a ri* h and succulent pasturage, a great 
deal of valuable time is, of necessity, lost, as sev^n or eight years will eiapse before the field will naturally 
assume the character of a rich and profitable pasture, while by artificial means the same result can be brought 
about in one fourth the time. 
In compiling any table ol grasses and clovers to be used for permanent pasture purposes there are several 
important features to be taken into consideration. First, the proportion of plants which would be produced 
from the amount of each kind of seed sown should be determined, so that the undue predominance of any parti¬ 
cular variety may' be avoided. We have given this point special consideration in preparing our mixture^. A 
selection of grasses should be made that blossom at alternate months of the year, as it is a well-known fact th.it 
there is no month from April to September, inclusive, in which some of the valuable grasses do not attain the.r 
full perfection. 
EXPERIENCES. 
C. A. Dresser, Treasurer of the Central Mills Co., Southbridge, Mass., in speaking about our Permanent 
Pasture Mixtures, says :—“ The cattle feed upon it ravenously." 
S. C. Huntington, Henniker, X. H ., says :—“ The Clover and Crass Seeds which / purchased of your 
house two years ago proved far better than any / could procure in this vicinity." 
See Special Otters on third Page of cover. 
