ON THE LAYING DOWN OF PERMANENT PASTURE.
If we reflect upon the fact that much of the meadow of Great Britain is
ribbed by the ridge and furrow of former arable culture, we shall
conclude that the laying down of land to permanent pasture is an ancient
no less than a modern process.
Formerly new pastures were made by sowing the collected seeds from a
hayloft, but as in modern farming no one in his senses would let his
grass get ripe enough for seed before cutting, present practice
necessitates the mixing of such seeds as may be considered best in
suitable quantities for our purpose. We shall have, then, in this place
to consider:—
1. The preparation of the land;
2. The kinds of seed best adapted for different places; and
3. The after-treatment of the new meadow.
1. The plan usually adopted in a preparation for grass seeds is that of
sowing our mixture with the barley crop. Now this, in the case of a
tenant who is not sure of his tenure, would obviously recommend itself;
but to a proprietor wanting a quicker and surer result it offers many
objections.
We recommend, after turnips have been fed off on the land, to make the
ground as level as possible, then harrow and roll smooth with an iron or
wooden roller. Upon this surface our mixture should be carefully sown;
then harrow with very light harrows just to cover the seed, and roll
again.
By this plan you start the seeds in good soil instead of in that from
which you have carried off a crop of ripened grass, straw, and seed; but
besides this, your grass will get a stronger constitution than when
grown as seedlings amid taller plants, which draw up the “seeds,” and
thus make them so weak and attenuated as scarcely to be able to
withstand the rigour of winter—a matter of great consequence when our
object is to get a vigorously-growing swarth quickly.
2. We come now to consider the kinds of seeds which should be sown;
these, though few in number, will yet vary according to soil and
situation.
Our remark that few kinds of grasses are required in laying down for
permanent pasture may surprise those who have seen the usual
prescriptions for this purpose; but if we start in our selection by
leaving out coarse grasses,—such, for instance, as _Phalaris
canariensis_ (Reed Canary Grass), for damp meadows; annual forms, or at
least not permanent ones, such as _Lolium Italicum_ (Italian Rye-grass);
and useless varieties, as _Poa nemoralis sempervirens_, _Phleum pratense
majus_, and the like,—we shall be then confined to as few species of
grass as we shall ever find will form the best parts of our best
meadows.
Now, as regards sowing useless or annual species, we should recollect
that the better they come up the more mischief they create, as they take
up the room that the more permanent forms should occupy, and so smother
them out. How often have we seen our friends in ecstasies at the success
of their new pasture, when the smiling face had been suddenly put upon
the matter by the quick-growing Italian rye-grass having taken a
possession, which, however, in a year or two it would most probably
yield; and so it has happened, that while the seedsman has been
advertising a certificate vaunting of success, the pasture is declining,
and the proprietor, looking for the reason for such a result, either
himself concludes, or is led so to do, that as the seeds came up well,
these were not in fault: it must then be the nature of the soil!
In giving such directions for grass mixtures as experience would seem to
warrant, we confess to a great deal of diffidence; for as scarcely two
cases are alike, the difficulty is as great as would be that of a
medical man prescribing for his various patients without seeing them;
indeed, to profess to do so in either case, as a general rule, savours
somewhat of quackery.
The following tables, then, it must be understood, are only meant to
convey some very general notions as to sorts of grasses and other fodder
plants, and their quantities, which we should employ under the specified
conditions of soil; albeit, even the quantities should be variable,
depending upon the quality of the seeds, the season, and the climate in
which they are to be sown:—
1. _Proposed selection for rich loams in best grass-growing
positions._
------------------------------+---------------------------+----------
Botanical Name. | Trivial Name. | Quantity
| | Per Acre.
------------------------------+---------------------------+----------
| | lb. oz.
Lolium perenne | Perennial Rye | 10 0
Poa pratensis | Meadow Grass | 2 0
Dactylis glomerata | Cocksfoot | 5 0
Festuca pratensis | Meadow Fescue | 3 0
„ duriuscula | Hard „ | 3 0
Alopecurus pratensis | Foxtail | 2 0
Phleum pratense | Catstail | 2 0
Anthoxanthum odoratum | Sweet Vernal | 0 8
Trifolium pratense | Common Clover | 4 0
„ repens | Dutch „ | 2 0
2. _Proposed selection for a poor stiff soil on a clay subsoil._
Lolium perenne | Perennial Rye | 12 0
Poa pratensis | Smooth Meadow Grass | 3 0
„ trivialis | Rough „ „ | 2 0
Festuca loliacea | Lolium Fescue | 2 0
„ duriuscula | Hard „ | 2 0
Phleum pratense | Catstail | 2 0
Dactylis glomerata | Cocksfoot | 6 0
Anthoxanthum odoratum | Sweet Vernal | 0 8
Trifolium pratense | Common Clover | 6 0
„ repens | Dutch „ | 2 0
3. _Proposed selection for thin uplands on calcareous soils._
Lolium perenne | Perennial Rye | 12 0
Poa pratensis | Smooth Meadow Grass | 4 0
Festuca ovina | Sheep’s Fescue | 2 0
„ duriuscula | Hard „ | 2 0
Avena flavescens | Yellow Oat-Grass | 1 0
„ pubescens | Soft „ | 1 0
Anthoxanthum odoratum | Sweet Vernal | 1 0
Trifolium pratense | Common Clover | 3 0
„ repens | Dutch „ | 5 0
Achillæa millefolia | Yarrow | 0 8
4. _Proposed selection for light soils on sands._
Lolium perenne | Perennial Rye | 14 0
Poa pratensis | Smooth Meadow | 3 0
Festuca duriuscula | Hard Fescue | 3 0
Avena flavescens | Soft Oat-Grass | 1 0
Anthoxanthum odoratum | Sweet Vernal | 0 8
Trifolium medium | Zigzag Clover | 4 0
„ pratense | Meadow or Corn Clover | 2 0
„ repens | Dutch Clover | 5 0
Lotus corniculatus | Birdsfoot Trefoil | 0 8
Achillæa millefolia | Yarrow | 0 8
------------------------------+---------------------------+----------
The above positions may so far be considered to present generic types of
land which would be laid down in permanent pasture in the ordinary
course of farming. Selections for park glades, covert, and the like, are
exceptional, which must be provided for according to circumstances.
We should advise care in the selection of these seeds; the newer and
fresher they are the better, as, perhaps, no seeds suffer more from
keeping than do those of the grasses. And we would further add that, as
a rule, we should prefer to procure our seeds separately and mix them
ourselves: for this we should expect to have more to pay at most houses,
but they will be much better. Of course, in all such strictures about
seeds, we mean them to apply only to those who are not sufficiently
particular to keep from trade tricks, or who do not observe that care in
selection and mixing that would be necessary to ensure the fullest
amount of success; for, as we are well aware that seeds, however old or
worthless, are seldom destroyed, we should expect to have some of them
sold to us if we did not look to the character, position, and judgment
of our seedsman on the one hand, and be prepared to go to such, and so
pay a fair price, on the other.
We will now suppose that the seed has come up regularly, and so must
describe the after-treatment. In the first year it will be all-important
to look after weeds: should these make their appearance, it will be well
to hoe or spud them out at once before they can seed, as then the grass
will not only have a better chance, but little provision will be left
for weed-continuance.
In the following winter, say about January, if the weather will suit, a
slight but even dressing of not over-rotten manure will act as a
protection to the young plants, and provide food for their spring growth
by its gradual decomposition and mixing with the soil.
Towards the latter end of February, or early in March, bush-harrowing
should be employed to break up and disseminate the manure, and then the
roller should be actively used to consolidate the whole; and, if the
grasses have at all thrown out, the croskill will prove a most efficient
implement. In the following May we should stock with sheep just thick
enough to prevent any extent of seeding; and if the next year should
show vacant spaces, which it would be likely to do from failure or
wire-worm (the latter will be less than when corn is grown), we must
re-sow, mixing our seeds with a little mixed guano and soot.
These, then, are some of the simple rules upon which to act in growing a
permanent pasture; and the more rigidly they are kept to at first, the
sooner and the more perfect will our meadow assume the aspect we should
desire for permanency.