Science and Practice in Farm Cultivation

by James Buckman

CHAPTER XIV.

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.[96]
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.

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