Laying Down Land to Grass.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 69, 15 September 1894, Page 2

Laying Down Land to Grass.

(Adapted from " Permanent and j Temporary Pastures " by T. Watson.) j No. 4. ! In laying down land to grass one of j the great essentials to success is a clear understanding of the condition and capabilities of the soil. The subsoil, too, must be taken into account, for sooner or later its influence will tell decisively upon the existence of certain grasses. Then the purpose of the grass crop must not be overlooked. Whether it is chiefly for hay or entirely for grazing will prove an important consideration m determining the sorts to be sown. Even the kind of cattle the land is intended to carry is worth more than a passing thought. Milch cows, fatting stock, sheep, and hones, or a combinatian of these animals, can be provided for if a definite object is held " steadily in view." The grasses and clovers which are sown for permanent pastures and alternate husbandry, their relative value, fitness for certain purposes, and such other particulars as vill indicate the sorts and proportions to be used on the various soils and under the conditions usually prevailing in this country may now be described. It cannot be made an easy matter to make the selection in any case; the subject is much too complex for that. But a few hints may help to prevent some of the costly blunders that frequently characterise this branch of agriculture. Meadow Foxtail (alopeciinis pratensis). — Of the many species of alopecurus this is the only one which is used for agricultural purposes, and it is justly regarded as one of the most important grasses we possess. The great partiality which cattle manifest for it and the chemical test alike reveal its high nutritive qualities. It is thoroughly perennial in character, but does not attain to full developement until three or four years after sowing, and it is therefore only adapted for alternate husbandry when the ley is to remain down at least throe or four years. Even then it is less sni'ed than cocksfoot for temporary i as tires, although more nutritious than that variety. Foxtail is remarkable for the immense quantity of leafy herbape it produces in proportion to the quantity of stalk, and this characteristic alone gives it a high value. Other points being equivalent, a pasture which contains it in abund anre will carry stock in advance of a pasture in which it is wanting. It is one of the few grasses that thrive under trees, and should therefore be plentifully used in sowing down orchards and shady pastures. There is scarcely a forage plant known that ensures cold so well as this, and spring frosts do it little barm Sometimes foxtail is carelessly mistaken for timothy, but, besides other differences, the former comes to maturity long before the latter. Both rejoice in strong soils, and a stiff loam or clay is necessary to fully bring out th» fine qualities of foxtail, and to maintain it in a green state during hot dry weather. Still it luxuriates in warmth, and on well drained land in moisture also, but during prolonged rain a heavy crop may be beaten down, and then it is liable to rot at tho roots. Foxtail however, cannot endure a waterlogged soil, and it is useless to sow seed in such positions, but if the land be irrigated there is no better grass ; it will then produce immense crops. On very dry soils foxtail ia bo stunted and diminutive as to happen to be almost a different grass but even in such soils it may sometimes be worth sowing in small proportion, and wet seasons will prove that this is not a mistaken policy. Experiments hare proved that nitrate of soda and mineral salts have a marvellous effect upon the growth of foxtail. It assimilates larger quantities of manure than many other grasses, and differs from cocksfoot in the faot that that grass seems to benefit more from ammonia salts than from nitrate of soda, whereas foxtail does equally well with both.