On the other hand, many farmers when sowing down to grass like to have a good bulk of forage for the first year or two, and therefore include several of the clovers, lucerne, Italian ryegrass, evergreen ryegrass, &c., knowing that these will die out in the course of years and leave the ground to the more permanent species.

There are also several mixtures of “seeds” (the technical name given on the farm to grass-seeds) which have been adopted with success in laying down permanent pasture in some localities.

Young.De Laune.Leicester.Elliot.Cambridge
average.		General
purpose
mixture.
Cocksfoot..84884
Perennial ryegrass....261010
Meadow fescue..62..5..
Hard fescue..1123..
Crested dogstail32..13..
Timothy..31..22
Meadow foxtail..10....11
Tall fescue..313½..2
Tall oat grass....13....
Italian ryegrass....2....5
Smooth meadow grass......1....
Rough meadow grass..1..1....
Golden oat grass....¼1....
Sheep’s fescue..1........
Broad red clover..1......2
Perennial red clover..1..1½..2
Alsike..11½1..2
Lucerne (Alfalfa)..........8
White clover411222
Kidney vetch6....2½....
Sheep’s parsley......1....
Yarrow11¼1....
Burnet8....8....
Chicory4....2½....
Plantain4..........
Total ℔ per acre304017403040

Arthur Young more than 100 years ago made out one to suit chalky hillsides; Mr Faunce de Laune (Sussex) in our days was the first to study grasses and advocated leaving out ryegrass of all kinds; Lord Leicester adopted a cheap mixture suitable for poor land with success; Mr Elliot (Kelso) has introduced many deep-rooted “herbs” in his mixture with good results. Typical examples of such mixtures are given on preceding page.

Temporary pastures are commonly resorted to for rotation purposes, and in these the bulky fast-growing and short-lived grasses and clovers are given the preference. Three examples of temporary mixtures are given below.

One
year.		Two
years.		Three
or four
years.
Italian ryegrass14106
Cocksfoot246
Timothy..23
Broad red clover853
Alsike322
Trefoil322
Perennial ryegrass..510
Meadow fescue..22
Perennial red clover..22
White clover..12
Meadow foxtail..12
Total ℔ per acre303640

Where only a one-year hay is required, broad red clover is often grown, either alone or mixed with a little Italian ryegrass, while other forage crops, like trefoil and trifolium, are often grown alone.

In Great Britain a heavy clay soil is usually preferred for pasture, both because it takes most kindly to grass and because the expense of cultivating it makes it unprofitable as arable land when the price of corn is low. On light soil the plant frequently suffers from drought in summer, the want of moisture preventing it from obtaining proper root-hold. On such soil the use of a heavy roller is advantageous, and indeed on any soil excepting heavy clay frequent rolling is beneficial to the grass, as it promotes the capillary action of the soil-particles and the consequent ascension of ground-water.

In addition, the grass on the surface helps to keep the moisture from being wasted by the sun’s heat.