CATALOGUE OF GRASS SEEDS. 
46 
MIXTURES FOR PERMANENT PASTURES. 
“ One thi Jig is certain: that good pasture land is the foundation of the riches of a firm."— SINCLAIR. 
The oft-repeated complaints of wornout and exhausted pastures, made to us hv some of our best New England farmers, 
have long impressed us with the fact that there must be something radically wrong with the manner in which our pastures 
are formed and cared for. Some remedy for this state of mat¬ 
ters 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 varie¬ 
ties, 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 grow¬ 
ing 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 would be no necessity beyond that of botanical 
science for us to acquire the knowledge which enables us to dis¬ 
tinguish the different species of grasses, the soils and subsoils best 
adapted to their growth, natural habits, and comparative 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 examina¬ 
tion of any old, rich, permanent pasture, on which will invariably 
be found fifteen to 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 rich and succulent pasturage, a 
great deal of valuable time is of necessity lost, as seven or eight 
years will elapse before the field will naturally assume the charac¬ 
ter 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 of 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 par¬ 
ticular variety may be avoided. We have given this point special 
consideration in preparing our mixtures. A selection of grasses 
should be made that blossom at alternate months of the year, as it 
is a well-known fact that there is no month from April to Septem¬ 
ber, inclusive, in which some of the valuable grasses do not attain 
their full perfection. 
The species which afford the principal grasses in Spring are: — 
( Wood Mcadcnu) Phleum pratense, 
(.Meadow Foxtail). Anthoxanthum odoratum, 
(Cocksfoot ). Loiium perenne, 
(.Meadow Fescue ). 
Meadow Foxtail. 
(Alopecuris pratensis.) 
Poa nemoralis, 
Alopecuris pratensis, 
Dactylis glomerata, 
Festuca pratensis, 
The species which afford the 'principal grasses in Summer are : — 
Crested Dogstail 
(Cynosurus cristatus.) 
( Timothy). 
(Sweet Vernal). 
(.Perennial Rye Crass) 
Festuca pratensis, 
Phleum pratense, 
Loiium perenne, 
Agrostis vulgaris, 
Poa pratensis, 
Festuca elatior, 
(.Meadow Fescue ). 
( Timothy). 
(Rye Grass). 
(Red Top). 
E Blue Grass). 
Tall Fescue). 
Trifolium pratense, 
Trifolium hybridum, 
Trifolium repens, 
Cynosurus cristatus, 
DactyHs glomerata, 
The species which afford the principal grasses in Autumn are: 
Festuca elatior, 
Avena flavescens, 
Cynosurus cristatus, 
Festuca durfuscula, 
Poa trivialis, 
(Tall Fescue). 
Poa pratensis, 
( 
[ Yellow Oat Grass). 
Trifolium pratense, 
( 
' Crested Dogstail ) . 
Trifolium hybridum, 
( 
f . Hard Fescue ). 
[Rough Stalked Meadow). 
Trifolium repens, 
( 
(Red Clover). 
(A Is ike Clover). 
( White Clover). 
( Crested Dogstail \. 
( Cocksfoot ). 
Blue Grass). 
Red Clover). 
AIsike Clover V 
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