Grass Land

Citation preview

GRASS

LAND

ITS MANAGEMENT AND IMPROVEMENT BY R.G. STAPLEDON, M.A. Professor of Agricultural Botany, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and Director

of the Welsh Plant Breeding Station AND

J. A. HANLEY, A.R.C.S., Pu.D. Chief Agricultural Advisory Officer and Lecturer in Agricultural Science

University of Bristol

fae

UN 200041774992

OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON

1927

PRESS

Printed in Great Britain

PREFACE Ir is of course impossible in a book of this size to place before the reader the detailed results of individual experiments. ‘These have, however, been fully drawn upon in discussing the general principles underlying the management and improvement of grass land. In addition, the valuable experiences of farmers themselves have not been ignored. Every endeavour has been made to include suggestions based on the most recently established facts, but research bearing on several branches of grass land management is at present making great progress, and is responsible for a constant stream of new information. It is evident,

therefore,

that

much

of the

advice given in this book must be tentative, and in proportion as facilities for investigation are increased will certainly require revision. ‘The important fact for the up-to-date farmer to seize upon is, however, the progressive nature

of science, which demands from him an equally progressive outlook, a constant review of his

6 Preface every practice, and if necessary a modification of any such that may and out of date. To utilize land advantage of course demands from

courageous be obsolete to the best the farmer

the conduct of what in effect must be a continuous and life-long experiment; but in order that the experiment may be conducted to the best advantage more precise information is needed on a question to which the farmer himself is the first to draw attention. What prospects of increased revenue does the improvement of grass land offer? Advice on the treatment of soils is forthcoming because numbers of soils have been examined. Suggestions for the improvement of pastures and meadows can be offered—or at least as to simple trials which will pave the way to improvement—because large areas of different types of grass land have been studied. Reliable information as to the economics of grass land improvement will not, however, be available until the study of this aspect of husbandry as a business proposition has progressed much farther. Progress in this and other aspects

Preface

4

of agricultural economics is waiting largely for more material—in this case farmers’ accounts— which

can be used not merely for income-tax

purposes, but as a guide to the more profitable utilization and improvement of grass land. The authors’ thanks are due to Mr. H. C. Long of the Ministry of Agriculture, to whose suggestion the writing of the book is due, for kindly reading the proof and for assistance generally. R. G. 5. March, 1927. Jj. A. H.

CONTENTS I. TYPES OF BRITISH GRASS NATURAL TYPES

LAND:

The F escue-Agrostis Pastures Nardus or ‘ White Bent ’ Pastures and Molinia or ‘ Flying Bent’ Pastures

Grazings

Dominated

by

Herbage

N on-Gramineous

14, 17 18

II. TYPES OF BRITISH GRASS LAND: SEMINATURAL TYPES Boulder Clay Areas of the North and Midlands

22 23 24 25

Grass Land on Limy Clays and Marls . Fattening Land in the Midlands

Marsh Land Grass Land on Acid Soils and i in “Smoky Districts

.

.

.

.

Peaty Soils

Temporary Grass Land South-West of England

of Wales

and .

26

27

the .

29

III. THE IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS LAND: FUNDAMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS Drainage Irrigation Clearing Fencing

Mowing and Grazing IV. THE

MECHANICAL TREATMENT GRASS LAND Preparation for Manurial Treatment

Mechanical Land 3317

Treatment

of Better-class

OF Al Grass

44 B

Contents V. THE USE OF LIME ON GRASS LAND Effect of Soil Acidity on the Herbage . Grass Land not requiring Lime Grass Land requiring Lime , Results of applying Lime to Grass Land Io

Use of Lime in Smoky Areas

,

Kinds of Lime to Use . , How and When to Apply Lime . Lime as a Preparation for Manures

Special Need for Lime on Mowing Lime for New Grass

Land

VI. MANURING OF GRAZING LAND Grass Land which Responds quickly to Phosphates Land which does not Respond | SO Easily to Phosphates ; . . . Phosphatic Manures ; The Choice of a Phosphate

Application of Phosphates to Grazing Land . Use of Potash on Grazing Land . Use of Nitrogenous Manures on Grazing Land VII. MANURING OF MOWING LAND Effect of Phosphatic Manures on the Hay Crop Effects of Long-continued Use of one Type of Manure

,

.

Need for Nitrogenous Manures The Use of Farmyard Manure The Use of Liquid Manure ; Use of Potash on Mowing Land . ; Systematic Manurial Treatment of Mowing Land . Treatment of Aftermath

69 70 72 74 74 15 75 77

Contents

II

The Effect of Time of Cutting on the Quality of the Hay and on the Character of the Sward

The Effect of Date of § Putting Up? to Hay o on Yield and Quality.

VII.

THE INFLUENCE ANIMAL

.

OF THE

.

80

84

go QI g2 93 94

Thin Turf on Old Grass Land Methods of Seeding . Seeds to Introduce Time of Sowing PLOUGHING SEEDING

AND

,

IMMEDIATE

RE-

Inferior Grass on Neglected Land Derelict Grass . . ; XI.

79

RENOVATING GRASS LAND WITHOUT PLOUGHING Thin Turf on Newly Sown Land

X.

78

GRAZING

The Grazing Animal a Necessity for the Maintenance of Grass Land . The Effect of Grazing on the ‘Herbage at Different Seasons of the Year . . The Control of the Grazing Animals IX.

77

TEMPORARY GRASS Value of Temporary Grass Duration of Temporary Leys Temporary Grass Plants Requirements of Temporary Grass . Improved Fertility due to Temporary Grass .

97 100

102 103 104. 105 106

12 XII.

Contents THE

CHIEF

HERBAGE

PLANTS

The Grasses. The Clovers and Related Plants Miscellaneous Herbs .

XIII. SOWING

LAND

DOWN

109 117

. .

I2I

TO

GRASS

123

Preparation Manures Date of Sowing. The Covering Crop .

124. 126

127

Methods of Sowing After-Management

XIV.

128

130

SEEDS MIXTURES The Influence of One Species on Another The Influence of the Capacities of the Different Species for Soil Establishment

Seed Rates The Needs of the Farmer. and the General Condition of the Field Examples of Seeds Mixtures for Various Purposes

.

.

Mixtures for Long-duration Leys and Permament Grass SELECTED

LITERATURE .

132 134 134

I

TYPES

NATURAL HE

GRASS

OF BRITISH

pastures

LAND

TYPES

and meadows

of our enclosed

farm-

lands differ appreciably from the more or less natural swards which occur on wide expanses of heath and moor-

land, on the downs, and near the sea. The natural pastures, however, afford valuable grazing, and in the aggregate make an important contribution to the stock-

carrying capacity of these islands. The natural grass lands are not usually intensively fenced, and are as a rule grazed by animals which do not have repeated access to the homestead or to cultivated grass lands, and in the generality of cases but little is done to maintain their productiveness or to improve them. The Downs more than other open grass lands are, however,

grazed

by animals

which

are regularly

moved backwards and forwards from arable land and tended grass lands to the more natural swards, and this has a decided influence on the herbage. Strictly speaking, therefore, the Downs should be regarded as seminatural pastures ; they are, however, most conveniently

dealt with in the present chapter. It is not possible here to give a full account of the numerous types of natural grass land, but it is desirable

to give brief particulars of the more important;

the

reader desiring somewhat fuller botanical information may refer to a recent article by one of the present writers.

The natural grazing lands fall into three main classes, namely ; (I) Various types of Fescue-Agrostis pastures ; 1 See Stapledon, R. G.: ‘Permanent vol. ili, p. 74, London, 1925.

Grass’

in Farm

Crops,

14

British Grass Lands

(II) Types dominated by Wardus (in some districts known as ‘ White Bent ’) or by Molinia (in some districts known as ‘Flying Bent’) ; (III) Types which are dominated by non-gramineous herbage, such as Heather Moor and Cotton Moor, and Sea-side Saltings dominated by Sea

Pink. I. The Fescue-Agrostis Pastures —These constitute by far the most important grazings both in regard to the area covered and in relation to the quality of the herbage. ‘The character of the mountain and hill grazings— so abundant in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, the Lake District,

and in Wales—is influenced in a marked degree by the extent to which glacial drift occurs in these areas. The Fescue-Agrostis pastures for the most part cover rather

thin and well-drained soils and soils which are not under the influence of acidic waters and which are not of an excessively peaty nature. They are, therefore, rather essentially pastures of hill-sides and of shaly, sandy, gritty, or calcareous soils, and do not occur as a rule in any quantity on the more retentive of the glacial drifts. There are four main types of Fescue-Agrostis pasture : (a) the mountain and hill types; (d) the pastures of the sandy heaths of the south and east of England; (c) the Downs ; and (d) the pastures associated with seaside golf-links. (a) The

Mountain

and Hill

Fescue-Agrostis

Pastures.—

These differ rather strikingly according as they occur on non-calcareous, shaly or gritty soils, or on soils derived from limestone. The flora is always more extensive on limestone or shaly soils than on those of a more siliceous

nature, and this is equally true of the natural and seminatural pastures. On non-calcareous, siliceous soils the sheep’s fescue is usually more abundant than Agrostis, and the flora is a restricted one with a marked paucity of leguminous

Natural Types

15

Frequently bird’s-foot trefoil and mountain herbs. vetchling are the only representatives. ‘The only grasses, other

than

the fescue

and

the

bent,

which

make

an

appreciable contribution to the herbage are heath grass (Triodia decumbens) and sweet vernal grass. ‘The miscellaneous herbs are few in number—by far the abundant being tormentil and heath bedstraw.

most

On calcareous soils the sheep’s fescue is in still greater proportion, and the flora much less restricted. Amongst a number of grasses which may become locally important is the Tor grass (Brachypodium pinnatum), the presence of which at once stamps the soil as calcareous. The number

of miscellaneous plants is large—plantains of several species, hawkbit, and daisies are usually prominent ; thistles, again

of two

or three species,

also occur fre-

quently. Leguminous plants are important and include a good sprinkling of wild white and some wild red clover. All the above types of Fescue-Agrostis pasture afford dry, healthy, and fairly abundant summer

grazing for

sheep, and there is little doubt that given more intensive fencing large areas could be greatly improved by heavy

dressings of basic slag.

The most serious feature in con-

nexion with these pastures is, however, the extent to which some of the intrinsically best areas have been

allowed to become overrun with bracken. (6)

The Sandy Heaths of the South and East of England—

These pastures are of very slight grazing value, and it is probable that when converted at very great expense, as

so many of them are, into golf courses and race courses, they are of more value to the nation than they ever could be as grazing grounds—and not even the most

ardent of agricultural reformers need deplore the use to which these heaths are so successfully dedicated. Let it also be remembered that the up-keep of recreation

grounds on these unproductive areas gives employment

16

British Grass Lands

to far larger numbers of rural workers than would be possible under almost any scheme of agriculture that could be economically practised upon them. (c) The Downs.—The Downs are undoubtedly the most productive of the Fescue-Agrostis pastures. ‘They are dry and healthy, and the herbage is usually decidedly

uniform over wide areas. The turf is typically springy and is easily detached from the soil. Leguminous plants frequently make a considerable contribution to the herbage, and besides white clover, yellow suckling clover, and bird’s-foot trefoil, less gene-

rally distributed plants like kidney vetch, horse-shoe vetch and the purple milk vetch are frequently common. Golden oat-grass may almost share dominance with the fescue and bent, while perennial rye-grass and crested dog’s-tail usually make appreciable contributions to the herbage.

The miscellaneous herbs are represented by a

large number of beautiful and characteristic plants, such as the rock rose and various orchids. The herbage is not unduly dense, and ‘mat’ as subsequently described (see pp. 26-7), is not met with on the Downs, and further, since a leguminous flora is hardly ever absent,

these swards usually react very favourably to phosphatic manures. (d) Sea-stde Pastures—The pastures met with on seaside golf links in many respects resemble the Downs. The flora is a varied one and usually consists of a number of leguminous herbs, white clover often being decidedly abundant, while, as on the Downs, perennial rye-grass and crested dog’s-tail compete very successfully with the bent and fescue. Sheep, cattle, and horses

thrive particularly well on these pastures, and there is little doubt that large areas are worthy of more attention than they have received in the past from the agricultural experimenter.

Natural Types

17

II. Nardus or ‘ White Bent’ Pastures and Molinia or ‘Flying Bent’ Pastures.—Large areas of grazing land on

the Pennines, in Cumberland, and in Wales are occupied chiefly by ‘white bent’ (Nardus stricta) and heather. This type of grass land occurs almost entirely on very acid land, derived principally from Millstone Grit and similar grits and sandstones. It represents one of the least productive of all the natural grazings, and is perhaps the most difficult

and expensive type to improve. In addition to ‘white bent’, which may constitute from 30 to 70 per cent. of the herbage, one finds also sheep’s fescue, heath bedstraw, field woodrush, tormentil, and often sheep’s sorrel. ‘The flora is very restricted,

and leguminous plants are rare and often entirely absent. Heavy liming produces a wonderful effect in a few years, the white bent being gradually replaced by the fescues, and wild white clover often becoming

very abundant.

Throughout these districts small areas which have been limed, perhaps many years ago, stand out conspicuously fresh and green owing to the comparative absence of white bent and the prevalence of fescues and clover. The unimproved turf is always springy owing to the presence of a thick mat. As these grazings approach the pure heather moor there is serious competition between ‘ white bent’ and heather. White bent encroaches rapidly if attention to

heather, such as rotational burning, is allowed to lapse. Molinia Pastures—Water-logged

and

stagnant

condi-

tions are not favourable to the spread of ‘ flying bent’

(Molinta caerulea), which is a grass which occurs abundantly on periodically flooded positions and on situations which are wet but not stagnant. It is prone to occupy the more or less well drained flush sides of mountain streams, and occurs in vast expanses on glacial drifts

and other heavy soils on hill-sides of moderate or slight 3317 c

18 British Grass Lands gradient where there is at least some drainage. On the relatively drier situations it becomes the dominant plant, and is associated with Nardus and Agrostis-Fescue plants with the addition of cross-leaved heath (Erica Tetralix) and bell heather (E. cinerea). On flatter and wetter ground it is associated with plants like deer grass (Scirpus caespitosus) and devil’s bit (Scabiosa Succisa). Molinia loses all its leaves in winter, and except for the dry stools affords no grazing until May or early June, when it develops rapidly and produces an enormous amount of leafage. If grazed by cattle at this period it remains productive all through the summer, and affords important grazing for sheep when the FescueAgrostis pastures become parched under summer heat. If only grazed by sheep early in the season, however, it grows out of hand and will be neglected during the summer. Molinia pastures should be burned over at least once in seven years, or on land that permits they should be cut for bog hay. III, Grazings dominated by Non-gramineous Herbage. —It is erroneous to suppose that only grasses and leguminous herbs afford pasturage for animals. Thus on the Fescue-Agrostis and Nardus pastures alike the heath rush (Juncus squarrosus) is probably the most valuable winter grazing plant contributing to the herbage, while other members of the rush family occurring on various

grass

land types are highly palatable to stock. In the case of Heather Moor and Cotton Moor of upland districts, and of the Saltings of our estuaries, we have three types of vegetation dominated by non-gramineous and non-leguminous herbs which have yet a very decided grazing value. Heather (Calluna vulgaris)—WHeather moor proper is developed on rather shallow and relatively dry peat, and

Natural Types

19

occupies extensive areas at elevations above about 1,000 feet. Heather also occurs as a component of heathy vegetation, and is frequently associated with bracken and gorse, while on steep and northerly slopes it may completely replace bracken. Heather soon deteriorates, and in order to maintain areas dominated by this plant in a productive condition it should be burned on a regular rotation. It is a sure

indication

that heather

should

be burned

when

the

plants assume a grey colour, when but few flowers are

roduced, and when the stems are bare below and end

in a bushy top.

Heather affords valuable but not early

grazing for hill sheep, and is deserving of proper attention at the hands of the flockmaster. Cotton Grass (Eriophorum spp.) and Deer Grass (Scirpus

caespitosus)—particularly the former—are prone to colonize deep and stagnant peat areas in moorland districts.

Cotton grass flowers early in the spring, and is one of the first plants to afford spring keep on upland sheep walks.

The foliage of both plants browns

off as the season

advances, when they become unpalatable to stock.

Saltings—The saltings of our estuaries constitute one of the most interesting, and from the agricultural point of view one of the least studied, of our more valuable

natural grazings. ‘There is little doubt that the best zones of the saltings are capable of carrying a heavier head of sheep than any other natural sward, and, moreover, they are competent actually to fatten large lowlandsheep. They have the further advantage that they do not constitute a suitable habitat for the small snail (Limnea truncatula) associated with the liver fluke parasite. Botanical analyses have shown that some of these swards consist of well over 60 per cent. of sea pink (Armeria vulgaris) which is kept closely grazed by sheep ; an associated plant, also closely grazed, is a rush (Juncus

20

British Grass Lands

gerard). ‘The chief and often the only grasses present are a variety of fine-leaved fescue (Festuca rubra var.) and the sea meadow grass (Glycerta maritima). Leguminous herbs are entirely absent.

|

No doubt the periodic and regular flooding by salt water tends to keep these swards healthy, and is probably a factor permitting of what, judged by ordinary standards, can only be regarded

as outrageous over-stocking.

It is probable that properly conducted investigations could

show

productive usually

the way

zones

larger

to increase

the areas

under

of saltings at the expense

areas

dominated

sea rush (Juncus maritimus).

by

the almost

the

of those useless

II

TYPES

OF BRITISH

GRASS

SEMI-NATURAL HEN

a small

portion

LAND

TYPES

of one

of the unenclosed

grazings described in Chapter I has been enclosed ‘by a fence for some time it usually stands out as something quite different from its surroundings. As soon as the range of the grazing animal is restricted, and the grazing of a given area thereby controlled, the influence

on the herbage becomes most marked.

A careful exami-

nation of the herbage on such enclosed areas reveals the fact that many of the grasses and weeds are the same as those occurring outside, but that they are present in different proportions, and that the turf is more uniform and continuous owing to the treading.

When a homestead and perhaps some arable land are associated with these enclosed grazings the improvement

in the character marked.

of the herbage

becomes

still more

Stock receiving part of their food from arable

crops, or from concentrated foods bought in, provide a certain amount of manure for the enclosed grass land until a balance is struck and the grass land settles down, with seasonal variations, to a type consistent with the

general

management

of the farm.

‘The type would

deteriorate if the management became inferior or would

improve with better treatment. The permanent grass of enclosed farms therefore owes its great variability to such differences in treatment as well as to differences in soil and situation. As a matter

of fact the number of essentially different types of cultivated grass land appears at first sight to be many more

than it actually is.

Small differences in management

22 British Grass Lands may make in a very few years a tremendous difference in the herbage by which grass land is usually judged. Any one who examines grass land with a view to suggesting methods of improvement quickly learns to recognize characteristic features of certain types, however well or badly the grass land may have been treated. Boulder Clay areas of the North and Midlands.—A large

portion of the land in this country has been influenced by the deposition of glacial material, so that, whatever the underlying rocks, the soil over considerable areas is of mixed origin. From the point of view of grass land it would have been still better if the mixing had been even more complete, so as to do away with certain areas of very acid soil. Most of the glacial material contained originally a certain amount

of limestone or chalk detritus, but the

Boulder Clays vary somewhat according to their locality. Comparatively

thin drift usually contains a high pro-

portion of local material, so that we have distinctly chalky boulder clay—especially in the east, and boulder clay containing originally much less limestone or chalk in the west. On the Pennines, for example, the Boulder

Clay soils are unusually ‘acid,’ partly because they contain a good deal of Millstone Grit material, and partly because the high rainfall has subjected them to considerable washing and has removed lime from the top soil. The enclosed grass land on boulder clays in the west differs somewhat from that in the east. Boulder Clay is a geological term, and the material mapped under that name on geological maps would not all be referred to as clay by a farmer. Most of it does, however,

give rise to heavy

and

sometimes

wet soils.

A large proportion of it is under grass, and a great deal of this grass is set up in ridge and furrow. Good sound boulder clay is perhaps one of our best

Semi-Natural Types

23

soils for what we may call second-class grass land. Almost everywhere it is ‘slag land’; the famous Cockle Park experiments are on this type of soil. Two of our best grass land plants are natural to these

Boulder Clay pastures—wild white clover and perennial rye-grass.

The herbage is very varied and contains a

good selection of grasses, crested dog’s-tail often being very prominent. The miscellaneous plants include planThe tains, daisies, and other so-called rosette weeds. narrow-leaved plantain (rib-grass) is very common in many of the mowing fields, as also is yellow rattle

(Rhinanthus spp.).

Eyebright

(Euphrasia spp.), another

arasite, is much at home on these soils. There is frequently considerable difference noticeable between the herbage of the drier land on the tops of the In dry ridges and on the wetter land in the furrows. seasons the tops of the ridges often ‘ burn ’, many of the

better plants dying out. Many of the very excellent results with finely ground North African phosphate and with the Cockle Park type of seeds mixtures have been obtained on these soils. Grass Land on Limy Clays and Marls——Over a very large area south of Yorkshire there are outcrops of clays or marls giving rise to heavy land, mostly under grass.

Nearlyall these clays, including those labelled by geologists as Keuper, Lias, Oxford, Kimeridge and London Clays, give rise to soils not seriously deficient in lime—indeed, many of them are very limy—and most of which produce grass land very similar to that described under Boulder Clays.

Again, it 1s practically all ‘slag land’.

There are occasional small differences in the herbage of grass land on these different geological formations. The most striking differences are noticeable in the weed flora of neglected fields. Very limy soils, such as Lias, grow a great deal of tor grass, which appears as pro-

24

British Grass Lands

minent

tufts, yellowish green in colour,

especially in

spring. Again, the Lias is particularly liable to grow rest harrow and wild onion. On all these clays haw-

thorn and wild rose grow well, and a neglected field soon appears bushy. In spite of the fact that good grasses and clovers,

white

and

red, are

indigenous

to these soils,

and that the flora is very unrestricted, there is a very great deal of poor grass land on them.

All these clays

are deficient in phosphate, and sometimes, particularly the Oxford Clay, in potash also, and unless artificial supplies are forthcoming the land quickly reverts. In some areas these clays are badly drained, poor, cold, and late ; rushes and sedges are then common and improvement without drainage is difficult. Mole draining has been very effective in certain cases.

Fattening Land in the Midlands.——The famous pastures of Northamptonshire

and adjoining counties need little

description here. Their condition is maintained not by manuring but by management. Here we see controlled grazing at its best, but this would

be useless if the soil

were not capable of producing something better than the average herbage.

Many investigations have been under-

taken with a view to solving the problem of the fattening pastures, but it appears as though our analytical methods are not yet sufficiently refined for the purpose.

There are, however, one or two points worth noticing about fattening grass land.

It does not give way in June

and July at a time when cattle have improved or are improving quickly. It does not give way, largely because the water supply to the grass is maintained ; a good and regular supply of water carried up by the soil ensures this. The herbage of fattening pastures gives bulk as well as

quality, so that the animals need not take an unnecessarily large amount of exercise in satisfying their appetites. The herbage consists to the extent of perhaps 75 per

Semt-Natural Types

25

cent. of the most nutritious clover and grasses, but is by

no means devoid of inferior plants. Yorkshire fog and bent are to be found to some extent in practically all of them. The flora is somewhat restricted, more particu-

larly in relation to miscellaneous herbs. Of the grasses, late and early kinds are present, perennial rye-grass being the most prevalent, whilst of the clovers, wild

white is by far the most abundant. The old methods of dealing with the droppings of the cattle are still in vogue in certain districts. For example, ‘clotting’ or ‘knocking’ is practised in the Market Harborough district. ‘ Clotting’ consists of collecting the semi-dried dung and spreading it on inferior portions

of the land later. ‘ Knocking’ is simply distributing the droppings without collecting them. Many of the soils on good fattening land are nice deep alluvial loams, but the best fields sometimes extend on to the other soils,

including some made up partly of Boulder Clay. Marsh Land.—A second type of very excellent grass land soils occurs in many localities, chiefly round the coast. The excellence of these marsh lands depends to some extent on adequate drainage. The soil in most cases is either river silt deposited on the flat land sur-

rounding referred

river

estuaries

to as ‘ warp’)

or is estuarine deposited

by

the

mud tides.

(often The

material varies somewhat in texture from fairly heavy clays and silts to lighter sands, in some places interspersed by old shingle banks. Perhaps the most famous of these are the Romney Marsh sheep pastures, but other good marshes are to be found at Pevensey, Sandwich, and along the coast of Essex and East Suffolk.

In Lin-

colnshire there are large tracts of splendid marsh land between the Wolds and the sea. Along both sides of the Humber

and

other river estuaries,

such as the Parret

in Somerset, excellent pastures are to be found. 3317

D

26

British Grass Lands All these marshes are liable to water-logging (inadequate under-drainage) as well as flooding, and then the herbage is coarse and weedy. Sedges, rushes, flags (iris), marsh marigolds, and other weeds make the grazing somewhat patchy and the hay coarse. On well-drained

marshes, however, such as Romney Marsh, the chief plants are perennial rye-grass and wild white clover on the best fields, with crested dog’s-tail taking the place of rye-grass to some extent on those which are not so good. The grazing

on Romney Marsh is almost entirely sheep, and controlled grazing is the outstanding method of maintaining the excellence of these pastures. Artificial manures have been tried on Romney Marsh with very little effect. On some of the other marshes, such as those in East

Suffolk, phosphatic fertilizers such as slag make a wonderful difference, chiefly by encouraging the wild white clover which tends to be suppressed by the rank grasses and weeds. Grass Land on Acid Soils and in Smoky Districts.— The enclosed grass land on soils derived from Coal Measures rocks, Millstone Grit, and other non-calcareous sands and grits present a striking contrast to those

described above, especially if the land happens to be situated in an industrial area. The grass land of the West Riding, East Lancashire, and adjoining districts suffers not only from a very acid soil, but also from an intensified acidity due to a polluted atmosphere. Neglected grass in these districts has a number of characteristic features. There is usually a thick ‘ mat ’, very wiry and tough, as many cultivators found when some of it had to be ploughed out in 1917. It is composed chiefiy of bent (Agrostis vulgaris), but on light dry sands, on Millstone Grit and Coal Measures sandstones, the creeping Yorkshire fog (Holcus mollis) takes complete possession of large patches. On the poorer classes of enclosed land the flora is very restricted.

Semi-Natural Types

27

Clovers are almost completely absent, and cannot easily

be encouraged, even by heavy applications of basic slag.

Common weedsare yarrow, field woodrush, earth-nut, and, associated with the creeping Yorkshire fog, sheep’s sorrel.

In smoky districts the herbage becomes quite black and dirty, the bad conditions due to soil acidity are intensified, and in severe cases patches of the herbage are liable to disappear completely during dry times in ‘The ‘mat’ so typical of all spring or early summer.

this land tends to become brittle under smoky conditions. Maintaining permanent grass land in good condition

under such severe handicaps is naturally both difficult and expensive. The herbage responds in a wonderful way to heavy applications of lime, but even so the improvement is not rapid and in bad cases little is seen for There are the first three years to justify the liming. large local supplies of magnesian lime, and this material

answers very well as a first application.

Wild white

clover can be encouraged by regular liming, and under

the same treatment sheep’s fescue will gradually take the place of bent. In some places the boundary lines on tennis courts and football fields which have been marked out in the same positions for a number of years are almost as distinct without the limewash as with it owing to the difference in the herbage. The treatment which seems to answer best on land of this type is an application of lime followed by slag or some other suitable phosphatic manure. On fields regularly mown without lime or without manure the herbage is practically nothing but bent, and in summer when the bent has flowered the purple colour of the poor pasturesis a very noticeable feature of the West Riding and East Lancashire. Peaty Soils—Grass land on peat often presents some of the most difficult problems which face the grass land

28 improver.

British Grass Lands The herbage is very variable ; under water-

logged conditions and at high altitudes it belongs to the

types discussed under marsh grass land or unenclosed moorland, but there is much peat land in the Fens, in East Yorkshire,

Lancashire,

and

other counties which

forms a fairly distinctive type of its own. The best peat grass land is usually to be found on peat overlying clay, and less satisfactory grass on thick peat or peat over sand. ‘The underlying beds generally undulate, so that surface soil often contains a considerable amount of clay or sand. These conditions are imme-

diately reflected in the flora, which becomes less restricted and contains more clover and ‘ herbs’. Peat, even when well drained, induces a rank growth

of coarse grasses and weak

growth

of fine

weeds, grasses

with a correspondingly and

clovers.

Bent grass

(Agrostis alba) is difficult to keep in check ; the creeping bent spreads rapidly and soon gives rise to a ‘mat’, Other

grasses

such

as cocksfoot,

Timothy,

tall fescue,

meadow foxtail, and Yorkshire fog are common, especially on the better types of peat. Clovers are frequently absent and are not easy to develop except where sand or clay is near the surface. Black sand (peaty sand) has a less restricted flora than peat and is more easily improved. Clovers are more abundant, and of the grasses sheep’s fescue is important, although bent is not easily suppressed. Ragwort is one of the characteristic weeds. Good grass is not easily maintained on peaty soils ; unless it is very skilfully grazed it deteriorates quickly. In some cases lime and in most cases potash is necessary, but the most important point of all is keeping down the

coarse grasses, especially if hay crops are taken. The quality of the herbage in the autumn does not encourage close grazing.

Semt-Natural Types

29

Temporary Grass Land of Wales and the South-west of England.—Particularly in Wales and in parts of Devon and

Cornwall it is a common practice to take a long rotation over the larger proportion of the farms. ‘This entails the leaving of leys down for a considerable number of years. The system is exceedingly flexible, some fields being left in grass for four to seven years, while others may remain in grass for ten to even twenty years. The older leys assume a semi-natural character, and on the better soils or under good management the herbage may consist very largely of perennial rye-grass and wild white clover. More usually crested dog’s-tail or bent will assume the

dominant position, while yellow suckling clover and bird’s-foot trefoil are frequently considerably more abundant than white clover.

When these out-run fields are regularly cut for hay Yorkshire fog becomes abundant, and it is on fields such

as this that yellow rattle is liable to be so particularly conspicuous. Reversion towards natural types is usually accompanied by fair to moderate abundance of weeds like the purging flax (Linum catharticum), and sometimes

of the carline thistle (Carlina vulgaris), and the common centaury (Erythraea Centaurium).

There is little doubt that the considerable area of grass land in the West Country consisting of these old leys is

due to the still prevalent idea that there must inevitably bea period in poor sward before a good herbage develops ; that is to say, that generally speaking a seven- to tenyear-old ley will be better than a four- to six-year-old one. ‘This is frequently a true state of affairs when only perennial rye-grass and red clover have been sown as the seeds mixture, but with a proper mixture including wild white clover there is no reason whatsoever why a ley should necessarily deteriorate for a few seasons after the third or fourth year.

III THE

IMPROVEMENT FUNDAMENTAL

OF

GRASS

LAND

CONSIDERATIONS

T will be obvious from the previous chapters that the very different types of grass land met with in this country may not all demand the same methods when improvements are undertaken. Improvement is too frequently regarded merely as a manurial problem, and other methods, not only good in themselves but often also necessary to the effectiveness of applications of purchased manures, are neglected or overlooked. Again, the soil and situation of grass land set a limit to what can

be done economically in the way of improvement just as they do in the case of arable land.

Unfortunately we have far too little information at present on what can be expected from most classes of grass land. Grazing trials have been and are still being conducted at a number of centres, but practically all of them are testing one type of improvement only—manurial treatment, usually the application of suitable phosphatic fertilizers. The most important point to consider first, when the improvement of any kind of land—grass or arable—is begun, is the order in which the various steps shall be taken. Usually it resolves itself into (1) drainage, (2) liming, and (3) manuring, assuming correct methods of cultivation at each stage. If drainage and liming are, in any particular case, unnecessary, then one can proceed right away with suitable manuring, but generally speaking manuring can effect only a partial improvement or none at all if want of drainage or want of lime is a serious

Improvement

31

Similarly, liming will not get over bad

limiting factor.

drainage. The herbage of permanent grass land is a good guide

to the condition of the soil both as regards drainage and the need for lime. After a little experience on different types of grass land it is not difficult to determine what are the main factors determining the type of herbage jn a particular case, and when the reasons for bad quality in the herbage have been correctly diagnosed

the methods of improving it can be logically reasoned out without resort to the old-fashioned and expensive method of trying things on the off-chance that they will come off.

Drainage.—As a general rule grass will tolerate wet conditions better than most arable crops. An insufficient water supply is one of the most important causes of poor hay crops.

‘The necessary water supply must, however,

be forthcoming at the right time and in such a way that it does not interfere with the normal

soil which make for fertility. An excess of water, i.e. during an appreciable portion on the herbage of any land, weeds and bad grasses which

processes in the

waterlogging of the soil, of the year leaves its mark and encourages types of eannot be suppressed by

manurial means.

On the other hand, several experiments have shown that correct manuring may reduce the number of useless plants due to wetness in grass land. One of the commonest indications of wetness is the rush, and this weed

has been reduced at certain experimental centres, notably Cockle

Park,

by manuring

with phosphates.

The

in-

crease in the amount of herbage produced has been to no small extent responsible for the drier conditions on the manured plots. Another very common cause of wetness is the outbreak

99

Grass Land

of irregularly placed springs, especially on Boulder Clay soils, or on soils derived from alternating beds of porous and impervious rocks.

The water does not always appear

on the surface, but it keeps the subsoil in a more or less constantly waterlogged condition during wet times of the year. In addition to rushes the common sedge (carnation grass) grows freely on such wet patches. Under arable conditions these patches are very objectionable. They are always difficult to cultivate and are hotbeds

of weeds

such

as

couch,

water-grass

(bent),

coltsfoot, creeping buttercup, &c., since they can never be cleaned properly. Under grass such wet patches, unless very extensive, are not always worth the trouble and expense of drainage. Extensive pipe drainage is costly at the present time; of the cheaper

and

less laborious

methods

tried mole

draining appears to be the most promising, but it requires a suitable soil and sufficient slope and is, therefore, not always available for the low-lying and flat tracts of heavy wet land occurring in some districts. The drainage of such an area is determined by the main watercourses, and there is no doubt that in almost every district there is room for great improvement in these main outlets;

it is not a problem for individual farmers,

but when the individual farmer has got a satisfactory outlet for surplus water he must see that the subsidiary drains, ditches, &c., are in good order before he worries about draining wet patches on individual fields. There

is ample room also for more attention to ditches. It is easy to find tracts of grass land which have deteriorated rapidly during recent years owing to the silting up of main watercourses; it is just as easy to find farms on which the ditches supposed to be draining grass land have practically ceased to exist. A well-aerated healthy soil is just as necessary to grass land as it is to arable. In

Improvement

33

both cases waterlogged soil means useless weeds, although

these may not be quite so noticeable in the grass as in the arable land to the man who looks over the hedge. In addition to the low-lying areas of grass land on which the level of the water on the land is usually high, and where it rises and falls comparatively quickly, there is the case of water springing out along the junction of an

outcrop of porous rock such as sandstone and an under-

Bad drainage from this cause is lying shale or clay. common in several areas, but especially on the Pennine

hill-sides.

After a wet time the water collected by the

sandstone overflows and runs over the surface of the heavy clay land below it, giving rise to tussock grass In such cases the water (Aira caespitosa), rushes, &c.

should be tapped at its source by a drain along or just below the outcrop, assisted by subsidiary drains pushed ‘The damage caused by back into the porous stratum.

the more or less intermittent springs referred to above was very noticeable in the spring of 1925 after the wet season 1924-5, during which the extent of poor sedgy patches increased considerably. Damage due to waterlogging is not confined to a deterioration in herbage by the dying out of good species

and the increase in the number of poor species of plants Rarely has better able to withstand wet conditions. damage due to wintering out of cattle on wet land been so apparent as it was in 1925. In many cases half the

herbage must have been lost by severe treading; but this is not the end of the story, for the bare hoof-marks left form a nice starting-point for weeds which seed freely, not the least prominent of which is the buttercup. Irrigation.

Water-Meadows.—In suitable districts both

in this country and abroad irrigation has long been practised, chiefly for increasing the output of hay from grass land. The methods vary from-extremely simple and 3317

E

84

Grass Land

primitive systems of suitably arranged channels along the hill-sides in hilly districts, to most elaborate systems involving carefully levelled water carriers in some of the valleys in southern counties, such as Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Dorset.

The simplest systems consist of tapping a stream at different points along its course and conducting part of the water by means of almost horizontal channels along the hill-side. ‘These channels are stopped succes-

sively at regular intervals, when the water overflows on to the grass on the hill-side. On the alluvial flats most systems consist essentially of two series of water carriers which interlock like the cogs

of two cog-wheels. One series conducts the water along the summits of the ridges of the meadows, from which it overflows on to the grass, whilst the second series collects the surplus water in the furrows and, acting as a drain, conducts it back to the stream at a lower point in its

course.

There are many modifications of this simple

case, some of them very elaborate.

To any one previously unacquainted with watermeadows the effect of flooding in winter and early spring on the spring growth of grass is very astounding. Growth begins two or three weeks earlier on flooded watermeadows

than

on

similar

land

not flooded,

and

this

early bite of grass has been highly valued by farmers. The yield of grass from well-kept water-meadows is very heavy, but the cost of obtaining it is not inconsiderable. Many

water-meadows

have

been

allowed

to lapse on

account of the cost of upkeep and the difficulty of facing the labour required in autumn to repair the carriers and drains. Flooding usually commences between October and January. The quicker and more succulent growth is not due to any sediment left by the water, as the most effective

Improvement

35

streams in the south are clear streams of hard chalky water which does of course contain a high proportion of dissolved material. Even after very wet winters, such as 1924-5, the extra supply of water due to flooding makes

a great difference both to earliness and bulk of herbage. There

is

a

difference

between

this

land

flooded

periodically throughout the year, and waterlogged, undrained land containing surplus stagnant water. One essential for success in water-meadows is good drainage ensuring as great ease in getting rid of surplus water as

in supplying

it.

Land

kept wet through inadequate

drainage is late, not early.

The herbage of water-meadows has all the advantage of quick-growing succulent herbage of marsh land without the large proportion of water-loving weeds which

grow where the drainage is not so good. system

of a water-meadow

becomes

If the drainage faulty,

then

the

herbage resembles very closely that of marsh land, and rushes, sedges, iris, and buttercups are not slow to take advantage of the changed conditions. Water-meadows are not without their weeds. Good grass such as the meadow grasses, meadow foxtail, and rye-grass grow side by side with Yorkshire fog, soft brome, and bent (Agrostis alba spp.) in limited quantities.

The water also

may often bring seeds of sour-docks and other weeds and distribute them over the meadows. Clovers are usually present but rarely conspicuous.

Little is known about the

manurial requirements of water-meadows, but correct management

of the grazing

and

mowing

is most

im-

portant. A very heavy bulky herbage can be grown, but it is often rather coarse and frequently leaves something to be desired from the point of view of quality, both in the hay and the grazing. Using the herbage at a sufficiently early stage in its growth, and close grazing

in summer and autumn, encourage finer quality.

36

Grass Land

Clearing.—Certain types of land quickly revert to scrub and bush. When drainage is satisfactory the clearing of such land should be undertaken in conjunction with liming or manuring.

Land growing bushes is frequently not in

need of lime, but very deficient in phosphates. Clearing the bushes without manuring is usually a very unprofitable business, as the cutting or pulling has to be repeated, whereas it rarely needs repeating if accompanied by suitable manuring.

The same applies to clearing hill-sides or rough land of bracken and brambles. The bracken should be cut at the time when the root is most exhausted, say the beginning of July, a full application ofa suitable manure should be given, and cutting should follow again once or twice when necessary.

A permanent alteration in the flora of grass land is best effected by a permanent alteration in the soil con-

ditions. A good herbage will not grow on land in bad condition, however assiduously the bad plants are uprooted. Fencing.—Good grass land is the resultant of a number of factors influencing the types of plants producing the herbage. One of the chief factors in converting a wild stretch of country into a good grass country is control of grazing and mowing. This control can only be exercised so long as the area is divided into suitable enclosures.

The herbage of good land is controlled much more easily than that of poor land. Good and adequate fencing is one of the secrets of maintaining grass land in good condition. Judicious grazing is just as important as correct manuring, and the grazing cannot be controlled without fences. It is not intended to discuss here the many types of fencing; so long as a fence is effective against the class of stock kept, and provides perhaps some degree of shelter

Improvement

37

where necessary, it is all that matters. The position of a fence again must be determined to some extent by convenience of working the farm as a whole, but it should also be partly determined by the land itself. The grass land in one enclosure should be as .uniform as

possible. It is a mistake to have extremely good and extremely bad grass land in the same enclosure if this can be avoided; it makes for selective grazing. ‘The point which it is intended to emphasize most strongly is the need for keeping up fences on grass land. Comparatively small enclosures up to 20 or 25 acres are much

more easily managed than enclosures of 100 or 200 acres. The

gradual

enlargement

of enclosures

by

allowing

fences to disappear has seriously affected large areas of grass land during recent years. It appears to be true that most classes of live stock, particularly sheep, prefer an extensive ‘run’, but there are limits which must be

set in the cause of economy, and one of the first steps in the improvement of some classes of grass land—in many large private parks for example—is the provision of smaller enclosures. All classes of stock graze more or less selectively: they will naturally graze the best whenever possible. Horses are the worst, and sheep a good second, whilst cattle are

the least selective in their grazing.

Certain weeds and

bad grasses appear to be grazed at certain times or in

certain seasons only, perhaps even then under compulsion. ‘The fresh green growth of bad grasses such as Yorkshire fog, bent, and tor grass (false brome) are often eaten in spring, whilst during very dry weather horses graze such coarse grasses as tussock grass and tor grass

even late in summer. Usually, however, without controlled grazing the worst part of a big enclosure is neglected and gradually deteriorates ; the stock-carrying capacity is reduced, the head of stock employed

38

Grass Land

becomes less and less, and when the renovating of such

land is subsequently undertaken the cost becomes proportionately higher.

Mowing and Grazing—Before dealing with the improvement of grass land in more detail for particular cases it might be well here to refer to the somewhat controversial question of alternate mowing and grazing. It is a common practice in many parts of the country to graze and mow certain grass fields in alternate years. There are still in existence many agreements which

stipulate that no grass field on the farm shall be mown two years in succession. In other parts of the country it is an understood thing that certain meadow land must always year after year provide the hay crop. Again, where first-class grazing land abounds it would be considered by local farming opinion an act deserving of the highest censure to lay up such good grazing land for hay. On most farms grass is simply regarded as one crop

capable of producing either a grazing or a hay crop, but it is doubtful whether the best results can always be obtained without more systematic treatment.

In deciding

what to do in any particular case, i.e. whether to graze and mow all grass fields alternately or to keep certain fields for grazing and others for mowing every year,

several important points must be considered. By substituting properly controlled grazing for mowing on land which has been fairly regularly mown the quality

of the herbage is generally improved.

By substituting

mowing for grazing the quality (for grazing) may, and often does, suffer. Allowing grasses to grow up for hay checks wild white clover. Where grass land on a farm receives no manures at

all there is no worse treatment than mowing it year after year.

Old

grass

land

impoverished

after year without manures

by mowing

year

is often characterized by

Improvement

39

the presence of yellow rattle, ox-eye daisy, sorrel dock (Rumex Acetosa), Yorkshire fog, and soft brome. One of the best ways of improving such land is to manure it

suitably and to graze it for a year or two. It has been shown that continuous early spring grazing promotes weediness. Weeds adapt themselves to any regular treatment of both grass and arable land. There is no doubt that much of our grass land would well repay more systematic treatment, and on the whole if the methods of manuring and management set out in

later chapters are adopted it would seem desirable in most

cases,

under

ordinary

extensive systems,

to work

for one crop either for grazing or for mowing on a particular field. Weediness, and consequently quality, may set a limit to the duration of any particular treatment, and make it desirable now and again to change it, but under good management such changes need not be frequent.

Quite recent investigations at Cambridge and Aberystwyth have tended to reveal certain of the characteristics of swards which render the herbage nutritious and productive. It is now known that leaf (the actual blade or lamina) is considerably richer in nutrients than stem (either the sheaths of the leaves or stem proper). It is also a fact that stock in general and particularly sheep tend to graze the leaves of grasses more readily than they do sheath or stem. It has further been shown that it is not only true that hay which

is over-mature is not so

nutritious as hay cut earlier, but that pasture grass is nutritious in direct proportion as it is young, immature, and the product of rapid growth. To these facts must be added the knowledge that herbage which is attaining to maturity, and especially that which is ‘ burned ’, dead,

or dying, is not only unpalatable to stock but is also of very poor nutritive quality and will be neglected as long

as reasonably green and succulent leafage is available.

40

Grass Land

Finally, it is important to realize that masses of overmature foggage present on a sward tend actually to suppress the development of new fresh growth. It is evident, therefore, that the aim of both rational management and improvement should be to favour the continuous production of leafage up to the maximum of what is possible, and to convert this while at maximum nutritive value and before drying and ‘ burning’ have set in. .

Treatment should therefore be designed to produce maximum leafage and to convert this by methods of grazing—in such a way that neither the treatment nor the methods of grazing will tend to favour the spread of undesirable species at the expense of desirable ones. Leaf production demands special care of the herbage-giving species, necessitating not only appropriate mechanical treatment but applications of appropriate manures: Heavy manuring without adequate grazing

is not only wasteful but may be directly harmful to a pasture ; at the same time, very heavy grazing demands proportional manuring.

Under intensive treatment for high productivity in grass land

the

question

of utilizing a field particularly

for

grazing or for hay does not arise. It is essential for high productivity that the herbage be removed at the right stage of growth. Ifit cannot be grazed at that stage it must be mown.

IV

THE MECHANICAL TREATMENT GRASS LAND XPERIMENTS

conducted

during

OF

the last 25

or

30 years on the improvement of grass land have dealt so exclusively with the vast improvements to be obtained by the use of suitable manures, and have shown so conclusively in so many cases the really profitable nature of such an outlay on manures, that grass land farmers have almost

forgotten

that

their

ancestors

devoted

no

small

amount of time and labour to ‘ working’ the surface of their permanent grass land. Our contemporaries other countries put in far more labour than we do

in on

these important methods of keeping better-class grass land in good condition. Although none of our permanent grass land should be neglected

in this important

particular,

there

are two

cases which call for special attention. Preparation for Manurial Treatment—Much of our poorest grass land, but particularly that on lighter and drier soils, often gives a most unsatisfactory response to manures.

‘There are several possible reasons

for this,

some of which are discussed in later chapters ; but one reason, which is not the least important, is the fact that

the plants we are trying to encourage—and which we must develop if we mean to get our improvement—are suppressed not only by poverty of the soil, but also by an unsatisfactory condition of the turf itself, best rectified by mechanical means.

Improving a Thick and Mossy Turf.—To illustrate the point, take the general appearance of a poor field with a very thin turf on typical heavy ‘slag land’. The 3317

F

AQ

Grass Land

soil is easily visible everywhere in small patches through a thin turf, not only in winter and early spring but throughout most of the year. These small bare patches, on an average about the size of a penny, are an advantage: they facilitate the development of white clover, the runners of which root freely on these spaces.

On many poor fields the condition of the turf is exactly the reverse. The turf is dense and springy, with or without

a ‘mat’,

and

is often rendered

still more

unsatisfactory by the presence of moss. These conditions are most unsuitable for the rapid development of clover and can best be overcome by some form of harrowing. Mechanical treatment in such cases should always pre-

cede manuring. The object is not so much to allow the manures to reach the soil as to open up the turf and give the clover runners a chance to reach the soil, take root,

and establish new plants. Implements to Use —Farmers are often rather unwilling to be too severe on the turf, but as a matter of fact such

cases: require drastic treatment. harrow without

The

ordinary chain

spikes is of little use for this purpose.

A spiked chain harrow, such as the Parmiter, does very well so long as the turf is not too dense. The spikes of whichever implement is used must penetrate the turf and expose the soil. Quite frequently it is necessary to use an ordinary arable land harrow, but the teeth must

be straight and preferably newly sharpened. The harrows must be sufficiently weighted and should be driven slowly and carefully to minimize the tendency to ‘ bounce’. Mechanical treatment of this description does not involve the average farmer in any additional expenditure on implements, and the extra labour is well repaid by a quicker and better response to manures.

Considerable attention has been given by firms of implement makers to the ‘ rejuvenation ’ of grass land,

Mechanical Treatment

43

and implements have been designed which, by means of coulters, will cut through and open up the turf and top

soil of grass land much more efficiently than ordinary harrows.

Removal of Coarse Grass.—Coarse grass of all kinds left ungrazed throughout the winter acts as a serious check

on good herbage plants the following spring. coarse grass may be due to insufficient grazing;

Such or to

an exceptional year such as 1924, during which it was most difficult to keep pace with the rapid growth, especially in late summer; or to bad quality of the herbage;

or to grazing with horses or sheep alone, both of which graze the finer but leave the rougher herbage. Burning and Harrowing —When such rough land is to be manured

every effort should be made to reduce the

covering of old grass.

Harrowing will often expose suffi-

cient of the soil for the purpose, but in the worst cases

where treatment is delayed until spring the more drastic method of burning may be desirable. This can usually be accomplished during drying weather in late February

or early March. The fire should pass quickly over the herbage so as not to injure unduly any of the finer plants which may be struggling for an existence. Burning should

be followed

by harrowing

before

manures

are

applied. The above remarks apply particularly to those marls and limy soils which grow large patches of tor grass or false brome grass (Brachypodium pinnatum or B. sylvaticum).

These vigorous grasses are liable to take possession of such soils, and although they indicate a deficiency of phosphate, any phosphatic manure only acts quickly and satisfactorily if steps are taken to keep down the tor grass mechanically. It has often been in possession of an area for so long that wild white clover has practically disappeared, and in such cases a small seeding of wild white

A4.

Grass Land

clover hastens the improvement if, and only if, accompanied by an application of a phosphate.

Mechanical The second land which mal season to carrying

Treatment

of Better-class Grass Land.—

case of importance is that of improved grass can often be seriously affected by an abnoror by insufficient grazing. Some attention out by means of implements what could not

be done by stock would save many serious

deterioration.

The

a grass field from

treading

and

grazing

by

stock is a very potent factor in keeping grass land in good order, a factor as important in many cases as manuring. Removing Surplus Grass—During the late summer (August in the North, July in the South is usually the best time) when grass land has obviously been understocked, steps should be taken to remove surplus grass. In most cases the mowing machine is the best implement.

The importance of ‘cleaning up’ surplus grass on grazing land in this way cannot be over-estimated, especially as

at that time of the year it is most important also to keep mowing land well grazed (see p. 77). It is not easy to imitate the treading by stock.

Every

one knows how small on much of our grass half the rolling done of thorough treading

is the impression left by a roller land, and it is a question whether is really worth while. The effect or consolidation is only too well

shown

or where

on footpaths

carts have

been

drawn

across a grass field. In special cases of well-grazed fields with plenty of wild white clover, rolling is to be recommended and will usually do more good than chain-harrowing; whilst

fields to be mown for wild white clover seed or even for ordinary hay-making should certainly be rolled, not only for the benefit of clovers and grasses but to prevent unnecessary

hay time.

interference

with

mowing

operations

at

Mechanical Treatment

45

Chain-harrowing (without spikes) is useful for spreading manures, lime, or molehills, but beyond this the persistent use of this implement is of doubtful value. Although treading by stock during most of the year is of such great value to grass land, it might not bé out

of place here to give a word of warning on the question of over-stocking grass land during very wet weather. An incalculable amount of harm was done to large areas

of grass land during the wet winter of 1924-5, especially in those districts where cattle are wintered outside.

‘The

most convenient and easily accessible fields are usually chosen. This is done to avoid carting hay unnecessarily long distances, and partly because certain fields are weil sheltered. It is safe to say that many good fields lost

nearly 50 per cent. of their herbage plants during the winter referred to.

The wounds heal in time, of course,

and the better the land the quicker they heal ; but in the meantime

the deep

and

open

hoof-marks

become

the

home of many weeds, and particularly of the buttercup. On many farms drier and rougher fields greatly in need of treading are kept free from stock in winter because

they are not so easily accessible, whilst better fields nearer home are seriously damaged.

Vv THE

USE

IMING

OF

LIME

ON

GRASS

LAND

grass land has met with very varied success.

The labour and expense involved renders it an operation to be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary.

Many cases have been quoted in which liming appears to be an absolute necessity, whilst in other cases it may apparently actually check the crop. Such varying results are only to be expected when one takes into account, not merely the different types of soil, but the very mixed character of the herbage on most of our grass land. Effect of Soil Acidity on the Herbage—Arable crops differ in their capabilities of withstanding soil acidity. Thus barley, red clover, and lucerne are very suscept-

ible to soil acidity, while potatoes and rye can withstand almost any acidity. So the different grasses, clovers, and weeds of grass land are affected to varying extents. One of the most noticeable effects of soil acidity in old

grass land is the way in which it restricts the number of species. On limy land the number of species to be found may easily be over 50, but on very acid land the number

is frequently only 7 or 8. What is even more important is the fact that most of the species found on very acid land are poor and innutritious. As a general rule grass land will stand a higher degree of acidity than will arable crops, partly because an arable crop

depends

largely on one single species, and if the

crop is to be successful its own special requirements must be satisfied, whereas in the case of grass land there are

a number of alternative species. It is only occasionally and in bad cases that liming

The Use of Lime

47

actually adds to the bulk or weight of grass per acre, but it very frequently has a considerable influence on quality.

It is often asserted that limy land is the best stockrearing land, and produces more bone in stock;

there

is also evidence accumulating that limy soils have an influence on the mineral constituents of herbage. On the whole there appears to be some ground for crediting limy soils with that favourable influence on the quality which it is so easy to talk about but so difficult to prove. The herbage to be found on acid soils has already been referred to in some detail (see Chapter II), and although one cannot, in a book, give general guidance

for those large areas of average grass land on which the soil acidity is not pronounced, it is possible to write more definitely about those considerable areas representing the two extremes, in the one case where liming is absolutely waste of time, and in the other where liming becomes an absolute necessity. Grass Land not requiring Lime.—Most of our good her-

bage plants, including wild white clover, will stand some degree of acidity in soils, so that permanent grass land on soils derived from rocks containing originally an appreciable proportion of carbonate of lime rarely needs liming under an average rainfall and with reasonable manuring. If subjected for some time to bad grazing or unbalanced manuring, particularly an excess of nitrogen

in the form of farmyard or other organic manures or sulphate of ammonia, liming may have to be resorted to. These soils include a number on which lime is often required for arable crops, including short clover leys. Besides the chalk and limestone areas a number of heavier marls fall into this class—most of the Boulder Clays

Oxford

and

Red

Clays,

Marls

of the Midlands,

the Lias and

and most of the clays in the Eastern

48

Grass Land

Counties. A large proportion of our good second-class pastures are to be found on these clays, some of the best when

well managed

producing

first-class grazing land

comparable to some of our best fattening land. Although grass land requiring lime is generally bad grass land, all bad grass land does not require lime. ‘The herbage is a good guide.

Grass land liable to grow tor

grass (false brome)

does not need lime however rough

the

become.

tor

grass

may

Rough

herbage

due

to

tussock grass (Azra caespitosa), sedges and rushes is caused by wetness and not necessarily by soil acidity. Bushes of hawthorn and wild rose, and patches of restharrow, are more common on soils not requiring lime. Old grass land not in want of lime is usually firm under foot and the soil easily visible through the herbage. Grass

Land

reguiring

Lime.——On

grass

land

which

ought to be limed the indications of want of lime are usually very pronounced. The lighter soils are generally the worst offenders. Old grass under acid conditions

is springy to walk on. A section of the turf cut out with a knife or spade reveals a thick ‘mat’ of undecayed vegetable material—the accumulation of years. Dead herbage decays very slowly on acid soils, and does not

become buried and incorporated in the top soil because one very important agent, the earthworm, is usually scarcer under acid than under limy conditions. The

turf cut from such land has a moory sour smell. clover

disappears

completely

under

these

The

conditions,

whether they are natural or brought about artificially. The

commonest

grasses

are

common

bent

(Agrostis

vulgaris), creeping bent (A. stolonifera), white bent (Nardus stricta), and creeping Yorkshire fog (Holcus mollis). Although sheep’s fescue disappears before the last and

worst stages are reached it is one of the last of the more useful grasses to go. Other plants characteristic of this

The Use of Lime land are heath bedstraw,

and woodrush

tormentil, yarrow,

49 earthnut,

(the last three may also occur on less

acid soils).

The worst feature of this land and the greatest drawback to its improvement is the thick ‘mat’. It interferes seriously with the proper distribution of water in the soil. It will absorb and hold all the rain for weeks in the autumn after the top soil has dried out in summer. It is often almost Christmas before the soil below it is

properly wetted. It prevents the growth of clover as the runners are unable to take root in it. If ploughed under it decays very slowly, as many farmers who ploughed out such land in 1917-18 will remember.

The

same farmers will not need reminding how badly most arable crops did until such ploughed-out land had been

limed. The conditions just referred to are much intensified in a smoky district, where it is not uncommon

to find

quite large patches in a field with no living herbage at all. The soils on which

grass land is most in need of lime

include most sands in dry situations (sands with a fairly high water table behave more like heavy soils), practically all Coal Measures and Millstone Grit soils, and a good deal of the Boulder Clay composed principally of material from these two rocks and situated in districts of high rainfall such as the Pennines. | Results of Applying Lime to Grass Land.—Where lime

is badly needed the results are usually slow in appearing, but they last a long time. On the average three seasons elapse before the results are noticeable. In some of the Pennine districts the effects of applications of lime (up to 8 tons of quicklime per acre) made 40 to 60 years ago are still some of the most striking features of the hill-sides. The incorporation of lime or carbonate of lime in the *“mat’ 3317

makes

it more

congenial for clover, and if the G

50

Grass Land

work of the lime is supported, as it always should be, by phosphatic manuring

the clover spreads rapidly.

induces closer grazing and a suppression of the bent.

This

The

increased treading favours the disappearance of the ‘mat’. On soils which are not so badly ‘ matted’ the effect

of lime is to open up the turf and expose more of the soil. In this way liming produces a turf on rough land which resembles more closely the dwarfer, thinner turf

of ‘slag land’. In this respect liming is an excellent preparation for phosphatic manures. Where lime has produced this effect on grass land the turf usually looks worse than it did before the lime was applied; the phosphate, however, works much more quickly and effectively after the lime than where no lime was applied. Although on many acid soils lime will encourage wild white clover, and produce an effect similar to that gener-

ally associated with basic slag on less acid soils, this effect is not nearly so marked in ordinary cases. As a general rule, where a phosphate will produce a marked

increase in the amount of clover it is not economical to use lime. There are many cases, however, where the effects of phosphates are felt only on certain patches of a field, whilst the extra grazing and treading thus pro-

duced increase the size of these improved patches, such patchy

fields where

On

roughly half the area treads

firmly and contains clover it is best to apply phosphate first to the whole field and, as soon as the effect is obvious

on the better patches, to apply lime only to those portions on which the phosphate has not been effective. Permanent deterioration in the herbage of grass land is not so likely to arise through taking liberties with the

grazing on limed soils as it is on acid soils, so that where under-stocking

may

occasionally be practised

and

too

much grass left ungrazed in autumn liming will minimize the damage to the grass land.

The Use of Lime

51

Use of Lime in Smoky Areas——In smoky districts the only way of counteracting the damage to grass land as well as arable land is the free use of lime. Its use is attended in many cases with extraordinary results which

last for years. On many of these soils phosphates have practically no effect unless the land has previously been limed, and this is not because the land is not short of

phosphate, but because it is far more seriously short of lime and want of lime becomes the limiting factor. Many instances have come under notice where the deterioration of quite good grass land due to the effect

of smoke alone has been extraordinarily rapid. In at least one instance on deep riverside soil ten years was sufficient for fattening land to become derelict under the

influence of smoke and fumes. Although the subsoil originally contained about 5 per cent. of carbonate of lime, this had all been neutralized and washed

a depth of about twenty inches.

out to

The grass land in the

West Riding and Lancashire is more in need of constant

attention to liming than any other grass land in the country.

Kinds of Lime to Use.—There are four kinds of liming material which may be used on grass land: (1) Quicklime (lump or shell lime) ; (2) Hydrated or Slaked Lime; (3) Ground Carbonate of Lime (ground limestone, ground chalk, soft crumbly chalk rock); (4) Waste limes which may contain carbonate of lime or slaked lime or both according to the method by which they are produced. The ultimate effect of these different materials on grass land needing lime is more or less the same, although the immediate effects may differ somewhat. The application of quicklime or slaked lime to grass

land, unless it is very carefully applied, is always liable to result in a certain wastage of lime. Quicklime or slaked lime left on the surface of a field absorbs moisture

52

Grass Land

and ‘cakes’ or ‘sets’, The lumps produced become very hard, so that they are not easily broken, and they dissolve very slowly. Although, owing to mechanical processes, the lumps disappear from the surface and sink slowly into the soil, they do not become ‘ available’. Lumps of lime have been dug up at various depths up to eight or nine inches in fields limed 30 or 40 years ago; a proof not that the piece of lime found has done good

but that it has never been used at all.

Any improvement

due to the liming has been brought about by that por-

tion of the application which disappeared from soon after the lime was applied. The advantage of quicklime over other forms of is that it is the most concentrated liming material, as a smaller quantity is sufficient the transport

sight lime and costs

are less.

The choice between the various forms of quicklime depends on the relative costs of the materials and the amount it is intended to apply.

Limestone and chalk rocks regularly quarried for the production of quicklime do not usually differ in quality to an extent which seriously affects the choice of material

for use in agriculture. Differences in quality of quicklime more often depend on efficiency in burning. There are,

however,

two

important

exceptions:

(1)

Those

rocks which are not pure limestones but which contain an appreciable proportion of clay in addition to carbonate of lime—these are the rocks which when burnt produce hydraulic limes; (2) those dolomitic limestone rocks which contain a high proportion of magnesia. It is never advisable to use (1), but magnesian lime has given very good results on bad grass land, notably in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and on account of its proximity to acid land it very often reduces the cost of liming.

The Use of Lime

53

Hydrated or slaked lime may be produced on the farm by slaking lump lime, or it can be purchased in the form

ofan extremely fine powder. On account of its relatively high cost and the difficulty of handling it on a farm it is not usually an economical material to use on grass land. Ground limestone and ground chalk are two of the best materials to use on grass land provided a sufficiently finely ground

article

can

be

obtained

at a satisfactory

price. These materials are only a little more than half as concentrated as good quicklime and therefore a bigger (almost double) application is required. Where long transport is necessary the extra

carriage may render the use

of these materials uneconomical. Although it becomes pasty when wet, ground carbonate

of lime does not ‘set’; it falls to a powder again on drying and can always be further distributed by harrowing so long as it remains on the surface. The main point to consider when buying ground limestone or chalk is the fineness of grinding. Waste limes are in considerable variety, many of them being excellent, useful, and cheap materials ; but in considering cost per ton the fact must

not be lost sight of that most of them are low grade materials necessitating the use of heavy dressings and possibly therefore high transport charges.

Some of them,

like the now almost old-fashioned gas lime, may contain injurious substances. A farmer intending to use waste lime of a kind hitherto untested by him should obtain the advice of his County Agricultural Organizer. How and when to Apply Lime——Carbonate of lime

may be applied at any time convenient to the farmer without risk of injuring herbage or grazing stock.

The

material can be stored without risk of deterioration until the farmer is ready to apply it. It is most easily applied with shovels from carts and may be carted direct from the station to the field for this purpose. To get satis-

54

Grass Land

factory distribution by this method tons per acre must be applied.

not less than two

Carbonate of lime can

of course also be applied with a distributor. Quicklime or slaked lime should be applied at a time when the herbage is making little growth, say from

October to the end of January. A time should be chosen, however, when ground and herbage are fairly dry to reduce the risk of the quicklime becoming

pasty before

the harrows can be used to obtain further distribution. Lump lime should never be spread direct; it should first be slaked in small heaps and then spread with shovels. To do this satisfactorily not less than two tons per acre should be applied. For smaller dressings ground

quicklime should be applied with a distributor. When the type of distributor used allows the lime to fall in rows a few inches apart, a board with small pegs or nails sticking up on one side should be attached to the dis-

tributor so that the lime passing over the board is distributed more evenly. Even distribution is very important when applying lime to any kind of land, but especially when, as in the

case of grass land, it cannot be subsequently worked into the surface soil.

Both method and time of application

should be chosen with this aim in view. Lime as a Preparation for Manures—In many cases where the response of poor grass land to phosphates is unsatisfactory the reason is that want of lime is a limiting factor. The action of lime in promoting the more rapid disappearance of coarse and badly grazed herbage, thus ridding the land of one of the conditions most inimical to the development of clover, makes liming one of the

best preparations on rough land for subsequent dressings of phosphates.

Special Need for Lime on Mowing Land.—Land which

The Use of Lime

55

is regularly mown tends to produce a coarser herbage than land always grazed. This tendency is reduced if

special attention is given to the grazing of the aftermath. Manuring for weight of hay on most types of mowing

land encourages certain weeds which spoil the quality of hay. It is also apt to suppress clover. Farmyard manure, liquid manure, and sulphate of ammonia all have this tendency. The best means of combating this deterioration in quality is the use of lime and of phosphates. Where grass land is generously treated with nitrogenous manures for the production of big crops small regular applications of lime in addi-

tion to phosphatic manures are advisable. Lime for New Grass—In many districts on acid soils a good deal of the so-called ‘clover sickness’ is want of lime. The disappearance of clovers during the first winter and spring is far too common and may be due

to a number

of quite different factors, including not

only unsatisfactory soil conditions, but also pests, season,

and selection of unsuitable strains of clovers. On acid soils, especially in smoky districts and in regions of high rainfall, an application of lime previous

to sowing ‘ seeds ’, whether for short or long leys, is a precaution which should not be omitted. The lime should be applied after ploughing and during the time when the

land is being worked down toa tilth. Liming should not be postponed until the ley is established. On many soils liming in this manner is perhaps the safest way of ensuring not only a good ‘ take ’ but greater

permanence of the clover plant.

VI

MANURING ERMANENT

OF

GRAZING

LAND

grass land has always been a favourite

subject for experimental work. It lends itself particularly well to demonstrations of the effects of manures on crops. On such a large proportion of our grazing land an improvement can be brought about so simply and with such extraordinarily clear results that the advantages to be derived from the introduction of artificial fertilizers to farms has been very frequently demonstrated on grass land.

Experiments on the use of artificial fertilizers on grazing land are now to be found in practically every county of England and Wales. Repeated changes in the types of manures available have made it necessary to continue such trials. ‘To take phosphatic manures as one instance—bones, superphosphate, and basic slag successively held their own as effective and easily obtainable phosphates. The old type of basic slag, once it became known, quickly gained and kept a position of pre-eminence as a grass land manure. Now its position is threatened, partly owing to the more extended use of

finely ground mineral phosphates and partly because the present day basic slags are of more than one type and

are not all necessarily

the same

standard

article

formerly available. There is still therefore just as much need for grass land experiments as there was formerly. In spite of the fact that there is a great deal still to be learnt from grass land experiments, certain important and far-reaching conclusions are to be drawn from the work already done. Farmers can act with confidence

on certain of the main conclusions already arrived at—

Manuring of Grazing Land

57

they have been confirmed again and again in all parts of the country.

The most important point brought out by hundreds of grass land experiments is that most of our grass land is more in need of phosphates than anything else.

Grass Land which Responds quickly to Phosphates.— The number of publications dealing with results of experiments on the effects of basic slag on grass land is now so great that it seems unnecessary to repeat the results in detail here, and readers are referred to Somerville’s Manuring of Pastures for Meat and Milk.

It was realized by some of the earlier experimenters on grass land that, valuable as ocular demonstration is, the

farmer must always consider the economic aspect of manuring, and the now classic series of experiments at Cockle Park was designed to put manures to the final test—that

of the live-weight increase produced in grazing animals. The trials have been highly successful and most instruc-

tive, and they indicate quite clearly that on land which responds readily to applications of a phosphatic manure the outlay can become a most profitable investment. Manuring for grazing on such land appears to be a perfectly simple problem. Encourage the clovers by adequate applications of phosphate and the rest of the

herbage will look after itself. The soils most suited to this simple treatment are the heavier clays and loams not seriously short of lime and with a turf not too springy or thickly ‘matted’. Almost all limy soils, even thin soils

over

chalk

or

limestone

rock,

can

be

made

to

respond easily to suitable phosphates. The herbage is naturally variable on different soils and in different parts of the country,

but it is generally

a good

guide.

It

1 Manuring of Pastures for Meat and Milk, by Wm. Somerville (now Sir

Wm.

Somerville),

Ministry

Publication No. 30. 3317

H

of

Agriculture,

Miscellaneous

58

Grass Land

should

contain

some

wild

white

clover,

although

in

some cases the plants may be very small and difficult to find. It will usually contain some of the bottom grasses such as crested dog’s-tail, sheep’s fescue, and perennial rye-grass. The presence of weeds indicating wetness, such as the common sedge (carnation grass) and even rushes need not deter one from applying phosphates so long as wetness is not obviously dominating the whole situation. On ‘slag land’ phosphates reduce the

proportion

of these

water-loving

weeds,

a point

brought out in the Cockle Park experiments. Other weeds which are often prevalent on ‘slag land’ are narrow-leaved plantain, tor grass (false brome grass), restharrow, hawthorn, wild rose, and often gorse. Land which does not Respond so Easily to Phosphates.—

Although so many of the experimental results point to applications

of phosphate

as the

outstanding

method

of improving grazing land and of maintaining improved land in good condition, disappointments, after putting this method into practice, have been frequent. So much stress has been laid on this simple remedy for poor grass land that farmers who have tried it without success are

rather at a loss to know what further steps they can take. More

recently

conducted

experiments

have

thrown

a

good deal of light on possible reasons for such nonsuccess with phosphates. Farmers ought to be familiar with these reasons so that disappointments can be avoided in future. In the first place there is the possibility that the soil of a particular field, although deficient in phosphate, may be still more deficient in some other plant food. The commonest case is deficiency of potash (discussed at p. 64). If both phosphate and potash are badly needed, the application of one only, say phosphate, will not bring about the desired improvement; both must be used. The

drainage

may

be unsatisfactory ; most farmers

Manuring of Grazing Land are familiar with the signs of bad drainage.

59 If water-

logging occurs during such a large portion of the year that the type of herbage is determined by the wet condition, the application of manure of any kind will usually

be money wasted until the land has been drained. The case of acid soils has already been discussed. Want of lime is one of the commonest reasons for the ineffectiveness of phosphatic fertilizers in certain districts.

On grass land where the symptoms of want of lime (see Chapter V) are very pronounced, it is of little use applying any phosphatic manure until the land has been limed. In such cases light applications of lime do not have the desired effect, and the dressing should not be less than 30 cwt. of quick lime or 3 tons of carbonate

of lime per acre.

In districts where the land is not

influenced by the smoke of industrial centres, and where,

after liming, phosphates are applied, lime is practically permanent so long properly managed. Grass land on light sandy soils, situations, 1s generally considered to to phosphates

than

heavy

land.

the effect of the as the grazing is especially in dry be less responsive

Speaking

generally

this is true; each type of soil favours its own type of vegetation, its own particular grasses and clovers. Perennial rye-grass, the most valuable grass of all, is more ‘ at home’ on heavier soils than on light dry soils. Wild white clover is one of the most widespread of British plants and grows on practically any type of soil

if suitably encouraged. It requires a good supply of phosphates, but it requires also other suitable conditions, which have frequently to be brought about artificially on light land. In Chapter IV the bad effect ofa ‘ matted ’ or badly grazed herbage on the clover plants has been

discussed. Merely to apply phosphate and take no special steps to encourage the clover in other ways results

6o

Grass Land

in disappointment on light land. Harrowing in spring and close grazing towards the end of the grazing season

is more essential on light land than on heavy land.

The

choice of phosphates is also a matter of some importance

on light land and is discussed below. Before

dealing

with

the

various

manures

available

for grass land one important point should be mentioned. Manures used for the improvement of grass land and for keeping improved land in good condition give the best and most profitable returns when amply supported

by efficient management. Unless the improved herbage can be fully utilized by increasing the head of stock if necessary, the best returns cannot be obtained. Bad management of the grazing and under-stocking in one or two years can wipe out the benefits derived from a perfectly reasonable manuring just as can the effects

of one very abnormal season. The dry year 1921 made it necessary to renovate certain types of land which had been

gradually

improved

during

tg19-20.

The

wet

year 1924 seriously affected other types of land on which a large surplus of grass meant unavoidable understocking. When farmers take in hand the improvement of poor grass fields, especially where deterioration has occurred through under-stocking, they must allow not

only for the purchase of manures but also for increasing the head of stock. It is often waste of money to buy phosphate for land which cannot be adequately grazed. Manuring and stocking must go hand in hand, and the grazing must be supplemented if necessary in summer

and autumn by the mechanical removal of any surplus herbage.

Phosphatic Manures.—Phosphates are by far the most important manures for grazing land, and in nine cases

out of ten the farmer is right in choosing phosphates and phosphates alone.

Manuring of Grazing Land

61

The main supplies of phosphate for grass land are in the form of basic slags, ground mineral phosphates, superphosphates, and bone manures such as steamed bone flour, bone meal, dissolved bones.

Baste Slags—The old type of Bessemer basic slag has given good results on practically every type of poor grazing land in the country. The slags now on the market are roughly of two kinds, one of which is of high solubility (by the standard citric acid test), the other of

comparatively low solubility. The slags of high solubility have in recent tests given results as good as those obtained with the old Bessemer slags. The slags of lower solubility have on the whole not given such good results, at any rate in the first two or three years. The guarantee given with a slag states the percentage of total phosphate of lime (i. e. the grade’ ofslag). Most of the high grade slags (30 per cent. or over total phosphate of lime) are of high or fairly high solubility. The low grade slags may be of high or low solubility. Any basic slag, whatever the grade, providing it is of relatively high citric solubility, is still one of the most reliable phosphatic manures for any type of grass land. Ground Mineral Phosphates were formerly imported chiefly for the manufacture

of superphosphate.

It has

been found, however, that if sufficiently finely ground they are of great value for direct use on grazing land. They vary to some extent in composition according to the sources from which they are obtained. ‘Those from North Africa average nearly 60 per cent. total phosphate

of lime; West Indian Phosphates average about 70 per cent., and those from Oceania (e. g. Nauru) over 80 per cent. of total phosphates. These ground mineral phosphates were tried experimentally in many counties from about 1920 onwards (these were not the first trials), but the material used was not in many cases sufficiently

62 Grass Land finely ground, and the results may therefore be somewhat misleading in some cases.

The fineness was considered

satisfactory if 80 per cent. passed the 100-mesh sieve (10,000 holes per square inch). More recently greater attention has been given to the question of fineness, and mineral phosphates are now available of which 80 per cent. will pass the 120-mesh sieve. This material is giving

results almost if not quite as good as basic slag on most soils, and at a much lower cost. Superphosphates Practically every

farmer

is familiar

with superphosphate, which differs from those manures already described in that most of the phosphate is easily soluble in water. In experimental work superphosphate has not always given such good results as basic slag

unless lime was applied at the same time, or the application was made

to limy soils.

It is nevertheless a very

useful phosphatic fertilizer for grass, and especially for grass on light soils and in dry situations. Ground bones or bone meal contains an appreciable proportion of nitrogen which if necessary on grazing land can usually be applied in a more readily available and cheaper form.

Steamed Bone Flour is a fine bone meal from which most of the nitrogen has been extracted;

so long as the price

compares favourably with that of other phosphatic fertilizers it is a useful source of phosphate for grazing land. It has often given poor results when used alone on soils in dry situations, but does well under moister conditions. Mixed with superphosphate it does well under most conditions. Dissolved Bones are chemically practically the same as superphosphate. There are other phosphatic manures on the market, but the requirements of grass land for phosphate can be satisfied as economically as possible by choosing one

Manuring of Grazing Land

63

or more of those mentioned above according to the type of grass land.

The Choice of a Phosphate——The results of recent grass land experiments seem to point to the fact that whilst the less soluble low-grade basic slags and the comparatively cheap ground mineral phosphates are as effective as any

other phosphates on heavy rainfall, it is advisable to manures on drier types of bility are on the whole as

wet land, or in districts of high use more soluble phosphatic soil. Basic slags of high solusatisfactory as any other phos-

phate even on dry land, but when a farmer can obtain

no information on the citric solubility of a slag it is advisable to fall back at any rate for a portion of the phosphate on superphosphate.

Slow returns from a cheap in-

soluble manure are not necessarily the most profitable. On heavy moist land ground mineral phosphates are cheap and effective, but the sample must be finely ground. On dry soils, especially when they are chalky or limy, superphosphate is a safe and suitable material to use. When steamed bone flour compares favourably in price with superphosphate a mixture of the two makes a suitable dressing for the lighter soils. Application of Phosphates to Grazing Land.—Phosphates may be applied to grass land at any time of the

year, so that the work need not interfere with other farming operations. In

order

to

ensure

quick

results

considerable

care

should be taken when applying the manures. The herbage should be as short as possible, and the field should be well harrowed previously if the turf is at all matted. The practice of applying phosphates when the ground

is very wet is not to be recommended. Manures like basic slag ‘run together’ and ‘set’ if applied to a wet surface. Quantities to Apply—It is quite clear from a number of trials that on very poor grass land light applications

64.

Grass Land

often give disappointing and misleading results. In many cases excellent results have been obtained with heavy dressings, whilst light applications of phosphate have given practically no return at all. On poor land it is most important to apply a good dressing in the first instance, even if the area improved has

to be considerably

reduced.

The

minimum

dose

for poor land is the equivalent of 10 cwt. per acre of a manure containing 30 per cent. total phosphate of lime.

On better grass land or on land which has already been improved half that dressing is sufficient. The use of the full dose is particularly important where phosphates are being tried for the first time on poor land. Use of Potash on Grazing Land.—Deficiency of potash has already been referred to as one of the possible reasons for the non-response of grass land to phosphates. This deficiency of potash sandy soils.

is usually

Quite definite improvements

associated

with

light

due to applications of

potash have been found on several types of grass land.

These have occurred on light sandy soils in the Midlands, on certain sands in Sussex, on the chalk soils of the Downs

in Wiltshire, and on peaty soils. In some cases the response of the land to phosphates alone was very poor, and in others the phosphates alone gave a marked improvement, which was still more pronounced when potash was applied in addition. In the former cases it is obvious that potash must be applied if any appreciable improvement is to be obtained. In the latter cases where phosphates alone improved the herbage to a certain extent, it may pay better to secure

that improvement for the whole area before investing in potash to secure a smaller additional improvement. This applies to a good deal of the chalk land which responds well to phosphates but slightly better even to

Manuring of Grazing Land

65

phosphates and potash. When manuring better or improved land of this type the addition of potash may be desirable. A potash manure alone does not appear to be effective on poor grazing land. Potash should only be applied either with a phosphate or to land which has previously

received a phosphatic manure. The choice of a potash fertilizer is usually decided by the cost of the application.

Kainit or potash salts are

generally used. The common salt in these often makes coarse herbage more palatable to that they pull it off and help to clear up rough Agricultural salt is sometimes used for the same

fertilizers stock, so patches. purpose.

The manurial value of salt used in this way, however,

is probably negligible. Use of Nitrogenous Manures on Grazing Land—Where grazing land can be very much improved by the application of phosphates, or of phosphates and potash, it has usually been considered most unprofitable to apply nitrogenous manures. ‘This has been deemed to apply with the greatest force to those heavy soils usually recognized as ‘slag land’. One application of a nitrogenous manure does not do a great deal of harm provided phosphates have also been used: itis the repeated use of such manures on land deficient in lime and phosphates which may make the herbage worse instead of better. Intensive Methods—Recent experiments carried out in this country, following upon earlier investigations in Germany, seem to show that under proper management the use of comparatively heavy applications of nitrogenous

manures

may

increase

carrying capacity of a pasture. nitrogenous manures

enormously

the

stock-

‘The applications

so far tried amount

of’

to from 2 to

4 cwt. per acre per annum of one of the usual artificial fertilizers such as sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, 3317 I

66 Grass Land or nitrate of lime. These dressings are usually given in I cwt. doses. It must be realized, however, that certain precautions are absolutely necessary where nitrogen is used on grazing land if good and not harm is to result. In the first place the nitrogenous manures must be supported by adequate applications of phosphates and potash, and where necessary by lime, especially if sulphate of ammonia is used; secondly, it is just as important that the system

of management is such that the whole of the herbage may be utilized whilst still in its leafy stage. ‘The system, therefore, involves intensive grazing on comparatively small enclosures, and the free use of the mowing machine

on fields which become too advanced in growth before the grazing stock can be putonto them. The manurial treatment, including the use of nitrogenous fertilizers, favours the more continuous production of leafage. If

this leafage is not allowed to grow rank it appears to exercise no bad effect on the white clovers and finer grasses. If, however, it is allowed through inefficient management to produce a rank and too mature growth the result will be harmful to the clovers and to the pasture generally.

The

methods

of manuring,

fencing,

and

watering used in encouraging such high productivity are naturally expensive, but not necessarily uneconomic. In considering the value of such a method for a particular farm it is necessary to remember that this high productivity is not merely due to extra production during the

normal period of rapid growth, i.e. spring and early summer, but that grass land may be ready for grazing two

or three weeks

earlier as a result of nitrogenous

manuring; it would seem to have considerable value where an early spring bite is required. Again, the ‘freshness ’ of a pasture

seems

to be maintained

over

a longer period, and the experiments already carried out

Manuring of Grazing Land

67

indicate that the type of herbage often referred to as ‘May grass’ may be produced during July or even August. It is to be emphasized that the experiments which have

commenced

in such

a promising

way

have

not

yet been carried out over a sufficiently long period in this country to justify a recommendation of the wholesale adoption of the system under all conditions. For the present the method seems applicable to cases where the area of land is limited and the stocking necessarily heavy. The uniform type of grazing produced throughout the year tempts one particularly to call the attention of

owners of heavily stocked milk farms to it. Ordinary

Extensive

Methods——Great

care

should

be

exercised in the use of nitrogenous manures on grazing land when

no special precautions

are taken to secure

intensive grazing and especially where the individual enclosures are large. should nitrogen be

In no case under these conditions applied to land growing rough,

coarse, or badly grazed herbage ; such treatment, especially with bulky manures like farmyard manure or organic

manures, will still further increase the bulk of grass at the expense of quality. Quality appears to be the thing to aim at, especially on sheep and dairy farms. Some of the grass land on light soils on which clover is apt to be scarce often suffers not only from want of phosphates but from a generally run-down condition, especially if it has often been mown

for hay.

Under

extensive grazing systems a supply of nitrogen in the form of farmyard manure or of residues from cake feeding is usually to be preferred to artificial nitrogenous manures. Several areas of this poor light land grass have been very much improved by folding sheep on it with roots or con-

centrated foods, the treading and manuring together being responsible for the improvement.

Vil MANURING I;

OF MOWING

LAND

a previous chapter the advantage of obtaining hay

from the same grass fields every year has been discussed, and it cannot be over-emphasized that although this is advisable in most cases it is only to be recommended so long as the fields regularly mown are well managed. It has been shown that the manuring of grass land

which is always grazed is in the majority of cases comparatively simple, consisting principally of adequate applications of phosphates. The manuring of mowing land, on the other hand, is not so simple. It is usually easy to suggest a method of manuring which will increase

the yield of hay, but it is much more difficult to say what is the economic limit to such manuring. Moisture supply, especially during April and May, is a most important factor in determining the yield of hay, and on most types

of grass land there are wide variations in yield due to season. The practice of having a reserve of good hay on farms —such as dairy farms—carrying a large head of stock throughout the winter is not common enough. Seasonal variations in yield are large even on well-manured grass land, so that it does not seem possible by manurial means

alone to eliminate the effect of season. The average yield over a number of years can, however, be much improved by suitable manuring, a fact which must strike any one who compares the average crop of hay for the country

with the average from manured and unmanured experimental plots. There is very little difference between the average yield of hay from plots which have been purposely left without manure of any kind for a number of years and that of the country as a whole. This average

Manuring of Mowing Land is just over one ton per acre, and

69

this figure is rather

significant in the light of some recent results on manuring of grass land. Effect of Phosphatic Manures on the Hay Crop.—Those farmers who do purchase manures for grass land are aware that phosphates in some suitable form are generally advisable. Phosphates are therefore frequently applied to

mowing land, and are almost as frequently the only kind of manure used. During the winter 1920-1 experiments were started at a large number of centres throughout the

country to test the comparatively new open-hearth slags and ground mineral phosphates against the older and better-known Bessemer type of slag. A crop of hay was cut and weighed in most cases. ‘The results were in some respects most interesting. Very rarely was the crop of

hay increased by the use of phosphates alone if the land was already yielding on the average one ton or more per acre.

‘The quality was often very much

improved, but

the yield remained about the same. Ina few cases the yield was increased by the phosphatic manures, but usually only on poor land of the ‘slag land’ type, unusually short of phosphate and giving on the average about ten cwt. of hay per acre. These low yields of hay, often obtained from poor soils

such as the Boulder Clays in the North and North Midlands (similar to that at Cockle Park), on the heavy clays of East Anglia, and on some other soils which respond well to phosphates, can be appreciably increased—usually up to 20 to 25 cwt. of hay per acre— by the use of phosphatic manures alone. In such cases the increase in crop is largely due to the development of clovers, so that both quantity and quality are affected. In the majority of cases where the hay crop averages about one ton per acre a big increase in yield must not

be expected from the use of phosphates alone.

Indeed,

70

Grass Land

there are numerous cases where no improvement at all has been obtained from the use of mineral

genous) manures.

(non-nitro-

In the West Riding and in other dis-

tricts of very acid land, where the ‘ limiting factor’ is

want of lime, this lack of response to mineral manures is common. In all cases of obviously very poor grass land it will save both time and money if steps are taken to discover what is the reason for an extremely poor hay crop. The County Agricultural Organizers are always ready to help in such cases. The marvellous effects of phosphates on grass land always grazed are frequently not reproduced on similar land when it is regularly mown. It is not, as is often believed, some effect of the mowing machine which prevents the development of clovers and finer grasses; it is the over-shadowing of this ‘ bottom’ herbage by taller grasses and weeds during spring and early summer.

If this over-shadowing effect is allowed to continue well into the summer months because of late mowing the action of the phosphates is still further reduced. ‘The competition between the taller and the dwarfer plants then goes more and more in favour of the former. Because of the serious check which plants, most valu-

able for grazing purposes, receive when land is laid up for hay one often finds that in good grazing districts the fields which feed the best are never mown. Effects of Long-continued Use of One Type of Manure. —The herbage of all kinds of land adapts itself to the treatment

it regularly

receives.

It may

break

away

occasionally in abnormal seasons, as much of it did in 1921, and it then takes several seasons to recover. There are many series of experimental plots on the manuring of meadow hay which show clearly what long-

continued treatment of one type resultsin. ‘The oldest plots

Manuring of Mowing Land

71

are to be found at Rothamsted. There is not the space here to refer to more than one or two plots, but the results are summarized in a book by Dr. W. E. Brenchley. Other meadow hay plots which have been continued

for a long time are to be found on a totally different kind of grass land at Garforth, on the Experimental Farm of the University of Leeds; there are others at Cockle Park, Northumberland, and Saxmundham, East Suffolk.

Amongst other plots which have been regularly mown and manured in the same way for longer or shorter periods is the series started at Cirencester in 1888. The best results when both quality and yield are taken into account are obtained when well-balanced manuring, including the application of a suitable nitrogenous

manure, is adopted. Manuring with phosphates alone or with potash added improves the quality but may or may not increase the yield. Unbalanced manuring with nitrogen alone increases the yield but does not improve the quality; in fact the quality generally deteriorates— often very quickly—under such treatment.

The effect of long-continued (since 1898) applications of the same manures to poor grass land short of lime at

Garforth is shown in the table (p. 73). The upper portion of the table shows the general

composition

of the un-

manured herbage on Plot 1; it consists roughly of onethird each of good and bad grasses and weeds. ‘The best plot, both as regards yield and quality, is No. 6, where well-balanced artificials alternate with farmyard

manure. Farmyard manure without artificials on Plot 3 improves the quality of the grasses but scarcely reduces the weeds.

Balanced

artificials alone

do

not give as

good a yield as farmyard manure, and the quality is about

the

same.

The

artificial

nitrogenous

manures

alone are inferior to the other manures so far as yield is concerned, and very much inferior when quality is

72

Grass Land

considered. The addition of superphosphate helps to balance the manuring, and improves both quality and quantity.

The picture is very much changed as soon as lime is applied. The yields are scarcely any heavier, but the quality

is wonderfully

improvement seen on many

improved.

A

similar

striking

due to the application of lime is to be of the Rothamsted

meadow

hay

plots.

The most striking plots in both these series are those receiving sulphate of ammonia.

‘This manure

tends to

make the soil acid, and its repeated use on the same land without the addition of lime results in a very poor coarse

herbage in which are to be found bare patches growing practically no grass at all.

In fairness to the nitrogenous

manures, and particularly to the sulphate of ammonia, it should be explained that the management of the herbage on these meadow hay plots has been distinctly against these manures. The first crop has been mown— often rather late—and the aftermath has not always received the hard grazing necessary. Sulphate of ammonia should not be used regularly on grass land unless lime and phosphates are also regularly applied, and unless special attention is given to keeping down the aftermath. Need for Nitrogenous Manures.—In spite of the tendency of nitrogenous manures to encourage certain weeds the best yields of hay cannot be obtained without them. Much of our mowing land is starved for want of nitrogen. Any bad effects it may have on the quality can be overcome to a large extent by balancing the manuring, and with a properly balanced manure

it is usually possible

to increase the average yield by about 50 per cent. from grass land which without manures gives about one ton of hay per acre.

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74,

Grass Land It is not advisable to use sulphate of ammonia every

year on grass land unless it is limy or chalky;

it may be

used alternately with nitrate of soda or nitrate of lime. The nitrates do not increase the acidity in the soil. ‘The Cirencester results showed that on limy land the sulphate of ammonia suppressed the weeds. The Use of Farmyard Manure.—The best results are

usually obtained where farmyard manure is used. It is not advisable to use it every year, especially if it is of good quality, as on most soils it tends to produce a coarse and weedy hay. This was well illustrated when some of the rearing farms turned their attention to milk and produced, because of purchased feeding stuffs, a better farmyard manure. The old practice of manuring the same fields for hay every year was continued with disastrous results in some cases. Like other nitrogenous manures, farmyard manure requires the addition of phosphates and lime, not further to increase the yield, but to maintain good quality. On many farms with a fair proportion of arable land

better returns from the farmyard manure are probably obtained when it is used for the arable crops, and unless unusually large supplies are available it should be reserved for arable crops. On farms which are all, or almost all, grass the farmyard manure should be used on grass land reserved for hay, but it should not be used on the same land every year. The mowing land should be divided into two, three, or four lots which receive the farmyard manure in turn.

The Use of Liquid Manure—On

should

too many farms the

best portion of the manure for forcing on hay crops runs

to waste. Where liquid manure tanks are in existence and in working order a most useful supply of nitrogenous fertilizer for the hay crop is available. When liquid manure is not diluted before use it should

Manuring of Mowing Land

75

be applied during a wet or showery time. If applied when soil and herbage are dry it ‘ scorches ’ and checks the growth, if undiluted, especially in spring. The

effect of liquid manure

in producing weediness

is rather greater than that of farmyard manure, and it is therefore very important to balance it with phosphates and lime. As in the case of farmyard manure, it should not be applied to the same land every year; but the liquid manure cart should deal with a certain proportion— one-half, one-third, or one-quarter of the mowing land each year.

Use of Potash on Mowing Land.—The amount of potash removed in a good crop of meadow hay is high in comparison with that removed in most other crops. It is more important to apply potash to grass land regularly mown than to grass land always grazed, especially if no farmyard or liquid manure is available. The cheapest source of potash will serve for grass land; at the present time kainit or potash salts will usually be chosen and can be broadcast or drilled any time during autumn or winter. The importance of including potash on certain soils is clearly demonstrated on meadow hay plots in East Sussex, where phosphatic manures without potash have given very poor results. Systematic Manurial Treatment of Mowing Land.—It is usual to take a rather short-sighted view of this question of manuring for hay. Scarcely ever does one find any

kind of regular

and

rotational treatment of grass

land for the hay crop, and yet the results of such treatment are profitable and very beneficial to the farm as a whole. The question, ‘What shall I do for the next hay crop on this field?’ is asked quite frequently, but rarely is one asked to suggest a treatment which can be

76

Grass Land

adopted year.

as a regular part of farming practice every ‘The best results are not obtained by a few spas-

modic efforts to improve the crop at more or less frequent intervals, but by regarding one section of the grass land as set aside specially for the production of hay and treating it so as to obtain the best yield consistent with good quality.

For those wintering a large head of stock in

store condition a bulky yield is important. producing

chiefly winter milk

good

For those

quality is equally

if not more important. In general where farmyard manure is available in moderate quantities it will be found convenient to use this material on one-third of the hay land each year at the rate of say six to twelve loads per acre. A suitable phosphate applied at a rate equivalent to 5 cwt. of 30 per cent. slag per acre once in three years will balance the farmyard manure and maintain good quality.

This treatment is used with success at Cockle Park. On

many

soils it will be found profitable to give

1 to

1% cwt. of nitrate of soda or nitrate of lime in the year when neither farmyard manure nor phosphate is applied. The treatment of each area of mowing land could then be: Ist year — farmyard manure (or liquid manure). and year — a phosphate. 3rd year — nitrate of soda or nitrate of lime. On soils which are liable to become short of lime one ton of ground quicklime or two tons of carbonate of lime once in six years will be a sufficient application

of lime, provided the land is in fairly good condition when the treatment is started. When no farmyard manure or liquid manure is available for grass one cwt. of nitrate of soda or nitrate of

lime may be used every year (end of April), and the phosphate together with four cwt. of kainit once in three

Manuring of Mowing Land

77

years. Sulphate of ammonia may be used alternately with one of the nitrates if preferred; it should, however,

be applied earlier in spring. Treatment of Aftermath—No point is more important in the treatment of land regularly mown

than the close

grazing of the aftermath. Keeping down the grasses after mowing gives the clovers a chance and helps to check any tendency to coarseness. The treading and consolidation of the land is also very beneficial. Cattle or mixed cattle and sheep should be used, as sheep alone do not graze so satisfactorily. The Effect of Time

of Cutting on the Quality of the

Hay and on the Character of the Sward.—Recent work has shown conclusively that the nutritive value of hay cut late when

the plants are over-mature and have set

ripe seed—much of which is moreover lost in handling— is far less than when the hay is cut at the commencement

of the flowering of the chief grasses.

The greatest harm

from late cutting is, however, the progressive deteriora-

tion of the sward which such a practice, continued year after year, leads to. Large and coarse herbs like hogweed, hard heads, and to a greater extent still ox-eye daisy thrive in proportion to the length of unhampered

growing season which they are allowed, and are thus much

favoured

by

a late

hay

harvest.

Grasses

like

Yorkshire fog and soft brome (or ‘lop’ grass), when once they have flowered ripen their seed very rapidly, and they also shed their seed easily and freely. When hay is cut late, therefore, enormous quantities of the seeds of these grasses are scattered over the meadows, and it is only necessary for a very small proportion of such seed to give rise to established plants each’year for the herbage soon to become completely dominated by whichever of

these inferior grasses suit the conditions best. Further, it should be emphasized that late cutting of hay of course

78

Grass Land

makes for reduced after-grass, and there is some evidence for thinking that it also tends to delay the commencement of active growth in the following spring.

The Effect of Date of ‘ Putting Up ’ to Hay on Yield and Quality.—In districts where ‘ grass sheep’ enter predominantly into the scheme of farming the flocks frequently have access to the hay fields until the end of April or even

well into May. This is undoubtedly a contributing factor which in part accounts for the low average yields of hay in such districts, for recent trials have shown that fields

‘put up’ to hay in February yield very appreciably heavier crops than those ‘put up’ inApril. Late ‘ putting up’ to hay also much delays the hay harvest, for usually hay ‘put up’ late is allowed to grow to an advanced stage

of maturity with a view to compensating as much as possible for the necessary reduction in yield. It is, however,

realized

by some

flock masters

that

a highly nutritive hay can be produced by ‘ putting up ’ late and cutting at a normal date.

The effect is then

the same on quality as putting up early and cutting early, that is to say, a ‘ herby * or more or less immature product will be taken. In this case the yield will be slight but the quality excellent, the more so because the late grazing will have had a depressing effect on the coarser and shade-producing grasses, and thus the hay will consist more largely of the finer grasses and white clover—an admirable hay for wintering ‘ grass sheep ’, but not an easy hay to secure in good condition.

The above is not a practice that can be wholly recommended,

for, particularly

in a dry

spring,

the heavy

early grazing will be bad for the sward, and if a dry summer intervenes the hay crop will be found wanting.

VIII

THE

INFLUENCE OF THE ANIMAL

GRAZING

The Grazing Animal a Necessity for the Maintenance of Grass Land.—It should be borne in mind that one of the chief influences always operative on grass land is the grazing animal, which is to be considered the environment with as great an effect on of the herbage as the nature of the soil conditions. In some respects, indeed, the

as a factor of the character and climatic grazing effect

may be greater than that of these other conditions. If it were not for the stabilizing influence of the animal most of our British grass lands would gradually pass into other

types

of vegetation.

The

better

classes

would

revert to scrub and thence to woodland and the poorer to heath or moor associations. When competition between plants is unhampered by constant or intermittent grazing it is usually the taller,

vigorous and more shade-producing plants that will gain the mastery and which will crowd out the smaller herbage species. It will frequently be noted that on waste places tall

oat grass and cocksfoot are often very abundant, and that both species are there represented by large and tall plants. It is, however, a well-known fact that tall oat grass is rarely met with on permanent pastures which are kept closely grazed, while cocksfoot on old grass lands is more frequent on fields from which hay is periodically taken than from those regularly grazed. The effect of the grazing animal is to keep down the larger grasses and to permit the smaller ones to compete with them on more level terms. It is, however, only

80 Grass Land plants with very special characteristics which are able to withstand grazing and which are therefore able to flourish on swards. Of the grasses it is those either with a creeping habit, such as the bent grasses, or which have the capacity of producing numerous small leaf shoots as well as the larger flowering shoots, which stand the conditions best. ‘Thus grasses like tall oat grass and many of the commercial strains of cocksfoot and perennial

rye-grass, which develop excess of large flowering shoots, do not remain long on pastures, but indigenous strains of the two latter grasses in which leaf shoots often pre-

dominate are capable of a long grazed pastures. Of the clovers, creeping habit withstands grazing the many branched extra-late red

life even on heavily wild white with its by far the best, while clovers and the many

branched wild reds maintain themselves under pasture conditions better than the broad or early reds. The

miscellaneous plants which form dense rosettes on the ground and are creeping in habit, like daisies and some of the buttercups, are particularly suited to sward conditions—while rosette plants without a creeping habit,

like hawkweeds and ribgrass, are also typical pasture plants. The ability of plants to maintain themselves under the influence of the grazing animal also depends in no small degree on whether the flower heads are eaten or whether the seed is permitted to develop and ripen,

and there is no doubt that the abundance of crested dog’s-tail and of herbs like daisy and buttercups on pastures is due to the fact that stock do not eat the inflorescences of these plants. The Effect of Grazing on the Herbage at Different Seasons of the Year.—Larly Spring —The elongation of the shoots of grasses usually commences during April, and it is the first fresh growth that is so keenly sought after by stock. Amongst the first grasses to start are tall

Influence of Grazing Animals

81

oat grass and tall fescue, and these are soon followed by the earlier strains of cocksfoot. Perennial rye-grass is usually a little later, while Timothy, although a lateflowering grass, starts active growth fairly early in the

spring. Very heavy grazing at this time of the year has a particularly adverse influence on the persistency of such of the early starting grasses as chiefly develop flowering shoots, that is to say on tall oat grass and on the commercial strains of cocksfoot, and this is greatly accentu-

ated by the extreme palatability of both grasses during this period. It is probable that the persistency of all grasses is adversely influenced by heavy grazing early in the spring.

The ill effect is, however, to a considerable

extent counterbalanced by rational manuring, while the indigenous strains of perennial rye-grass and other native plants freely associated with high-class permanent grass are able in a marked degree to adjust themselves to the conditions by their capacity for the production of secondary leaf-shoots. There is not the least doubt, however, that on poor soils, and particularly in dry years, heavy grazing in

April may do untold harm and may be directly responsible for an enormous spread of daisies and other weeds— a result which may take a long succession of very favourable seasons to rectify.

In deciding upon the degree of intensity of early spring grazing that may be desirable it is also necessary to consider the question of the weeds that may be present

and the question of the summer grazing. Certain weeds, perhaps in particular hard heads and ragwort, are checked and maybe finally eliminated by heavy early grazing (by sheep) conducted over a succession of years.

The question of the relation of spring grazing to summer

grazing

is a difficult one.

The

must, however, be clearly kept in mind. 3307 L

following

points

A plant is both

82

Grass Land

palatable and nutritious in proportion as the growth is fresh and in no sense of the word mature. On the other hand,

the greatest bulk of produce

will be developed

during the season as a whole when the growth is not repeatedly or very heavily grazed back, but is allowed to reach and maintain itself at a fair stage of maturity. Thus in proportion as the grazing is heavy so will the gross yield be reduced, but the nutritive value and palatability of the smaller amount of herbage given all

through the season will be very considerably increased. It follows that the grazing in April and early May must

not be too light or the herbage will grow right away from the animals and for the whole of the rest of the season may remain just too mature to be of high palatability or of high nutritive value; the subsequent grazing is

then sure to be highly selective and the pasture will become coarse, benty, and patchy. Summer.—Most grasses come into head towards the end of May or early June and make rapid growth up to the time of hay harvest. The grasses on a pasture will always develop into a hay crop in miniature, and it should be the aim of the grazier to make the miniature

hay crop as light as possible. When grasses have come into head the period of most active growth comes to an end, and it is a well-known fact that there is usually a fall in the productivity of pastures at about hay time. Except during periods of drought it is almost impossible to graze pastures too heavily when once heading has fairly commenced and throughout the whole period associated with heading and flowering.

Within reason

the heavier the grazing at this time the more abundant, the more palatable, and the more nutritious will be the herbage offering during the later summer and autumn— this is practically the only season of the year when the grazier can both ‘ eat his cake and have it’.

Influence of Grazing Animals

83

Autumn.—Just as the quality and quantity of the summer herbage is largely a result of the methods of grazing adopted in the spring, so is the quality and quantity of the autumn herbage very largely a result of the methods adopted during the summer.

It is a remarkable but quite definite fact that grasses ‘winter burn’ in proportion to the bulk of herbage stand-

ing on the fields when cold and frost first begin to be felt. If the growth is fairly tall the whole may go brown and burned almost in a night—while if the herbage is relatively short it will stand green long into the winter. It thus follows that in order to maintain useful and nutritious herbage into

the late autumn and winter fields should not be allowed to grow too long and mature during the late summer but should be kept reasonably well grazed during that period. The old practice of allowing fields to run to ‘ foggage ’ to provide for winter involves a great deal of waste, and it is hard to see a reasonable justification for it. It is still tenaciously held to by individuals in some districts,

but it certainly does not appear method

to be an economic

of dealing with an abundant aftermath.

It is

rapid-growing aftermath more than any other herbage that needs to be well grazed during the autumn. Grazing should start comparatively soon after removing the hay crop, and only a short herbage should be allowed to

run into the late autumn and winter. Winter—The only appreciable herbage available to stock during the winter will be that provided by such grasses as produce abundance of leaf shoots in the autumn. Such grasses are perennial rye-grass, rough-

stalked meadow-grass, and to a less extent crested dog’stail. The active harm done by hard grazing as such at this period is more or less negligible on permanent grass.

Great harm may, however, be done if the condition of the ground is not fit to carry stock.

84

Grass Land

The Control of the Grazing Animals ——Under ordinary extensive methods of managing stock there is of necessity very selective grazing and much

undue

treading.

herbage is wasted by

A less wasteful method

to adopt is

intermittent grazing, and this is particularly applicable to regions of high rainfall where the growth from grass is usually excessive and well maintained throughout the season. ‘The ideal method is to tether the animals, and

it should be noted in passing that this is the plan not only followed on small holdings in the Channel Islands but is regularly adopted even on permanent pastures over considerable areas and on large farms in the south of Sweden.

Farther north in Sweden

and in Norway

the practice is growing of dividing large areas into folds of about an acre or two acres in size and regularly rotating the animals over about four or five such folds. There

can be no doubt that the feasibility of the adoption of more intensive methods of grazing on a rotation basis should be very seriously considered by the British grazier. The Effect of Grazing with Sheep alone —All classes of stock

are somewhat selective in their grazing ; sheep choose the finest ‘ bottom’ herbage and graze it very hard. For this reason grass land which is continuously and heavily grazed with sheep tends to lose those grasses which depend on a certain freedom in growth—especially early in the year—and which are favoured by mowing conditions. Amongst these are cocksfoot, tall oat grass, and tall fescue, and it is interesting to note that on pastures which have carried sheep for generations, e. g. Romney Marsh, grasses like cocksfoot are somewhat uncommon. The chief herbage plants on those sheep pastures are perennial rye-grass, crested dog’s-tail, and wild white

clover, whilst on some of the pastures, especially those which are not quite first class, sheep’s fescue and red fescue take a more prominent position.

Influence of Grazing Animals

85

Grazing with sheep alone is only satisfactory in those

cases where the herbage consists almost entirely of the dwarfer grasses and clovers and where sheep will graze regularly and evenly; even then great care and skill

has to be exercised in controlling the grazing and moving sheep from field to field at the right time. Romney Marsh sheep are perhaps the least selective of British breeds, and they have been known

down fairly rough herbage (not on the Marsh) way one expects store cattle to do it.

to graze

in the

Even when sheep graze uncultivated, unenclosed natural grass land it is noticeable that they select certain patches

and scarcely touch others; small patches in amongst the untouched rough bent are kept closely grazed right through the season. Sheep only take one portion of the useful herbage on ordinary grass land;

in the Cockle

Park trials the liveweight increase (output of meat) per acre on experimental plots is very much higher (in some cases almost double) where cattle are grazed in addition to sheep. Cattle therefore find a great deal of ‘ keep’ which the sheep never use. For golf courses, fairways, and greens, and for cricket

fields, on which the coarse grass is kept in check by mowing, sheep are the ideal grazers. It will be obvious—indeed, it is a fact well known to most farmers—that sheep-grazing on new pastures in the year of sowing or early in the succeeding spring is liable to do considerable damage if carried too far.

Some of the most serious deterioration in grass land in this country is traceable to the fact that, in order to increase the ‘run’ for flocks of sheep, the fences have not been kept up. In the absence of control the effect of selective grazing becomes each year more accentuated

and consequently the poorer land deteriorates increasingly rapidly.

86

Grass Land It is a very common practice to save the aftermath of mowing fields for the sheep, partly in order that they may enjoy a change of land. Without denying that for purposes of health sheep require more change of land than other farm animals, it ought perhaps to be pointed out here that grazing with sheep alone is not the best treatment for the aftermath. Wherever sheep are used

for that purpose a certain number of cattle should be added. Grazing with Horses alone—The worst grazers amongst

farm animals are horses. With them selective is more pronounced than with sheep. Not only confine their attention to the finest patches of on the field, but they proceed to make those other

grazing do they herbage patches,

already deteriorating through want of grazing, still worse

by excessive manuring.

They do not graze those areas

on which they leave their dung, so that the herbage on

these

gets

coarser

and

coarser.

Probably

the

most

difficult grass fields to keep in good condition are horse

paddocks,

especially those in connexion with hunting

and racing establishments, where practically the only animals kept are horses. Valuable brood mares and their offspring are not expected to pick up a big propor-

tion of their food from the grass, so that the grazing is still more selective. The patches of coarse grasses, chief amongst which are cocksfoot and tall fescue, get larger

and larger until the effective grazing area may be reduced to less than one-third of the whole area. It is impossible to cure the roughness completely so long as the grazing is confined to horses. Cattle can and should be used to pull off as much of the coarse grass as possible,

but in order to ensure that it is kept down full use should be made of the mowing machine.

The mowing should

be commenced in June or early in July and repeated if necessary later in the season. Both for the sake of the

Influence of Grazing Animals

87

astures and of the health of the horses enough grass land should be available to allow of a portion being rested for a year or two and either grazed with cattle or mown—preferably

the

former.

On

the

ordinary

farm

where stock of all kinds are available mixed grazing, mowing, and harrowing will keep the rough patches in check.

There is one good point about horse grazing, and that is that during a drought horses will graze to rough grass such as tor grass, which is not effectively by other classes of stock. After a 1921 such rough land grazed bare by horses

condition artificial Grazing than any selective

the ground tackled so season like is in ideal

for improvement by the application of suitable fertilizers. with Cattle alone—Store cattle are better grazers other single class of farm stock. They are less in their grazing, and their habit of pulling off

quite coarse grass which happens to contain some particularly palatable plants such as wild white clover is of

great value when grass land is in process of being improved by manuring.

Neither heavy milking cows nor

fat cattle should be expected or forced to depend coarse poor herbage

and

former and condition in the latter case;

but if obliged

to do it either milk cows or fat cattle will graze selectively than sheep or horses.

Mixed Grazing —From mixed

grazing

on

thereby sacrifice milk in the less

the point of view of grass land,

is best, as it ensures

not only

a fuller

utilization of the herbage but results in more even grazing and therefore greater improvement.

In every case

cattle should be used. Horses and sheep graze closely the same types of herbage and both neglect the coarse grasses. ‘The introduction of cattle is the best corrective for the ill effects of horse or sheep grazing.

Grazing with Pigs —Within recent years the number of

88

Grass Land

pigs run on grass hasvery much increased.

In many cases

comparatively small enclosures are used chiefly as runs for pigs. Where grazing with pigs is done intensively the grass quickly becomes over manured in such a way that the stronger grasses predominate and the herbage in the runs becomes extremely coarse, large tufts of

cocksfoot being particularly prominent.

Liming

and

keeping down the herbage by mowing will give the grass

a chance when it is not required for pigs. Less intensive grazing by pigs need not do much harm, and may do a great deal of good if the pigs can be pre-

vented from rooting. They do least damage as a rule on land well covered by wild white clover. They

should not graze grass newly sown

down

and

intended to be permanent until a good sward of wild white clover has been established. Poultry on Grass Land.—As in the case of pigs, when poultry receiving concentrated foods are kept intensively on grass runs the tendency is for the grass to get coarse

and for strong grasses such as cocksfoot to develop in tufts. It is customary for poultry pens to be limed regularly, and if accompanied by repeated mowings this method probably affords the best chance of keeping passably good grass. When poultry have an unlimited run they often improve rough areas of grass land, especially if they are encouraged

to distribute themselves over the area and

not to spend all their time in one particular place.

IX

RENOVATING

GRASS LAND WITHOUT PLOUGHING

T often happens that certain fields which have gained notoriety under arable cropping find themselves under a crop which is really an apology for a ley. They may be very heavy fields, they may be wet fields, or they may be short of lime, but for some reason are regarded as not worth further expenditure of money and labour in an effort to grow arable crops, and the farmer, thoroughly determined not to plough them again, may decide to do the best he can to convert them into passable grass land. In a few cases his decision may be right; some land can be renovated, without ploughing, quickly and well. In most cases, however, it would be far better to plough

and to deal with them according to the recommendations in the next chapter.

Many cases of a thin poor turf can in time be made good without ploughing,

and a large number

are renovated in this way every year; fundamental

principles

on which

of fields

but some of the

success

depends are

so often lost sight of, with disappointing results to the farmer, that they are discussed here. At the same time it is not intended

renovation;

to encourage unduly this method

of

usually, wherever ploughing is at all pos-

sible, a quicker, better, and more lasting result is obtained by ploughing out and re-sowing.

The marvellous results often obtained by introducing wild white clover into a pasture are now well known and fully appreciated. Every one knows what a difference the inclusion of wild white clover seed can make in a mixture sown under proper conditions, but the expensive 3317

M

90

Grass Land

seed of this most valuable plant is often asked to do the impossible. Of all the possible reasons for the nonappearance

of wild

white

clover

in

a poor

herbage

several years old the absence of seeds or plants of this clover is one of the least common. Wild white clover is indigenous to most of our soils, and the plants can be encouraged by suitable treatment, but it is not a bit of use sowing the seed whilst the conditions or the treatment are unsuitable. First make sure that the soil conditions are right and then decide whether or not to sow the seed. Thin Turf on Old Grass Land.—On grass land which has been down for a number of years a thin poor herbage practically always points to bad soil conditions. It is very little use relying on seed alone for a satisfactory improvement, although a so-called ‘ renovating mixture ’ will often hasten the improvement once the soil is put right.

On heavy land when the grasses are of inferior quality, and where drainage is not too bad, the soil trouble will usually be deficiency in phosphates. On light sandy land the trouble may be want of lime. Sowing grass and

clover seeds may give rise to new plants for a year or two if the seasons are suitable, but they will not last, and the herbage will quickly revert to its former condition. The first steps to take in renovating a poor thin old turf are usually manurial. Once the lime or the phosphates, or whatever

else may

be necessary,

have been

applied, then renovating seeds mixtures may be sown with some hope of success.

On some occasions seeds have been broadcast without attempting

to cover them, and have in suitable seasons

‘hit’ well. It is, however, preferable whenever possible to try and work up a little tilth. Grass seeds will frequently germinate fairly well on the surface provided

Renovating Without Ploughing

gI

there is sufficient moisture, but clover seeds should be covered lightly with soil. It is not always easy to produce a tilth on the surface of old grass land, even when the herbage is very thin. Ordinary harrows, disk harrows, and rejuvenators have all been used with varying degrees of success, but the

main consideration is always catching the soil with the right degree of moisture. Ordinary straight-toothed harrows newly sharpened are probably as successful an implement as any other in most cases. Harrowing once or twice before sowing and again after sowing followed by rolling will frequently ensure a sufficient covering for

the seeds if the soil conditions are right. Treading

the seeds in with sheep is another method

which has frequently been adopted with success ; although it has been successful when soil and season have been suitable it is not to be recommended for general use. Thin Turf on Newly Sown Land—Perhaps the commonest cases for which renovating mixtures are required are those in which a partial failure of the first sowing has been experienced, or where it is desired to fill in the gaps in the second or third year of a short ley and provide

a turf suitable to leave down permanently. Here again in so many cases it would be far preferable to plough out and start afresh, but these thin leys can be patched up quite successfully and advisers are often asked what methods to adopt and what seeds mixtures to use. The thin turf in these cases may not be due to soil

troubles at all. It may be due to the fact that originally a one-year ley was sown and was not intended to remain down

permanently;

or it may

be due to a

large pro-

portion of the original seeds failing due to drought or any of the other troubles which beset young seeds. When the land has been previously well farmed as arable land and there is no reason to believe that it is

92

Grass Land

short of either lime, phosphates, or potash, one can proceed at once to prepare a tilth and sow the necessary seeds mixture. It should be remembered, however, that an adequate application of phosphate is always desirable, and often essential to the establishment of permanent

grass, so that if phosphates were not applied liberally when the original seeding was made they should applied before sowing the renovating mixture.

be

Methods of Seeding —One method of introducing new seed in an endeavour to thicken the turfis all too frequently

practised but is not to be recommended. It consists of allowing the first crop to ripen and shed its seed either before or at the time of cutting. This process has in many cases been repeated for two or three years. During this time any hay obtained from the land has

been of little value. their seeds plants

Every one knows that in ripening take nutriment

from leaf and

stem,

and the portion made into hay is little better in quality than straw. The most serious objection to this method of seeding, however, is the very limited selection of plants obtained. The earliest naturally predominate since they will ripen seed first. When one of the very common one-year leys is thus allowed to shed its seed, most of the grass seed

produced is Italian rye-grass, perhaps the most unsuitable of all grasses for the purpose. It is not a permanent grass in itself, but, what is worse, it checks other useful

plants which are more permanent and which would help to produce a permanent sward. Another important objection to these self-sown renovating seeds is the fact that many of the weeds and weed grasses also seed early and seed well—thus helping to propagate the most useless part of the original inade-

quate herbage. It is much easier, quicker, and more satisfactory to

Renovating Without Ploughing

93

build up the sward by introducing at once the seeds of those plants which are required, and which under proper treatment

will persist

long

enough

to ensure

a good

sward. Seeds to Introduce.—What to sow will depend to some extent on what the herbage consists of in the first place. If it is desired to build up permanent grass from a oneyear ley which

would

not

contain

seeds

of cocksfoot,

Timothy, or wild white clover, then those would be three important plants to be added. If the original ley contained only Italian rye-grass and red clover, then perennial rye-grass should also certainly

be included in the renovating mixture. Again, ifordinary broad red clover was the only strain of red clover used, then a persistent strain of late-flowering red should be introduced with the renovating mixture. The most important ingredient in a renovating mixture

is usually wild white clover, and this should always be the first seed chosen where plants of wild white are not obviously establishing themselves well in the existing herbage. There are, however, cases where wild white spreads rapidly in one or two years, especially when encouraged by applications of phosphates. Cases are often met with where the white clover is good and is

rapidly filling in the gaps, but where the grasses are distinctly weak, consisting principally of some perennial rye-grass, Yorkshire fog, bent (Agrostis stolonifera) and perhaps soft brome; in such cases the addition of cocksfoot and Timothy is most desirable. It is therefore impossible to lay down hard and fast rules on the mixture of seeds to use for renovating a thin turf. Each case must

be studied

on its merits

and

an effort made

to

approach the type of sward one gets from a good permanent grass mixture (see Chapter XIV). It may be pointed out that large, light grass seeds are

94.

Grass Land

more difficult to cover on land where there is little or no

tilth then

clovers;

heavier

seeds such

as Timothy

and

the

Timothy is a particularly useful grass to use

in renovating mixtures. Italian rye-grass and early red clover should not be included in such mixtures, and

except in special cases there is no need to introduce seeds other than those mentioned above. Time of Sowing.—In most districts spring sowing 1s safer than autumn sowing.

It has been shown, however, that

early spring sowing does not suit all species. ‘The best time to renovate will usually be in spring—end of April or in May according to season and district—at such a time that a small amount of tilth can be worked up by harrowing. In order to give the newseedlings the best possible chance it is usually wiser to mow the first crop in the year of sowing.

The old herbage will protect the young seeds by

acting asa ‘nurse’ crop, whereas grazing might be unduly hard on the seedlings. Grazing for a time immediately after sowing is sometimes recommended, as it ensures still further consolidation of the land, which is certainly all

to the good in the case of dry open soils. the seeds may be grazed,

Subsequently

but not too severely the first

year or in the spring of the second year, and not when the land is so wet that it treads badly. If the renovated field is grazed in the second and later years, care should be taken to keep down by mowing any of the older herbage which is inclined to get coarse or is refused by stock.

Perhaps mention might be made here of one method which was commonly practised in the past, but which would

scarcely

be

applicable

to

modern

conditions.

The possibility of introducing new plants, and particularly wild white clover, into poor grass land in need of renovation was fully appreciated by our forefathers.

They adopted a system of grafting by collecting turves

Renovating Without Ploughing

95

consisting chiefly of white clover from roadsides or other places where white clover abounds and either planting them at intervals in the grass field or breaking them up and distributing the portions over the field and working them in by harrowing and rolling. ‘This practice was

common in many districts in this country.

x

PLOUGHING AND IMMEDIATE RE-SEEDING EFERENCE has been made earlier (p. 41) to the mechanical treatment of grass land, and it has been shown that the benefits of such treatment, supported by proper manuring, are often considerable. On many types of sward, however, improvement can only be brought about slowly by such methods. It has now been definitely established by trials conducted on rather an extensive scale in Wales, and by more

recent trials conducted

elsewhere,

that excellent

swards can be achieved on certain classes of soil by ploughing down the old turf and sowing a seeds mixture on the upturned sod either with or without a covering crop. The fact that seeds can be sown

successfully on an

upturned sward is important in many ways. In the first place it affords a ready means of improving inferior grass land, and in the second it facilitates the substitution of a sequence of productive temporary leys for the permanent grass land of a farm. In connexion with the trials in Wales it has been frequently noted that the mere ploughing of the old sward and the incorporation of basic slag with the soil are competent to produce quite definite results. That is to say, when the growth recommences an improved

natural sward develops—wild white clover will usually gain rapidly on the ground and the herbage generally takes on a fresher appearance and is more palatable to stock. When the ploughing and manuring are supported by an adequate seeds mixture the improvement is of

Ploughing

Q7

course much more rapid, more certain, and more lasting.

It is necessary to emphasize, however, that an important factor influencing the success of this method is the fact that ploughing constitutes the most efficient means of aerating the soil, breaking and largely destroying the

old mass of roots, and encouraging the better of the natural or volunteer species in the sward. The method is applicable to swards that have become dense and matted, and which usually occur on land that has not been under the plough in recent memory, and also to old leys that have been allowed to run out but which occupy land of fairly high potential fertility. In

the former case the best results are not usually obtained until the field has been dealt with a second

time;

in

the latter case the procedure presents practically no difficulties, and on friable soils in regions of high rainfall a complete transformation is but the work of two or three months.

Inferior Grass on Neglected Land.—We may deal first with inferior grass land on land that has been neglected

but has not been allowed to revert to acompletely derelict condition—land which is not densely covered with gorse, bracken, or thorn, and on which the herbage consists chiefly of bent, but usually contains a little white clover and crested dog’s-tail. The usual procedure adopted in Wales has been to plough in March or April—to plough as deeply as possible compatible with turning the turf completely over. As soon as the ploughing is completed, harrowing, which should be in the direction of the furrows, is commenced, and a liberal dressing of basic slag (not less than 6 cwt. of high-grade slag to the acre) is applied with the last

stroke of the harrow before or after sowing.

It is impor-

tant to get a tilth of at least two inches in order adequately

to cover the seeds, which should be covered by frequent 3327

N

98

Grass Land

harrowing with a peg harrow. Consolidation is very important, and the field should be alternately harrowed and rolled before sowing, and thoroughly rolled as the last operation. On land of this sort care should be taken to guard against buried seeds of weeds like charlock and spurrey, and if these are abundant the sowing of the ‘ seeds’

should be postponed until a few preliminary tilths have been prepared and the weed seedlings destroyed by harrowing. When the old sward is full of the creeping thistle land should not be dealt with in this manner, but should be put through a complete rotation and thoroughly cleared. When the sowing is deferred until May or June, rape constitutes an admirable covering crop—fields sown in May under rape are usually ready for a preliminary light grazing in August.

Excellent results have also been

obtained by sowing in April or early May under a first and only corn crop. When it has been possible to bury the turf properly and to obtain a reasonably good tilth, a comparatively expensive seeds mixture is justified. The best results have always been obtained when wild white clover in generous quantity (1 lb. to 3 lb. per acre) has been included in an otherwise cheap and simple mixture. On land of the type under consideration where there is not

an

excessive

mat

or

accumulation

of humus,

although applications of lime before sowing have shown good results and have helped to maintain the new sward for a prolonged period, success is by no means

always

dependent on preliminary liming, and under the influence of slag alone greatly improved swards have been maintained in excellent condition for periods of at least five years. There are, of course, many types of poor t The question of seeds mixtures for this purpose is discussed in

Chapter XIV, p. 140.

Ploughing

99

sward on soils with a high lime requirement where success could not be obtained without the addition of lime (see also Chapter V, p. 55). The

procedure

outlined

above

may

be

subject

to

several modifications. For instance, the ploughing may be undertaken during the winter—which will make it easier to prepare a tilth in the spring—but during open winters there is some risk of the old turf growing up in the furrows, while winter ploughing is objected to by the grazier in hilly districts on the score that he thereby loses winter keep. Again, autumn ploughing may be substituted for spring or winter ploughing, when winter oats or winter rye can be sown and after severe harrowing on the cereal crop the seeds mixture introduced in the spring. In some districts rye has been autumn sown and spring grazed, and then the seeds sown immediately after the heavy grazing.

Most of the trials in Wales have been conducted on upland farms on fairly friable soils, but there would seem every reason to suppose that success could be achieved on heavier classes of soil and in other districts. ‘Thus Mercer and Carr undertook the improvement of a small farm in the smoky district of Cheshire adjoining Yorkshire and Lancashire. The soil is of drift (mixed glacial) origin and, although it was originally neither so acid nor so poor as the coal measures or millstone grit soils which abound in that industrial area, it had suffered

considerable damage from the smoke and fumes. The grass land had reverted to the ‘ benty’ acid soil type, and the top soil was abnormally acid. Old grass on this farm was ploughed out and grass and clover mixtures sown. Some lime or waste lime and phosphates were applied and a good and quick result was obtained. The method even under such disadvantageous conditions appears to have answered well.

100 Grass Land Derelict Grass—Completely derelict land, almost devoid of leguminous herbs and largely colonized by tufted sheep’s fescue and tufted bent, and either more or less overrun with heather, gorse, or bracken, can also be dealt with. The

gorse must be burned and the larger roots dug out, the bracken cut, and the heather burned. Deep ploughing is very desirable, and it is on land of this sort that applications of lime are likely to be of such material assistance, and where basic slag becomes an

absolute necessity. Since land of this type is both poor and late it is advisable to winter plough, as there will not be much risk of the old turf growing, and the natural weathering of the sod will facilitate the preparation of

a tilth in the spring. An expensive seeds mixture is not likely to be justified when absolutely derelict land is first taken in hand. It would often be wisest to take a first crop of oats and to sow with the oats a mixture

consisting chiefly of Italian and perennial rye-grasses, the seeds of both of which are not only cheap but competent to establish themselves on a poor tilth. To this mixture might be added a certain amount of late-flowering red clover. The field should be treated only as a pasture for about two years after the removal of the oats —the aim being to keep it grazed as heavily as possible in order to keep down the bent and other natural plants which will tend rapidly to recolonize the sward—but the fresh growth of which will be surprisingly palatable to sheep. After about two years the field would be reploughed, re-slagged, and sown down with a simple pasture mixture consisting largely of wild white clover. It is of interest to note in passing that quite recently experiments have been successfully conducted in Sweden, in the direction of ploughing and immediately re-seeding quite heavy land that is more or less completely waterlogged in winter. ‘The operation must be conducted as

Ploughing

IOI

soon as the land permits of ploughing, so that a fair sward may be developed during the dry months. It should be emphasized that improvement by break-

ing and immediate re-seeding can often be undertaken without seriously affecting the organization of a farm.

The ploughing has not to be undertaken at any particular time and can usually be performed under weather

conditions when normal cultivation would be impossible. There are also innumerable fields which are too steep or inaccessible to be brought under a regular rotation,

which could be ploughed at infrequent intervals—particularly if the ploughing did not also involve the harvesting and carting of a bulky crop, which contingency does not arise when the fields to be improved are sown down under rape.

Speaking generally, it is undoubtedly those fields which in the past were kept at least periodically under the plough—fields of far from negligible inherent fertility and which have become practically worthless entirely from neglect—that afford the greatest scope for improvement by the methods briefly outlined in this chapter.

XI

TEMPORARY

GRASS

T is not always easy to distinguish between temporary and permanent grass. As far as the enclosed farm lands of Britain are concerned a very large proportion

of the so-called permanent grass has in the past been either sown down or allowed to ‘tumble down’ to grass.

All sown leys will ultimately tend to develop into

a sward indistinguishable from the older grass lands of the district, and it is frequently almost impossible to discriminate between fields that have been sown down for about ten years and those that have been down for over twenty. Properly understood, temporary grass should be regarded as purely artificial—that is to say, as representing a sward having a definite character which has been as

definitely aimed at—and when by natural processes the desired characteristics have been obscured, in most cases

the sward should be ploughed, or otherwise be regarded rather as permanent than temporary grass.

Value of Temporary Grass.—The point to be emphasized is that temporary grass has certain distinct properties which render it quite different from permanent. Broadly speaking, temporary grass starts growth earlier in the

spring than permanent—in some districts quite three weeks earlier—and maintains growth longer into the autumn.

On the average temporary grass also produces

heavier yields of hay than permanent, and the hay contains a much lower proportion of weeds and undesirable herbage. It is a common saying amongst farmers who manage their holdings largely on a temporary ley basis, that young leys graze better than older leys, and older

Temporary Grass leys

better

than

permanent

grass.

103 This

is perhaps

particularly true as applied to farms upon which

con-

siderable flocks of ‘ grass’ sheep are maintained.

It is

not necessarily to be supposed that even high-class temporary grass will show a greater carrying capacity

than the most famous pastures of the country—but even in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire really wellestablished and properly managed leys would probably give a longer grazing season than the best of the pastures. In regions less well adapted to first-rate permanent

pastures there can be little doubt that temporary grass is more productive than permanent. The outstanding virtue of artificial grass is the scope it affords for extending the grazing season—and there is nothing towards which grass land management can aim

with greater hope of achieving success than lengthening the grazing season. Duration of Temporary Leys.—In most districts where the temporary ley has become an important feature of

the system of farming the leys are not designed for any particular period of time, are not as such rotated on any definite plan, and are too often left down until they have long passed their productive artificial stage. In most districts, and certainly in those subject to reasonably high rainfall, it is now possible, by resort to proper treatment and a sensible seeds mixture, to establish leys that

will remain almost uniformly productive for periods up to or exceeding six years. It may, however, be a sound working principle that the longer the left down over about four years the less will ageregate productivity and the less easy will

taken as leys are be their it be to

provide grazing during the late autumn, winter, and the particularly critical months of March and April. Italian rye-grass 1s pre-eminent for producing winter and spring keep, but it is not a very satisfactory ingredient in long-

104.

Grass Land

duration leys, so that this period of the year should be largely catered for by one-year grazing leys. Italian rye-grass and red clover provide keep at two exceedingly

important periods, the clover late in the autumn of the seeding year and again in July and August of the first harvest year. Fields designed to carry one-year ryegrass-clover leys when ploughed should be seeded to 4-6-year grazing leys with wild white clover and no

red clover. Thus the long-duration grazing leys (without red clover) and the one-year grazing leys (with red clover) would be rotated over the farm and the risk of clover sickness by that much obviated. Cocksfoot caters admirably for late April and early May

grazing

and

also

produces

abundant

throughout the summer and into the autumn. known,

however,

that cocksfoot

is far more

grazing

It is well abundant

under meadow than pasture conditions, and if heavily grazed early in the spring year after year will soon thin out and disappear. ‘Thus if maximum spring productivity is desired from cocksfoot grazing leys they should not be left down for longer than four to five years. Perennial rye-grass is wonderfully winter green, provides excellent winter grazing, and usually forms a sound

basis for leys of a more general-purpose nature. Any considered plan for extending the area of temporary grass on a farm should cater for hay and pasturage separately—or at all events it would generally be wise to

allocate certain leys to hay and others to grazing, while it might be necessary or convenient to allocate yet others to the dual purpose. Temporary Grass Plants.—Of the grasses, cocksfoot and Timothy are probably our two best temporary ley hay

producers, especially if it is desired to maintain productive hay leys for upwards.of four years’ duration. Of the legumes, lucerne and sainfoin on soils and under

Temporary Grass conditions

which

suit them

105

far surpass

red

clover

as

long-duration hay producers. These are four plants which if heavily grazed early in the spring, particularly in April, will not only fail to produce maximum hay yields but will suffer in respect of persistency, and it is

largely for this reason that these plants when required for hay should be grown specially for the purpose under conditions favouring maximum hay production year after year.

On

land suitable for lucerne

this plant sown with

cocksfoot will give surprisingly heavy yields of hay—two cuts a year—for a period of years, and there is little doubt

that with proper attention to details—lime, sheltered fields, inoculation, and eradication of weeds—such leys could be established over a wider area in Britain than is at present thought possible. By virtue of its late maturity Timothy fits in admirably with late-flowering red clover, and the two together are capable of yielding heavy crops of hay for at least two years.

When cocks-

foot is made to contribute largely to a hay ley definitely treated as such very heavy crops of hay can be anticipated for at least four years, and this is particularly the case

if the ley is adequately manured, for there is probably no grass which responds to heavy manuring more readily than cocksfoot.

If it is desired to maintain cocksfoot meadows in full productivity for the longest possible period it is essential to cut the hay decidedly early, and this constitutes an additional reason for putting such meadows up to hay early.

Requirements of Temporary Grass.—A sequence rotation

of temporary

leys

taken

over

the

whole

or

the

greater part of the ploughable area of a farm carries with it certain important general advantages, but such

a procedure also makes quite definite demands on the resources of the farm. 3307 O

106 Grass Land In the first place, it is necessary for access to water to be provided to all the fields—a matter which often presents difficulties in essentially arable districts. In the second place, if any rational system of rotation grazing is to be instituted the fences must be stock-proof. These are difficulties, however, which can in many cases be surmounted. It will be obvious also that if it is desired to maintain a fair proportion of relatively short-duration leys, and not at the same time to put very much land

through a more or less definitely arable rotation, it will be necessary to some extent to establish new leys on the upturned sod of those which have been ploughed out, and thus the methods discussed in a previous chapter are of considerable significance in this connexion. Improved Fertility due to Temporary Grass.—It is freely

stated in these days that a great deal of the farm land of Britain has been allowed to deteriorate, and this is undoubtedly very largely true; but it is very doubtful if this

state of affairs will be suddenly altered by the adoption of heroic, albeituneconomic, methods. Thegradualextension of the temporary ley and the slow and steady substitution of temporary for permanent grass would, however, exercise, and has in fact already begun to exercise, a pro-

found influence on the fertility of large tracts of land. The continuous ploughing down of swards while yet

full of wild white clover cannot but tend to build up the fertility of theland; but the extent of the benefits resulting from this procedure will largely depend upon the adoption of a fairly intensive system with a courageous ploughing down of swards before they have deteriorated to a serious extent. ‘Thus, from the point of view of ultimate fertility and of producing maximum herbage, it is in districts where the fertility is low, and where temporary grass cannot be maintained

at maximum

productivity

for long periods, that it is so essential to work on the basis

Temporary Grass

107

of relatively short-duration (say not more than four years) rather than

definitely long-duration

leys.

It is at all

events desirable to do so until fertility has been considerably enhanced, when it might be found possible to extend the life of the leys without seriously sacrificing either soil fertility or herbage productivity. From the national point of view districts farming on the temporary rather than on the permanent grass basis would be in a condition far more favourable for a sudden turn to crop production on normal arable lines in case of emergency, for not only would the general standard of fertility be higher but a far larger proportion of the fields would be in a suitable condition for ploughing and high farming, while at least a nucleus staff of competent and practised ploughmen would be available for the work. Outside Scotland, it is of course in parts of Wales and the West and North of England that the temporary ley has become more or less associated with the systems of farming adopted, and where a more intensive system of temporary leys may be advocated with very complete

confidence.

This is not to say, however,

that it is a

system that is not applicable to considerable areas in the South and East of England, even under conditions of

low average rainfall. It is obvious of course that if failures of ‘ take’ became almost the rule rather than the exception—and in regions of high rainfall they are certainly the exception—any system demanding fairly large annual sowings of grasses

and clovers could not possibly become an economic success. With a better knowledge of the precautions to be taken when sowing it is by no means certain, however, that failures of take need be inevitable. It is at all events encouraging to know that successes have already been obtained in Norfolk with simple mixtures consisting of cocksfoot and wild white clover, and it is probable

108

Grass Land

that further trials with plants like lucerne, kidney vetch, and

selected

strains of red fescue and

other

drought-

resistant plants will eventually show the way to establish reasonably productive medium-duration leys on soils and under climatic conditions in relation to which the system as a definite practice is at present almost untried or is tacitly assumed to be unworkable.

AIT

THE

CHIEF

HERBAGE

PLANTS

T will be convenient, before discussing the question of seeds mixtures and sowing land down to grass, to give brief particulars of the agricultural and economic properties of the chief herbage plants. It is beyond the scope of this book to attempt to describe the grasses and clovers from the botanical point of view—the reader desiring information to assist him in the identification

of the commoner herbage plants should consult suitable works.+ The Grasses.—Practically all the grasses found growing in Britain are to some extent eaten by stock. They vary very much, however, both in their palatability and productivity, but the value of any particular grass will depend

very largely upon the conditions under which it is grown and with what other species it is associated. Thus there are very few species of grasses that can be classified as utterly useless weeds in the sense that charlock is. No attempt is therefore made to group the grasses into two classes, ‘ valuable’ and ‘ worthless’, but each species is

dealt with separately and on its merits. ITALIAN RYE-GRASS (Lolium italicum).—Normally Italian rye-grass is a true biennial, but if kept grazed and prevented from seeding it can continue to occupy the ground for quite two years, although becoming rather thin and stunted by the second year.

No grass

establishes itself more readily from sowing than Italian rye-grass:

usually

it grows rapidly, and when sown under corn

provides

appreciable

fodder

in

1 Flora of the British Isles, Bentham and Hooker Agricultural Botany, John Percival (Duckworth).

the

stubble.

(Macmillan) ;

110 Grass Land Perhaps the greatest value of Italian rye-grass is for autumn, winter, and early spring keep; it has a wonderful capacity for recovery after grazing, and except in exposed situations and during periods of severe weather it is capable of very appreciable growth during the whole winter period. This property of Italian rye-grass has led to it being sown with crops like kale intended to provide keep for sheep during March and April; with oats and vetches to provide autumn grazing after the main crop has been harvested; and with an ordinary oat crop to provide stubble grazing.

Italian rye-grass does not give as heavy a hay crop as perennial rye-grass, but it is more leafy in the hay, stands very much better, and gives a heavier aftermath. When included in seeds mixtures for longer leys, and

if allowed to grow strongly during the first autumn, winter, and spring, this grass tends to have a smothering effect on the clovers and on the slower growing grasses.

When, on the other hand, young leys are heavily grazed during the initial stages, Italian rye-grass, by virtue of its rapid growth and high autumn and winter palatability, acts as a protection to the plants which establish themselves more slowly.

In order to get the best results from Italian rye-grass for grazing—and there is little doubt that this is its most important use—fields should as far as possible be stocked intermittently.

PERENNIAL RYE-GRASS (Lolium perenne).—On poor land the ordinary commercial seed of perennial rye-grass often gives rise to plants which behave almost like

biennials. Considerable development of leaf shoots takes place in the first autumn, and this is followed by a heavy but distinctly stemmy hay crop with a decided tendency to become badly lodged, and a poor aftermath. On

Chief Herbage Plants

III

good land and on natural pastures perennial rye-grass is a long-lived perennial producing an abundance of leaf shoots every autumn and a large crop of stem shoots every summer. It is a wonderfully winter-green grass

and provides very appreciable late autumn and winter keep, but is inferior to Italian rye-grass in this respect. Perennial rye-grass comes into active growth fairly early

in the spring, but as a rule does not provide very good summer grazing.

Like Italian rye-grass, it establishes itself exceedingly well from sowing. On most situations it is an important ingredient for temporary mixtures. It should be realized, however, that there is a considerable difference between the best indigenous types of this grass, such as are to be met with on the famous pastures of Leicestershire and

Northamptonshire, and on natural swards generally, and the plants derived from ordinary commercial seed. The former are usually the longer lived and more leafy, and it is fairly certain that perennial rye-grass taken with wild white clover from the Weald and elsewhere would prove to be of great value for longer duration mixtures and for use on poor land.

COCKSFOOT

(Dactylis glomerata)—Few

grasses are

capable of such rapid growth as cocksfoot when once the growing season has fairly started. It is a grass which winter burns rather early in the autumn, and unless well

grazed at this season rapidly becomes unpalatable.

In

any event it cannot compare with the rye-grasses for the production of winter keep. Although it is highly nutritious, cocksfoot contains rather more fibre than most

other pasture grasses, and

on this account it should

always be kept heavily grazed during the summer, when

it is capable of providing an abundance of highly palatable fodder. Like other grasses which make rapid growth fairly early in the spring, it should not be too

I12 Grass Land heavily grazed just at first, or the persistency of the plants will be seriously impaired. Cocksfoot provides both bulky and leafy hay and also produces an abundance of highly leafy aftermath. It is a common mistake in the management of cocksfoot to

cut the hay too late, as a coarse and fibrous product will result and the plants will be weakened by ripening seed. It is equally a mistake to leave the aftermath too long ungrazed, for it rapidly becomes over mature and unpalatable, and when winter burned is likely to be almost entirely neglected by stock.

TIMOTHY (Phleum pratense).—This is an exceedingly valuable hay grass, but produces only a poor aftermath. It is decidedly winter green, and provides appreciable winter and spring keep, although it does not start into

active growth until the season is well advanced. Timothy does not establish itself as well from sowing as the rye-grasses and cocksfoot, and is also rather sensi-

tive to severe competition. It is therefore seen to best advantage when used as the dominant element in mixtures, and is of particular value on peat and on wet situations generally. TALL OAT-GRASS (Arrhenatherum avenaceum) —If sown in sufficient quantity this grass produces perhaps heavier crops of hay and aftermath when grown alone than any other species.

It starts active growth in the spring earlier

than most other species, and at this period is highly palatable to stock.

If too heavily grazed the plants are

soon killed, while if not heavily grazed the product rapidly becomes stemmy and unpalatable and will be neglected by stock. The seed is large and expensive, and requires a very heavy seeding to ensure a dense stand, and consequently is but seldom to be recom-

mended, and only for inclusion in mixtures for special purposes such as for hay production on soils in dry situations.

Chief Herbage Plants TALL

FESCUE

(Festuca elatior)—This

113 is a coarse

grass which is not palatable to stock, and although making very early growth in the spring and providing leafy hay and aftermath it is not to be recommended

for general use.

‘The seed is expensive and has a very

poor capacity for establishing itself under field conditions.

On natural grass land it is met with most abundantly on poor pastures on very heavy and intractable clays,

but even on such barren wastes does not appear to be particularly palatable. MEADOW FESCUE (Festuca pratensis) —This is a decidedly

productive

grass which

gives rise to a more

leafy hay than perennial rye-grass, and also to a more abundant aftermath and a more plentiful summer grazing. It is not, however, so productive during the winter and

early

spring.

Meadow

fescue

capacity for establishing itself, and

has

a very

poor

is also decidedly

sensitive to competition. If included in mixtures it should therefore be employed as a dominating element

and sown generously. It is probable that its use should be restricted to fertile land. MEADOW FOXTAIL (Alopecurus pratensis).—This is a decidedly

leafy

and

nutritious

grass,

but

is not

as

palatable as some of the other valuable species. As a hay plant it has the disadvantage of coming into flower rather too early. On natural grass land it does well under moist conditions. The seed is expensive and usually ofrather low viability, while it is always fickle and uncertain in establishing itself; in consequence its use in seeds mixtures is not generally to be recommended.

GOLDEN of the seed viability puts in mixtures. 3317

OAT-GRASS (Avena flavescens).—The price of golden oat-grass together with its low this species out of the question for inclusion This is to be regretted, for it makes very P

114

Grass Land

early growth in the spring, contributes in good measure to the hay crop, and from sowing succeeds on a wide range of soils and remains persistent for a large number of years. YORKSHIRE FOG (Holcus lanatus)—To the credit of Yorkshire fog at least can be placed the fact that it is decidedly winter green, and when not dominant in a pasture has a certain value for sheep during the dead season.

In the hay crop it matures too early and is prone

to become herbage

excessive by self-seeding, and when

is plentiful

the hairy

leaves

other

of this grass are

neglected by stock. Thus Yorkshire fog in abundance may always be regarded as a sure sign of deteriorating grass land. Considerable quantities of Yorkshire fog are still annually sown as an impurity in the rye-grasses,

but we can at all events congratulate ourselves on the fact that the seed of this grass is not regarded as a commercial commodity in this country, and that it is officially designated an ‘injurious weed ’.

THE BROME GRASSES (Bromus, spp.) —A number of brome grasses are used for the production of fodder on the Continent and in America, and it is possible that Schrader’s Brome (Bromus uniloides) might be valuable for the production of autumn and spring keep in sheltered situations in some districts of Britain. In this country soft brome or ‘lop’ grass (Bromus mollis et spp.) is abundant on meadows, especially on light and calcareous soils. It is, however, an early maturing and hairy grass, rather poor in leaf production, and is probably of decidedly less value even than Yorkshire fog. In company with the latter grass it is still

often sown in excessive amount as an impurity in the rye-grasses. ROUGH-STALKED MEADOW-GRASS (Poa trivialis). —When fairly established this grass is remarkably winter

Chief Herbage Plants

115

green, and although it does not make the same growth as the rye-grasses it provides very appreciable keep during the winter and early spring, but is not very pro-

ductive during the summer. Rough-stalked meadowgrass makes a more considerable contribution to hay than is generally realized. With wild white clover it rapidly develops a dense sward and is an important factor in suppressing weeds. Under conditions of high rainfall it succeeds

alike on thin and fertile soils, and

should be regarded as an important ingredient in longduration temporary mixtures.

SMOOTH-STALKED MEADOW-GRASS (Poa pratensis). —This is the ‘ blue grass’ of the famous Kentucky pastures. It thrives particularly well on calcareous soils, and under conditions of low rainfall and summer heat. It is not nearly as winter green as rough-stalked meadowgrass, but on soils that suit it it is undoubtedly a valuable pasture

grass.

SWEET VERNAL GRASS (Anthoxanthum odoratum).— This species is not particularly palatable to stock during the spring and summer, but is winter green and readily eaten by sheep during the dead season. It thrives under conditions of moisture, and is often quite abundant on peat. The commercial strains are not so productive and leafy as the indigenous, and the seed is often of low viability and not very reliable; hence its inclusion in seeds mixtures is not usually to be recommended. THE FINE-LEAVED FESCUES (Festuca ovina et spp.). —The fine-leaved fescues of commerce are very variable, and

consist usually

of Ghewing’s

fescue

(a variety

of

Festuca rubra), sheep’s fescue (F. ovena), and hard fescue. Of these the last is a very early, very stemmy, and entirely unproductive

grass

that

should

never

be

included

in

mixtures. ‘The true sheep’s fescues are of very doubtful value except perhaps on dry and barren land. Chewing’s

116 Grass Land fescue on the other hand is a decidedly productive grass which when once established is undoubtedly persistent. The fine-leaved fescues as a whole are not, however, particularly winter green, and when growing in a mixed

herbage of good quality they are amongst the least palatable species. Chewing’s fescue probably has a certain use for mixtures for poor and infertile soils, particularly perhaps under dry conditions.

CRESTED DOG’S-TAIL (Cynosurus cristatus).—This is one of the commonest species on British grass lands. It is abundant

on sheep pastures, is decidedly winter green,

and is readily eaten by sheep except during the period of flowering. The flowering stalks are at all times neglected, and thus self seeding occurs to a considerable extent—to an extent that is not to be desired in the better classes of pasture. Individually the plants are not productive, but on soils where perennial rye-grass does not succeed it is a valuable pasture plant.

It is a mistake to suppose

that crested dog’s-tail does best on or is particularly well suited to dry conditions '—it is often luxuriant on

peat and is certainly more at home in Wales and in the West of England than in the eastern counties; and generally it is altogether more abundant on clays than on sands. THE BENT GRASSES (Agrostis spp.) —Taking our British grass land as a whole the bents unfortunately contribute more than any other grasses to the herbage. Individually the plants are not particularly productive, although this is not perhaps true of some of the forms of Agrostis alba, of which the American variety ‘ Red Top ’

is an example of a productive and valuable bent.

The

1 It is a noteworthy fact that although large quantities of crested dog’s-tail have been included in mixtures sown in Kentucky and other middle and southern States in the United States, this species is practically never met with on the pastures in such areas,

Chief Herbage Plants

117

bents have a very short growing season;

moreover, they

become excessively winter burned and do not start active

growth until late in the spring.

Although they provide

an appreciable amount of herbage during the summer and early autumn these grasses are seldom very palatable

when growing in a mixed sward, and it is largely the ageressiveness of the bents on our most inferior pastures

that makes the radical improvement of such fields so difficult.

The Clovers and Related Plants——The clovers have a very special importance on grass land, for not only are

they intrinsically more nutritious than the grasses but by virtue of their ability to utilize the nitrogen of the air

they enhance the fertility of the soil and actually tend to encourage the growth of the grasses, which are always more productive when growing in combination with clovers than when growing alone. RED CLOVER (Trifolium pratense) —There are three main varieties of red clover:

wild red, broad or early

red, and late or late-flowering red. WILD RED CLOVER.—Most of the strains of wild red clover in this country flower very early, have small leaves, small flower heads, and rather woody stems. Wild

red clover is sometimes plentiful in fields periodically cut for hay, particularly on rather heavy soils. It is not, however, to be regarded as a plant of the same immense value as wild white clover. EARLY OR BROAD RED CLOVER.—The strains and nationalities

belonging

to this group

flower about

ten

to fourteen days earlier than the late reds. They start growth much earlier in the spring, and though they do not produce as heavy a hay crop as the lates they genert It is satisfactory to find that the seed trade has begun to give up the use of the term ‘ Cowgrass’, which had been variously and indiscriminately applied to both the early and late red clovers,

118 Grass Land ally provide considerably more aftermath. ‘Trials in progress at Aberystwyth have shown also that the generality of the early reds do not withstand heavy grazing as well as the lates, while in any event the early reds seldom

persist in any quantity into the second harvest year. Good

English strains are generally superior to foreign.

Seed from Italy and from the South of France is in particular not recommended for use in this country.

LATE RED CLOVER.—The late red clovers not only withstand heavy grazing better than the earlies, but may generally be relied upon to maintain themselves in considerable amount

into the second harvest year.

Extra

late strains, of which the true ‘ Montgomery red’ and ‘Cornish marl’ are probably the only representatives in this country, are extra late to flower, extra persistent, and extra resistant to hard grazing. These strains often persist in leys for three or more years. Of foreign lates,

the Swedish

late is probably

the best suited

to this

country and is a very productive strain, though a good English strain, from the eastern counties or Gloucester-

shire, is to be preferred. exceedingly

American

mammoth

gives

heavy hay crops in the first harvest year,

but from the grazing point of view has the disadvantage of being excessively hairy.

ALSIKE CLOVER growth this clover clovers; but whereas fair aftermath if cut Alsike is at all times

(Trifolium hybridum)—In habit of somewhat resembles the late red the late red clovers will yield a very at the commencement of flowering, a very poor producer of aftermath.

Alsike succeeds well on damp situations and on peat, and may persist in moderate amount for two or three years. This clover also does very well at high elevations in

regions of high rainfall.

Alsike and late red clover should

never both be sown in large amount, as they compete very

unfavourably with each other.

The former clover should

Chief Herbage Plants

119

usually be sown in small amount, as itsometimes succeeds when the red clovers fail, and only in quantity when it is

known that late red clover does not succeed. YELLOW SUCKLING CLOVER (Trifolium minus).— This clover is strongly indigenous in the grass lands of the West of England and Wales, and is often regarded as of great value for fattening sheep in aftermath. Although

an annual, it perpetuates itself by abundant re-seeding. It is doubtful if it should be included in seeds mixtures, and in any event it is largely sown as an impurity in

wild white clover. WHITE CLOVER (Trifolium repens). — 'The difference between ‘white Dutch’ (ordinary commercial white) and ‘wild white’ is somewhat similar to that between the early and late red clovers. Thus ‘ white Dutch ’ flowers earlier than ‘ wild white ’, and is not nearly so persistent

as the wild clover. are no absolute

It is of course unfortunate that there botanical

characteristics

by means

of

which ‘ wild white’ can be distinguished from ‘ white Dutch’, The former strain tends to have smaller seeds, smaller flower heads on shorter stalks, smaller leaves and

thinner, more close-growing stems, which are more branched and more freely rooted to the ground. White Dutch

clover is valuable

for sowing

one- or two-year

leys for sheep grazing, but for all ordinary mixtures for upwards of two years’ duration wild white clover should always be the strain included.

Indeed, wild white clover

should be regarded as the pivotal ingredient for all longduration mixtures.

LUCERNE (Medicago sativa). —Lucerne is undoubtedly one of the most important of fodder plants. On soils that suit it there is probably no crop that can produce the same bulk of nutritious fodder over a three- to sixyear period. There is little doubt that the area of successful lucerne production could be greatly extended

120 Grass Land in this country. The essentials to successful cultivation are an adequate supply of lime, the selection of sheltered fields, the elimination of weeds during the early establish-

ment of the ley, and attention to inoculation on fields where the crop has not been previously grown.

‘ Pro-

vence’ has proved to be the most generally successful strain for use in this country.

Recent trials, however,

have suggested the value of ‘Grimm’

(an American

strain resulting from a natural cross between M. sativa

and M. falcata), especially for rather poor conditions, while ‘ Provence’ once-grown in Essex has also given promising results. TREFOIL (Medicago lupulina).—Trefoilis an annual which makes vigorous growth, particularly on calcareous soils and in regions of moderate to low rainfall. The seed is cheap and has consequently been extensively used

in seeds mixtures.

On the non-calcareous shales of west

Wales

practically

the

plant

never

establishes

itself,

although during the past 25 years tons of the seed must have been sown. If included to excess on soils that suit it there is some risk of trefoil having a smothering effect on wild white clover and the finer bottom grasses.

SPOTTED

MEDICK

(Medicago

maculata).—This

is

a vigorous growing annual with a strongly burred fruit,

and is undoubtedly an undesirable plant on grass land. SAINFOIN (Onobrychis sativa).—Sainfoin makes very valuable hay, especially for blood stock. It grows to perfection on calcareous loam. The giant or French sainfoin gives two heavy crops of hay in the first harvest year, but does not usually long persist. The ‘ old English’ gives a single crop per annum, but under good management may remain productive for five years or even longer. t It is doubtful, however, if even the relatively favourable climate of Essex will allow of the regular production of lucerne seed as a particularly remunerative undertaking in this country.

Chief Herbage Plants

12]

KIDNEY VETCH (Anthyllis oulneraria) —This legume grows vigorously on sandy soils; it is, however, seldom long-lived and does not withstand heavy grazing early in the spring. THE BIRD’S-FOOT TREFOILS ((a) Lotus corniculatus).—This is a very generally distributed plant on British grass lands, and on poorer classes of land is to be regarded as a very welcome leguminous herb which responds freely to phosphatic manures and is undoubtedly palatable to stock. It has been used in Denmark and Sweden with considerable success in seeds mixtures, and is to be recommended for trial on soils where for one reason or another

success cannot be assured with the late-flowering red clovers.

(b) Lotus major—The

giant bird’s-foot trefoil has in

recent years been used with great success on marshy land in both New Zealand and Tasmania. It has been found that it grows into and amongst the rushes and thus encourages cattle to browse on these coarse plants, which are thereby reduced. The seed is now a commercial commodity in New Zealand, where it is largely

grown for seed. ‘This is a species which should be given serious trial in this country. Miscellaneous Herbs.—A limited number of plants other than grasses and clovers are sometimes included in seeds mixtures. The following are the most important: CHICORY (Cicortum Intybus).—Chicory forms a rosette of succulent leaves during the winter and early spring, and early in the summer sends up a stoutstem. The plant is rather troublesome in the hay, but the young leaves afford valuable grazing early in the spring. Although chicory is a plant of calcareous soils, it succeeds well from sowing on a wide range of soils, and on certain classes of

poor land is undoubtedly a valuable pasture plant. 3317

Q

122

Grass Land

BURNET

(Poterium Sanguisorba).—Burnet establishes

itself freely on dry and thin soils, and the young leaves

are readily eaten by sheep. It is a plant which tends to grow hard and woody, although it is valuable during periods of drought, under which conditions it often tends to crowd out more valuable species.

YARROW (Achillea Millefolium).—Y arrow is indigenous on most grass lands, and the leaves are palatable to stock, but like burnet

stems.

the older plants

tend

to have

woody

The seed is expensive, and it is very doubtful if

it should

be included

in mixtures;

indeed,

when

so

included it often becomes excessive when it is neglected and can only be regarded as a weed. RIBGRASS (Plantago lancelota)——The leaves of ribgrass are eaten by sheep to an appreciable extent, particularly in the winter and early spring. Ruibgrass is

plentiful on British grass lands, and the seeds are a common impurity in red clover. It grows well on very dry and poor soils, and the seed is perhaps of some value for inclusion in mixtures

on land too dry and

which to establish a satisfactory ley.

poor upon

ALT

SOWING

LAND

DOWN

TO

GRASS

HE successful establishment of a new sward, whether temporary or permanent, depends as much on the

proper preparation of the land and the exercise of reasonable precautions at the time of sowing the seeds, and for a few months subsequently, as upon the nature of the actual seeds mixture employed. Preparation—Every endeavour should be made to ensure a clean seed bed. Annual weeds like charlock and spurrey, if in excess, have a smothering effect on seeds,

while a number

of perennial weeds like the creeping

thistle, buttercups, and the bent grasses, if abundant on

arable land and not eradicated before the grass seeds are sown, will tend rapidly to develop on the young ley. Annual weeds can be destroyed by repeated harrowing before sowing,

and when

these are abundant

it is not

advisable to attempt to sow the seeds mixture too early in the spring. The ill effects of annual weeds can also be largely obviated by sowing the seeds mixture in the spring on an autumn-sown cereal; such weeds are weak in the autumn

and can be largely destroyed by adequate harrowing. In preparing the land for a seeds mixture, proper consolidation is a most important necessity, and on land liable to be very loose it is a mistake to suppose that this can be achieved by rolling only. Alternate harrowing and rolling is the best means of consolidating the surface soil. Too much harrowing on an autumn-sown cereal crop may do harm to oats, but there is less risk of damage to barley or to most varieties of wheat. If, however, the

mixture is for a long-duration ley or permanent grass,

124

Grass Land

the ‘ seeds ’ are of more importance than the nurse crop, and the latter may be sacrificed to some extent for the sake of a good take of ‘ seeds’. In the case of spring-sown cereals used as a nurse, and particularly when

the first ploughing

is deferred until

the spring, the ploughing should not be too deep.

Con-

solidation should in such cases be provided for as far as possible when preparing the seed bed for the cereal crop.

On light open limestone or chalk land where the roots are eaten off by sheep, particular care should be paid to areas which have been frost-bound during folding, for it is sometimes difficult to get satisfactory consolidation on such breadths for the barley and seeds. Manures.—In order to ensure a good sward the land

should be in a fertile condition—indeed, when deciding upon a seeds mixture it is almost more important to have an accurate knowledge of the degree of fertility of

the land than of the nature of the soil as such. It should always be remembered that no matter what seeds mixture is sown a certain and often large proportion of the

resulting

sward

will ultimately

species that are indigenous or These will be species the spread grass land conditions and which by the fertility of the land as by in competition

with

them.

consist of unsown

proper to the district. of which is favoured by will be affected as much the actual species sown

‘These

indigenous

species

do not only consist of undesirable plants like buttercups, daisies, the bent grasses, and Yorkshire fog, but certain highly valuable species, notably wild white clover, perennial rye-grass, and rough-stalked meadow-grass, are strongly indigenous in some localities; in other localities species of decided value, like crested dog’s-tail, bird’sfoot trefoil, and yellow suckling clover, are almost certain sooner or later to contribute in large measure to the sward, whether sown or not.

Sowing to Grass It is, however,

wild white

125

clover and

rough-stalked

meadow-grass of the valuable species that usually make the earliest voluntary appearance on sown leys. Both are species of great value, since they combine to create a good sole to the sward and to suppress undesirable plants. Well-conceived manurial treatment not only tends to

assist the development of the sown species but also favours the spread of the desirable rather than of the undesirable unsown species. The chief aim of the initial dressings should be to ensure a good clover plant. If a good take of clovers is assured, and if these are properly cared for during the seeding and first harvest years, a measure of fertility will be attained which will react in an unmistakable manner on the grasses.

In regions

of high rainfall, for instance, it is generally to be noted that where a good clover root has been established roughstalked meadow-grass makes an early voluntary appear-

ance, and with wild white clover rapidly colonizes the bare ground. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance to apply phosphatic manures to young leys—while on soils palpably deficient in lime there is nowhere in the rotation that lime will show

to better advantage

than when

incor-

porated with the soil previous to sowing a seeds mixture, particularly in the case of long-duration leys. On soils deficient in potash a potassic fertilizer will frequently greatly assist the establishment of a clover root. Ordinarily speaking, nitrogenous manures should not be applied to a crop when a seeds mixture is sown with

it.

The only exception to this rule is a one-year ley con-

sisting largely of red

clover intended

for a hay

crop.

Recent trials at Rothamsted and in East Suffolk have demonstrated

the

value

of farmyard

manure

on

red

clover leys for hay when the dressing is applied in the

126 Grass Land autumn of the seeding year. In such cases the dung is probably of added value as affording a certain amount of protection to the young plants during the first autumn. Taking

the country as a whole, it may probably

be

said that basic slag or equivalent phosphatic manure may be regarded as a remunerative dressing to be applied to every new ley—the important question being, when should the application be made?

If the land is in highly fertile condition and contains abundant nitrogenous residues from the dressings for the previous crop, a phosphatic manure should always

be applied at the time of sowing, as this will tend to counterbalance excess of nitrogen and assist the cereal crop to stand. On very poor soils of low fertility, and in practically all cases when seeds mixtures are sown without a covering crop or under rape, and are intended for use only as pastures and can be carefully grazed as and when seems

necessary, it is also usually preferable to apply the phosphatic manure at the time of sowing the seeds. ‘This is, however, of the greatest importance on very poor soils upon which early establishment of the seedlings appears

to be considerably assisted by the previous application of a phosphatic manure. Date of Sowing —The seeds of most grasses and clovers require fairly warm conditions for germination, and as both seeds and seedlings are small they are more sensitive to either drought or great excess of moisture than cereals. Thus herbage seeds cannot be sown as early or as late in the year as the cereals so frequently used as covering crops. It is only possible to lay down general rules, perhaps

the most important of which is that grass, and more especially clover, seeds must always be sown early enough in the growing season to have become fairly established

before the continued wet conditions of winter set in.

Sowing to Grass

127

Thus although it may be quite safe to sow grasses and clovers on dry soils and in regions of low rainfall in the

South and East of England in August, and in exceptional years even later, yet in regions of high rainfall such as prevail in Wales and most of the North and West of England it is likely to be somewhat risky to defer sowing later than about the middle of June. Some species are, however, much more sensitive than others to late sowing,

the clovers being altogether more sensitive than the majority of the grasses, while of the grasses the two ryegrasses are the least sensitive to conditions and therefore to date of sowing. Although excellent results may frequently follow from sowings

made

in March,

yet in many

districts, at all

events, the soil is then likely to be too wet and cold, particularly for the smaller seeded species, like Timothy, rough-stalked meadow-grass, white and alsike clovers, to establish themselves satisfactorily.

Except in regions

of very low rainfall it is therefore probable that April should be regarded as the safest month for sowing herbage seeds. The Covering Crop.—When mixtures are sown under cereals

it is important

not

to sow

the corn

crop

too

thickly and to choose a variety with a good standing ability such as Record in the case of oats, and SprattArcher in the case of barley. Rape makes an excellent covering crop and can use-

fully be employed when it is desired to have a long period in the spring for cleaning foul land. The seeding of rape should not usually exceed 5 lb. per acre, and the crop should be grazed off before it is full grown. It is better to convert the rape by a few intermittent grazings, rather than by turning in a large flock only when the rape has developed into a heavy and smothering crop. In regions of high rainfall excellent swards can be

128 Grass Land achieved by sowing in May or June without any covering crop. Methods of Sowing.—It is imperative that even the smallest seeds should be properly covered, and this is of particular importance in the case of the clovers. The question of the methods of sowing grass and clover seeds has been investigated in some detail at Aberystwyth,

and it has been found that even such small seeds as rough-stalked meadow-grass give better results when slightly covered than when left uncovered on the surface. Larger

seeds like those of red

clover and

perennial

rye-grass will stand coverings of 4 to # inch perfectly well.

It was found that the roller as a covering imple-

ment did not adequately cover even the smaller seeds. The spiked chain harrow and light peg harrow proved to be the most effectual covering implements—covering the vast majority of the seeds to a depth of about 4 inch. When

seeds are broadcast it is most advantageous to

sow on a harrowed surface or on the surface left by a Cambridge roller, and to cover with a peg harrow or a spiked chain harrow (pegs downwards). ‘The operation should always be completed by heavy rolling.

It is impossible to cover seeds properly unless the soil is quite dry at the time of sowing, and this is probably a point to which sufficient attention is not given.

It is

very doubtful if it is necessary or desirable to sow the ‘ large-seeded * and ‘ small-seeded ’ species of a mixture separately, for even Timothy and rough-stalked meadowgrass

appear

to do

better

when

covered

by

a chain

harrow than when rolled only. If separate sowings are made the ‘ heavy seeds’ should be covered by the peg harrow and the ‘ light seeds’ by the chain harrow, but a single sowing

under

the

chain

harrow,

followed

of

t The chain harrow recommended for covering seeds is a spiked chain harrow such as the Parmiter.

Sowing to Grass

129

course by heavy rolling, would seem likely to give almost equally good results.

In some districts the practice is growing of sowing seeds with a corn drill with special seeder attachments. Although under certain circumstances this method has

some decided advantages, it would not seem to be a practice to be generally recommended. In the case of longer-duration mixtures consisting of the seeds of the smaller as well as the larger plants, the distance between the coulters is undoubtedly too great. Bad ‘ takes’ often result from sowing on an autumn

cereal in the spring. When drilled the mistake is frequently made of letting down the coulters so that they run well under the top lumps of soil, with the result that the seed becomes buried too deeply. When seeds are broadcast on an autumn cereal the mistake is often made of not harrowing well before sowing and not covering with a harrow.

Proper harrowing is essential, particu-

larly after wet winters when the ground has ‘set’ and there is no ‘frost tilth ’, but there is little doubt that broadcasting accompanied by adequate harrowing is the best means of establishing seeds on an autumn-sown

cereal crop. Cases are not uncommon where reasonable or even good takes have followed from sowing the grass and clover seeds in the corn, when the latter is so tall that no

covering operations are possible or at most rolling only. This practice will always tend to handicap the clovers, and even in so far as the grasses are concerned is likely to succeed only if wet weather intervenes soon after

sowing. The tall corn of course shelters the young seeds, and by keeping the delicate seedlings and surface roots in a moist atmosphere gives them a reasonable chance of establishing themselves, despite the initial disadvantage of not having been covered. 3317

R

130

Grass Land

After-Management.—Young leys intended to be left down for a number of years should not be grazed heavily until towards the late summer or autumn of the first harvest year. If the clovers and grasses have grown tall in the first autumn,

they should

be adequately grazed

back in dry weather only, and by cattle if possible, and not allowed to become winter proud. If used as pastures, care should be exercised in grazing during March and April, stock only being turned in for short periods at atime. Ifhay is taken, this should be cut early; a heavy

hay crop in the first harvest year is often responsible for largely smothering and destroying the young wild white clover and finer grasses.

XIV

SEEDS

MIXTURES

HERE are few questions concerning which more diverse opinions are held than with reference to seeds mixtures, and it is highly likely that one reason for this has been the fact that, in the past, work on seeds

mixtures has not been supported to a sufficient extent by accurate botanical analyses.

The suggestions made

in the present chapter will be almost entirely based on results of more recent trials which have been supported by adequate botanical evidence: notably on the pioneer trials conducted in Scotland by Findlay; on trials conducted in Yorkshire by Johnstone-Wallace; in Wales by both the Aberystwyth and Bangor Colleges;

and on

results obtained in various parts of the country with the late Prof. Gilchrist’s standard Cockle Park mixtures. When evidence from all these trials is considered it appears to be established that for nearly all conditions in this country as good

and usually better results can

be achieved from well-balanced, relatively simple mixtures than from complicated mixtures. There

is, however,

little doubt that the inclusion of

wild white clover is a very important factor making for the success of simple mixtures, and it must be remembered

that the highly complex mixtures which are still largely advocated by many seed houses owe their origin very largely to opinions based on results obtained before it was possible or customary to sow wild white clover.

It is of course perfectly true that excellent results have been obtained, and that quite good results generally are obtained, by employing complicated mixtures. Such

132

Grass Land

mixtures

are,

however,

necessarily

expensive,

and

it

would always be possible to exclude a certain and frequently a very large proportion of the ingredients without in any way affecting the quality or productivity of the

ley.

It should be added that if the complicated mixture

is to be a reasonable success it calls for clean land in good heart, conditions which it must be admitted are nowa-

days

but

seldom

fulfilled when

fields are

‘ hurried’

down to grass. As a general principle it is the wisest policy in the case

of the longer-duration leys to put the money into good seed of reliable strains of the really pivotal species— wild white clover, late-flowering red clover, perennial rye-grass, cocksfoot, and Timothy, and to sow these in sufficient quantity rather than to spend as much or more per acre on small amounts of innumerable species (many

like meadow foxtail and tall fescue, are very expensive) of doubtful or even negligible value. It is interesting in this connexion to note that not one of the mixtures suggested in a recent leaflet issued by

the Royal Agricultural Society of England exceeds eight species. In drawing up mixtures the following points should be taken into consideration. The Influence of one Species on Another—When a number of species are sown together there will of necessity be strong competition between them.

will be keenest when vigorously

and

This competition

the plants are allowed to grow

unchecked,

as happens

when

mixtures

are sown without a nurse crop or under rape, particularly if grazing is too long deferred, and as also happens in the first harvest year when a hay crop is taken. In these circumstances Italian rye-grass in particular, and to a less extent perennial rye-grass and cocksfoot (in the

hay crop), tend to suppress red clover.

Italian rye-grass

Seeds Mixtures

133

also tends to suppress Timothy and meadow fescue and the finer grasses. ‘Timothy and cocksfoot in the second harvest

year

tend

to suppress

meadow

fescue.

Very

heavy hay crops, no matter what the constituent species, tend to suppress wild white clover.

Late-flowering red

clover and Alsike clover have very similar growth habits and seldom both succeed in a mixture; the particular conditions are likely to favour one species more than the other, with the result that the less-favoured species will

almost invariably be suppressed.

It is therefore unwise

to include in a mixture large amounts of two or more

species which are mutually incompatible, while toinclude in a mixture a small amount of a species in competition with a large amount of some other species with which it is unable to compete even on level terms, issimplyto waste seed.

There is no doubt, for instance, that, apart alto-

gether from the question of the suitability of the soil, an enormous

amount

of meadow

fescue seed is annually

wasted by sowing 2-4 lb. of this species in competition with upwards of 14 lb. of the rye-grasses and (or) with

upwards of 8 lb. of cocksfoot. Small amounts

of the dominating species may, how-

ever, for certain purposes be sown with large amounts of the species which they tend to suppress, to very considerable advantage.

‘Thus 2-4 lb. of Italian rye-grass

included in a long-duration mixture sown in regions of high rainfall, and which will be grazed hard during the

first autumn and during the spring (well into May) of the first harvest year, will serve to protect rather then to suppress the more lasting ingredients. Where the rainfall is less excessive and the grazing necessarily less heavy, and where the fields are shut up for hay earlier, there is, however, some fear of Italian rye-grass interfering with the other species even under conditions of autumn and very early spring grazing.

134.

Grass Land

The Influence of the Capacities of the Different Species for Soil Establishment.—In practice the influence of the different species on each other is much

exaggerated

by

their different capacities for soil establishment. It so happens, as has been previously stated, that the ryegrasses can establish themselves from seed better than cocksfoot, and much better than Timothy or meadow fescue. When, therefore, the former species are sown

in large amount

(as is usually the case) and the latter

species

amount,

in small

the

rye-grasses

are

given

a

greater initial advantage than the seed rates would suggest. This initial advantage becomes greatly accentuated on poor soils, and where the seeds have been sown on a poor tilth and under unfavourable conditions.

Unfortunately also it is generally under such conditions that mixtures consisting predominantly of rye-grasses are employed, with the result that the small amounts of other grasses included seldom do themselves justice.

Seed Rates—From what has been said above it will be apparent that the relation of the seed rate of one species to another is of more significance than the total amount of seed to the acre contributed by the mixture as a whole. In proportion as the seeding of the ryegrasses is heavy, so necessarily must the rate of the other species be heavy if they are to be given a chance, and

this is of particular importance when the conditions are unfavourable. It was largely the realization of this fact by the late Prof. Gilchrist which has rendered his

Cockle Park mixtures range

of conditions.

so successful over such a wide Under

excellent conditions it is,

however, perfectly true that equally good results can often be obtained by slightly lower seed rates than those associated with the Cockle Park mixtures, provided the rye-grass is decreased proportionately to the other species. As a general rule it may be said that it is seldom wise

Seeds Mixtures

135

to put less than 6-8 lb. of cocksfoot to compete with more

than

14 lb. of rye-grass, while less than 4 Ib. of

Timothy and 8 lb. of meadow fescue will seldom succeed in competition with 14 lb. of rye-grass. Similarly the red clover sowing should not be less than 4 lb., while even with wild white clover the chances of success are materially decreased when sowings of less

than 1 lb. are employed. For each species it is, therefore, necessary to sow above a certain minimum amount if its inclusion is to be justified ; but it is equally true to say that for each species nothing is to be gained by sowing more than a certain maximum amount.

It is very doubtful in the case of four- to eight-species mixtures

if anything

is ever

to be

gained

by sowing

perennial rye-grass in excess of 16 lb., and 8-12 Ib. is frequently enough;

cocksfoot in excess of 12 lb., and

6-8 Ib. is frequently enough;

‘Timothy in excess of

10 lb., and 4 lb. is frequently enough;

red clover in

excess of 6 Ib., and 4 Ib. is frequently enough. Even in the case of very small-seeded species like rough-stalked meadow-erass and small-seeded species like crested dog’stail, sowings of less than 1 lb. are seldom productive of tangible benefits, and under certain circumstances sowings of up to 3 Ib. may be entirely justified in respect of each species, and the same is equally true of wild white clover. The Needs of the Farmer and the General Condition of the Field—In the past much has been made of the differences called for as between temporary and permanent mixtures. Asa maitter of fact, the seeds mixtures

demanded for a good four- to six-year ley differ hardly at all from

those

demanded

for permanent

purposes.

It is, however, very important to differentiate between mixtures required to produce a grazing sward and those required to produce hay. As to soil, it is general fertility

136

Grass Land

more than anything else that should influence the choice ofa mixture. Of the ordinary soil classes, loam, calcareous loam, clay, sand, and peat, it is perhaps peat more than any other that demands special seeds-mixture treatment.

In reference to seeds mixtures, average rainfall

as such, together with the lateness or earliness of the district, is probably of more significance than soil class as such, and yet it is ‘ soil class * that is generally in mind when seeds mixtures are under discussion.

It should be emphasized in conclusion that every field presents its own seeds-mixture problem, and it is therefore of the utmost importance that the farmer should study the matter closely for himself.

Examples of Seeds Mixtures for Various Purposes.— The best results from temporary grass are to be obtained from special purpose leys—while permanent seeds should usually be sown to cater for more or less definite needs. The mixtures given hereunder should be regarded rather

as examples of types than as mixtures to be followed absolutely. It is only possible in a short chapter to deal with a limited number of the manifold contingencies

which arise in in this chapter MIXTURES In late districts

farm practice. All the mixtures set out are in terms of lb. per acre. FOR ONE YEAR. (a) Grazing Mixtures.— subject to high rainfall, where the winters

are usually of an open character, and generally on farms

at high elevations where sheep are largely kept, oneyear grazing mixtures are perhaps more particularly valuable with a view to catering largely for winter and early spring and late summer grazing. In districts

where the stubbles are ploughed late in March or even in April valuable autumn-winter-early-spring keep can be secured by sowing with the corn either (1) 10-16 Ib. Italian rye-grass, or (2) 14 lb. Italian rye-grass with 4 lb. early red clover. Of the above, mixture (2) is

Seeds Mixtures

137

likely to give more trouble when harvesting the corn than mixture (1). Grazing mixtures may not only be sown under corn in March or April but may be sown specially in May or

June in districts of high rainfall, or in early districts on the stubble after harvesting an autumn-sown cereal. For the former conditions Italian rye-grass and red clover constitute the best combination, while for the

latter Italian rye-grass and crimson clover are preferable. if in wet and late districts it is desired to cater chiefly or only for autumn

and early spring grazing, Italian rye-

grass should be associated with early or broad red clover, while if it is desired also to cater for midsummer grazing the red clover should be wholly or chiefly a late-flowering strain. The mixtures given below are examples : (1) For sowing March—Fune. either Italian rye-grass 10-16 lb. Early or broad red clover.

6

or

Italian rye-grass 10-16 lb. Late-flowering

,,

red clover

6

,,

(2) For sowing on stubble in August. either Italian rye-grass 14 |b. . or Crimson clover alone, 12-16 Ib. Crimson clover

10,,

When they are not sown under corn, one-year grazing mixtures may be assisted by the addition of crucifers like rape, mustard, and hardy green turnips, when a little over

one-third

of the mixture may

consist of crucifers

and a little less than two-thirds of grasses and clovers. (b) Hay Mixtures—Although under certain circumstances tall oat-grass and even cocksfoot may yield heavier hay crops than either of the rye-grasses in the first harvest year, the seeds are too expensive to be usefully employed in one-year mixtures. Timothy is not, however, more expensive than the rye-grasses per 1,000,000 seeds, but it is usually more expensive per 1,000,000 established

3317

plants;

its

use

S

is,

however,

sometimes

138

Grass Land

justified for one-year leys.

On

the score of cheapness

Alsike clover and trefoil are both applicable for one-year mixtures. If included as well as red clover, either or both should be sown in relatively small amounts to safe-

guard the take of clover in the event of the red clover failing.

There

are three chief contingencies to provide for:

either (1) a single very heavy hay crop without particular regard to aftermath or autumn and spring grazing;

(2) two cuts, hay and of autumn and spring —it being required to needs. ‘Type mixtures be as under: (1) Perennial rye-grass

Late-flowering red clover

,

aftermath, with a certain amount grazing; and (3) general purpose cater for either or all of the above for (1), (2), and (3) above would 14-16 lb.) 4-6

>

,, J

_

(3) Italian Tye-grass Perennial r ye-grass Late-flowering red clover

Broad red clover

4-6,

J

,, |

2-

3

»

2~ 3

5,

To this mixture could be

added 1-2 Ib. of Alsike clover and (or) 1 Ib. of trefoil.

4- 6 lb.| 8-12

added 1-2 Ib. of Alsike clover.

|

(2) Italian rye-grass 14-16 lb. lL Early or broad red ( clover

To this mixture could be

To this mixture could be added 1-2 lb. of Alsike clover and (or) 1 Ib. of |

trefoil.

In wet situations when a heavy single hay crop is being chiefly looked for, about 6 lb. of Timothy could sometimes be usefully added to mixture (1), when

the rye-grass would

be reduced

to about

1o lb.

In

some cases a Timothy-clover mixture (e. g. 12-14 lb. of Timothy with 6-8 lb. of late-flowering red clover, or

4-6 lb. of Alsike) might be used, and on peat would be likely to give good results. In early districts the Italian

rye-grass-crimson

clover mixture suggested for

Seeds Mixtures

139

grazing can if desired be utilized for the production of hay.

MIXTURES

FOR

TWO

YEARS.—Cocksfoot

and

Timothy should usually be employed instead of, or as well as, the rye-grasses in two-year mixtures, while on dry situations the use of tall oat-grass may occasionally be justified; but generally speaking the expense of the seed and the large amount that it is necessary to sow to ensure a substantial ‘ take’ render it prohibitive. It can

be urged with much justice that wild white clover should be used in two-year mixtures; but it is probable that the altogether cheaper white Dutch serves sufficiently well,

particularly when

a reliable strain

red clover has been employed.

‘There

of late-flowering are reasons for

thinking, however, that New Zealand white clover would usually give better results than ordinary commercial white Dutch.

(a) Grazing Mixtures—Cocksfoot is a very valuable ingredient in grazing mixtures, for it provides abundance of keep when growth first starts in the spring. If it be grazed with discretion, the following mixture should provide almost continuous grazing from early in the first autumn till the end of the second harvest year: In late districts of high rainfall, where itis possible to practise intermittent grazing, the perennial rye-grasscan often be excluded; '\ while if fairly heavy grazing is impracticable, the Italian ryegrass should be re| duced to 2 lb. or be (excluded. |

Italian rye-grass Perennial rye-grass Cocksfoot Late-flowering red clover White Dutch clover (preferably New Zealand)

Mixtures

consisting very

6-8 Ib. 6-8 ,, 6-8 ,, 4-6 ,, Q 5

largely

of white

clover are

140

Grass Land

employed in some districts for sheep grazing, a mixture largely used being somewhat as follows: Perennial rye-grass White Dutch clover

16 lb. ) To this mixture could } be added 1 Ib. of

(preferably New Zealand)

4-6

,, J _ trefoil.

(b) Hay Mixtures—In two-year hay mixtures it is probably wisest to exclude broad red clover and rely wholly on late-flowering red clover.

Three type mixtures

showing the basal ingredients, with suggestions as to additions, are given as examples:

(1) Perennial rye-grass

(2)

10-14 lb.

(3)

8 Ib.

Cocksfoot

6-8

,,

8

Timothy

4-6

,,

6 ,,

Late-flowering red clover

4- 6

,,

4-6

,,

—

14 lb.

,,

6

,,

In regions of high rainfall and at high elevations it would often be advantageous to add 1 lb. of Alsike clover

to either of the mixtures, and in regions of comparatively low rainfall and on calcareous soils 1 lb. of trefoil could be added.

When

autumn

and

spring grazing

is also

required, 2-4 lb. of Italian rye-grass could be added in regions of high rainfall, and 2 lb. in regions of low

rainfall. In dry situations mixture (2) could be modified to advantage (but at considerable expense) by substituting 8-10 lb. of tall oat-grass for the perennial rye-grass, or alternatively reducing the perennial rye-grass to 4-6 lb.

and increasing the cocksfoot to 12 Ib.

If there is doubt

as to the capacity of late-flowering red clover to hold well

for two years 1-2 lb. of white (preferably New Zealand) clover could with advantage be added to the mixtures. Mixtures for Long-duration Leys and Permanent Grass. —For mixtures for three years and upwards it is necessary to include long-lasting species, and it is for such mixtures

that wild white clover becomes of such extreme importance. ‘The question of strain is of considerable signifi-

Seeds Mixtures

141

cance in connexion with long-duration mixtures. It is, for instance, desirable to employ a late-flowering red

clover of proved merit, such as the Suffolk late-flowering strain employed by Johnstone-Wallace, the Cotswold late-flowering strain largely employed in the Welsh experiments, and for the longer leys an extra-late strain such as the Montgomery Red or Cornish Marl is to be specially recommended. Of the grasses, the late Prof. Gilchrist showed

the value

of New

Zealand

cocksfoot,

while Johnstone-Wallace has demonstrated the merit of Svaléf Victoria rye-grass. Trials at Aberystwyth have also indicated

the merit

of this strain,

as also of the

Svaléf ‘ Gloria’ Timothy and Svaléf ‘Scandia’ cocksfoot. The most striking results of the Aberystwyth trials, however, have been the excellence of the best indigenous

strains of cocksfoot, perennial rye-grass, and Timothy, particularly for grazing and for long-duration swards. It is perhaps

premature

to recommend

definitely that

the indigenous strains of these species, which are now to a limited extent being put on the market by some of the leading seed houses, should be included in mixtures. It should be pointed out, however, that a well-distributed grazing can be largely provided for by using different

strains of the same species.

It is therefore.probable that

a judicious blending of different strains of comparatively

few species of proved merit is a better means of establishing a satisfactory long-duration sward than the mixing of innumerable

species.

It is consequently

suggested,

particularly for leys of upwards of four years, that farmers should at least experiment with the indigenous seed already available, and, if employing the mixtures here recommended, make up the quota of cocksfoot, Timothy, and rye-grass partly of indigenous, partly of ordinary commercial, and partly of the seed of Sval6f strains. (a) Grazing Mixtures—Simple grazing mixtures have

142 long

Grass Land been

used

in

certain

districts

for

long-duration

swards, while recently more exact trials have indicated their value for certain conditions. The essence of a simple long-duration grazing mixture is reliance on considerable sowings of wild white clover with counterbalancing cheapening of the mixture in other respects.

The

simplest possible long-duration

‘ mixture’

would

consist of wild white clover alone. ‘The simplest modification of this would be the addition of one other species to serve as an early covering and to provide grazing until

the wild white clover had become established—the cheapest addition of this character being Italian ryegrass or Alsike clover. Trials

conducted

in Wales

have

shown

that

‘ per-

manent swards’ can in fact be established successfully and quickly by ‘ all wild white clover ’ mixtures of this sort—far more quickly and far more certainly than has often been the case with permanent mixtures of a more orthodox nature.t_ Such mixtures have been: (1) Italian rye-grass 6-10 lb. Wild white clover 3- 4 ,,

(2) Alsike clover 8-10 Ib. Wild white clover 3- 4 ,,

The above examples have been merely quoted as instancing what can be done with wild white clover. It is suggested, however, as the result of trials at Aberystwyth, that mixtures as under would

give more reliable

results and also better-balanced swards: (1) Perennial rye-grass 12-16 lb. Wild white clover Q2- 4 5, (2) Perennial rye-grass 12-14 Ib. Rough-stalked meadow grass 2- 3 ,, Wild white clover 2- 4 5, t The Alsike-wild white clover mixture was sown by Mr. S. M. Bligh, Cilmery Park, Builth Wells, on a steep slope with a shallow soil. It formed a sward almost immediately, and now five years later is full of wild white clover, together with considerable excess of bent and fair quantities of crested dog’s-tail. The sward is kept

Seeds Mixtures (3) Perennial rye-grass Rough-stalked meadow grass Crested dog’s-tail Wild white clover (4)

Perennial rye-grass

143 12-14 Ib. 2-3 ,, 2—- ZB 45 2- 4 55 12-14 lb.

Chewing’s fescue

6- 8 ,,

Crested dog’s-tail Wild white clover

2— 3 2- 4

5, 45

Mixtures such as the above should not be sown under a corn crop, but without a covering crop or with rape. If it is intended to graze at all heavily during the first

autumn and winter, about 4 lb. of Italian rye-grass should be added to each mixture. For regions of high rainfall and under conditions of reasonable fertility mixtures

(1) or (2) are recommended, and since rough-stalked meadow grass assists wild white clover to make a dense sward rapidly, it is probable that the extra expense of (2) would be justified. Mixture (3) is recommended for poorer soils where perennial rye-grass cannot be relied upon to make a permanent plant. Mixture (4) is suggested for dry and poor soils in regions of low rainfall, and apart from the matter of expense would probably be improved by the substitution of 8-10 Ib. of cocksfoot for the perennial rye-grass. (b) Mixtures for Hay and General Purposes —The standard Cockle Park mixture may be taken as the best example of a long-duration mixture of very general applicability, and serves aS a type mixture, modifications being sug-

gested

to suit various

conditions.

The

mixture

has

usually been as follows: Perennial rye-grass 16 Ib. Cocksfoot (in part or wholly N. Z.) IO 55 Timothy 4» particularly well grazed by sheep, and the bent has not grown tufted or got out of hand. On better soils indigenous rough-stalked meadow grass makes an early voluntary appearance, and competes very favourably with bent.

1A4

Grass Land Late-flowering red clover

4 |b.

Trefoil

I

55

Wild white clover 14-4 ,, (4 or even 4 Ib. has frequently given excellent results.)

In regions of high rainfall, particularly on non-calcareous soils, trefoil does not succeed, and should be excluded, or in order to safeguard a stand of clover in the first

harvest year 14 lb. of Alsike substituted for it. As before stated, under excellent conditions for estab-

lishment both the amounts of perennial rye-grass and cocksfoot could often be safely reduced; indeed, perfectly satisfactory swards have often resulted when the rye-grass has not exceeded 10-12 lb. and the cocksfoot 6-8 lb. Where the ley will be heavily grazed during the first autumn, winter, and spring, the perennial rye-grass

should always be reduced to about 10 lb. and 2-4 Ib. of Italian rye-grass added in substitution.

When

a sward

of longer than three years’ duration is desired, and particularly in regions where bent rapidly gains on the ground, full reliance cannot be placed on perennial ryegrass, cocksfoot, and Timothy, and it is desirable to add

to the mixture either rough-stalked meadow grass or crested dog’s-tail, or both species. Under conditions of moderate fertility in regions of high rainfall the addition of 2 lb. of rough-stalked meadow

grass is recommended. On very poor soils in regions of high rainfall 14 Ib. each of rough-stalked meadow grass and crested dog’s-tail add very materially to the reliability of the mixture. On poor soils and in regions of low rainfall the perennial rye-grass may be reduced to about 8 lb. and Chewing’s fescue to the amount of 4-8 Ib. be added, while instead of adding rough-stalked meadow grass or crested dog’s-tail, 2 lb. of smooth-stalked meadow grass should be introduced. On peat Timothy should

Seeds Mixtures

1A5

be increased to 6 lb. and the cocksfoot be replaced by 7 lb. of meadow fescue and about 6-8 lb. of meadow foxtail be added.

It should

be pointed

out that both

Timothy hold the ground much

cocksfoot and

longer under meadow

than pasture conditions, and consequently if the field is only cut for hay during the first two or three years these species

will

not

long

persist,

while

in any

event

the

persistency of cocksfoot is profoundly affected by the extent to which the field is manured. (c) Lucerne and Sainfoin Mixtures—On soils and under conditions suitable to lucerne and sainfoin both are plants which may not only be sown alone but can be used as the dominating ingredient in simple mixtures. With a view to producing crops of hay (two cuts a year), tall oat-grass or cocksfoot would be the best grass to grow with lucerne, but having regard to costs cocksfoot is to be preferred. The lucerne should not be set in competition with excess of the grass, and the mixture should be: Cocksfoot Lucerne

6-8 Ib. 12-25 355

It is risky to sow either a lucerne-grass mixture or lucerne alone under a corn crop, it being wiser to sow without a covering crop.

3317

T

SELECTED

LITERATURE

"THE list of publications here given is not intended to be complete, but constitutes representative works which bear closely on the subject-matter of the book and which provide further information relative to matters chiefly discussed. They have been selected partly with a view to giving the reader an insight into the all-important historical development of grass land science. Only articles appearing in periodicals published in Great Britain have been included. Readers having access to a good

library will find a number

of very important

articles on grass land in The New 48, 50, 80, 85, 93, 117, 123;

124. Bird’s-foot trefoil, 16, 29, 121, 124. Bog hay, 18. Botanical analyses, 131. Brachypodium pinnatum, see Tor grass. Bracken,

19, 36, 97, 100.

Brenchley, on manuring of meadow hay, 71. Brome grasses, 114. Bromus spp., see Brome grasses. Burnet, 122. Buttercups, 33, 35, 45, 80,

124.

Calluna vulgaris, see Heather.

123,

Cambridge, investigations at, 39. Carlina vulgaris, see Carline thistle. Carline thistle, 29. Carnation grass, see Sedge. Cattle as grazers, 37, 87. Centaury, 29. Channel Islands, tethering of grazing animals in the, 84. Charlock, 98, 109, 123. Chewing’s fescue, 116, 143, 144. Chicory, 121. Cichorium Intybus, see Chicory. Cirencester,

experiments

at, 71,

74-

Clay, Boulder, 22, 25, 32, 47, 49,

69;

Keuper, 23;

23;

lias, 23, 24, 47;

23;

London, 23;

Kimeridge,

limy,

Oxford, 23,

24, 47* Clotting ’, 25. Clover sickness, 55, 104. Cockle Park, grazing trials at, 85; manurial experiments at, 23, 31, 57, 58, 713 seeds mixtures, 131, 134, 143. Cocksfoot, 28, 79, 80, 81, 84, 86,

88, 93, 104, 105, 107, IIT, 132, 134, 135, 137, 139, 140, I4I!, 143, 144, 145. Coltsfoot, 32. Cotton grass, 19. Cotton moor,

18.

Couch, 32. Creeping buttercup, 32. Creeping thistle, 123. Creeping Yorkshire fog, 26, 27,48. Crested dog’s-tail, 16, 26, 29, 58,

80, 83, 84, 116, 124, 135, 142, 143, 144. Crimson clover, 137, 138. Cross-leaved heath, 18.

Cumberland, natural grazing in, 17.

Index

156 Cynosurus cristatus, dog’s-tail.

see

Crested

Dactylis glomerata, see Cocksfoot. Daisies, 15, 80, 81, 124. Deer grass, 18, 19.

Derbyshire, natural grazing in, 14.

and _ hill

Devil’s bit, 18. Downs, the, 13, 16.

Drainage, 17, 18, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 33; 36, 58, 59, 90;

mole,

245 Pipe, 32. Earth-nut, 27, 49. East Suffolk, experiments in, 1253 marshes, 25, 26. East Sussex, potash on meadow hay plots in, 75. Erica cinerea, see Bell heather. Erica Tetralix, see Cross-leaved

heath. Eriophorum, see Cotton grass. Erythraea Centaurium, see Centaury. Essex marshes, 25. Establishment, 134. Eyebright, 23. Euphrasia, see Eyebright. False brome grass, see Tor grass. Farmyard manure, 743; on hay land, 76; tendency of, to suppress clover5 55.

Fescue-Agrostis pastures, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18. Fescue, Chewing’s, 116, 143, 144. Fescue, fine-leaved, 20, 115.

Fescue, 135) Fescue, Fescue, 8 4. Fescue, 132,

meadow, 113, 133, 134, 145red, 84, 108. sheep’s, 14, 17, 28, 58, tall, 28, 81, 84, 86, 113,

Festuca elatior, see Tall fescue.

Festuca ovina, see Sheep’s fescue. Festuca pratensis, see Meadow fescue.

Field woodrush, 17,27. . Findlay, trials in Scotland conducted by, 131. Fine-leaved fescue, 20, 115. ‘Flying bent’, 14, 17. * Foggage ’, 40, 83. Foxtail, meadow, 28, 35, 113, 132, 145. Garforth, experiments at, 71. Giant bird’s-foot trefoil, 121.

Gilchrist’s Cockle 131, 1343 trials land cocksfoot, Glyceria maritima, dow grass. Golden oat-grass, Gorse, 19, 58, 97,

Park mixtures, with New Zea141. see Sea mea16, 113. 100.

Hardheads, 77, 81. Hardy green turnips, in oneyear grazing mixtures, 137. Hawkbit, 15. Hawkweed, 8o. Hawthorn, 48, 58. Hay, nutritive value of, according to time of cutting, 77.

Hay plants, 1043 early cutting of, 105. Heath bedstraw, 17, 49. Heath grass, 15. Heath rush, 18. Heather, 17, 18, 19, 100. Heather moor, 18.

Herbage, nutritive value of, 39, 40. Herbage seeds, time of sowing, 126, 127. Hogweed, 77. Holcus lanatus, see Yorkshire fog. Holcus mollis, see Creeping Yorkshire fog. Horses as grazers, 37, 86, 87. Horse-shoe vetch,

16.

Iris, 26, 35.

Italian rye-grass, 92, 93, 94, 109,

132, 133, 136, 137, 138, 139,

140, 142, 143, 144; for winter and spring grazing, 103, 110.

Index Johnstone - Wallace, trials in Yorkshire conducted by, 131, Iq. Juncus gerardi, see Rush. Juncus maritimus, see Sea rush.

Juncus squarrosus, see Heath rush. Kidney vetch, 16, 108, 121.

* Knocking’ Lake

district,

25. natural

and

hill

grazing in the, 14. Lancashire,

need

of

constant

attention to liming of grass Jand in, 51. Lime, in smoky areas, 51; method and time of application, 543; on neglected land, 98;

want of, common

reason

for ineffectiveness of phosphatic fertilizers, 59;

want of, in

the West Riding, 70.

Liming, 17, 27, 28, 30, 31, 46;

effects of, in the Pennine dis-

tricts, 49. Limnea truncatula, see Liver-fluke parasite. Limy soils, 23, 43, 47; response of, to phosphates, 43, 57. Lincolnshire marshes, 25. Linum catharticum, see Purging flax.

Liquid

manure,

74;

on

hay

land, 76; tendency of, to suppress clover, 55.

Liver-fluke parasite, 19. Lolium Italicum, see Italian ryegrass, Lolium perenne, see Perennial ryegrass. Lotus corniculatus, see Bird’s-foot trefoil. Lotus major, see Giant bird’s-foot trefoil. Lucerne, 46, 104, 105, 108, 119, 145. Marls, 23, 43. Marsh marigolds, 26.

157

Meadow

fescue,

135,145.

113,

|

133,

134,

Meadow foxtail, 28, 35, 113, 132.

145. Medicago lupulina, see 'Trefoil. Medicago maculata, see Spotted medick. Medicago sativa, see Lucerne. Mercer and Carr, on breaking the turf and immediate reseeding, 99. Molehills, spreading of, 45. Molina caerulea, see ‘ Flying bent’, Molinia pasture, 17, 18. Mountain vetchling, 15. Mustard in one-year grazing mixtures, 137. Nardus, 18. Nardus pasture, 17, 18. Nardus stricta, see ‘ White-bent ’. Narrow-leaved plantain, 23, 58. Nitrogen, excess of, 47. Nitrogenous manures, 55, 65, 66, 67, 71, 725 74) 125.

Northamptonshire, fattening pastures of, 24.

Norway, ‘ fold’ grazing in, 34. Oats, 123, 127. Oat-grass, golden,

16, 113.

Oat-grass, tall, 79, 80, 81, 84, T12, 137, 139, 140, 145. Onobrychis sativa, see Sainfoin. Orchids,

16.

Ox-eye daisy, 39, 77. Peat land, in the Fens, 28; East Yorkshire,

28;

in

in Lan-

cashire, 28; special seed mixture treatment for, 136. Perennial rye-grass, 16, 23, 25,

26, 29, 58, 59, 80, 81, 83, 84, 93, 110, 124, 128, 132, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142,

135,° 143,

144. Permanent swards successfully established by ‘ all wild white clover ’ mixtures, 142.

158

Index

Pevensey marshes, 25. Phleum pratense, see ‘Timothy.

Phosphates, 24, 31, 36, 43, 44, 54, 55» 57, 58, 60, 61, 68, 69, 79,

71;

74,

75,

99, 92,

93>

application of, to grazing land, 63; choice of, 63. Phosphatic manures, 16, 26, 27,

30, 43, 50, 56, 59, 125, 126.

Pigs as grazers, 88 Plantago lanceolata, see Ribgrass. Ploughing, a means of aerating the soil, 97; deep, on derelict land,

100;

swards

to main-

tain fertility, 106. Poa pratensis, see Smooth-stalked meadow grass. Poa trivialis, see Rough-stalked meadow grass. Potash, assists establishment of clover root, 125; deficiency of, 24, 58; use of, on grazing land, 64, 65;

use of, on mow-

ing land, 75. Potatoes, 46. Poterium Sanguisorba, see Burnet. Poultry on grass land, 88. Purging flax, 29. Purple milk vetch, 16, ‘Putting up’ to hay, effect of date of, on yield and quality, 78. Ragwort, 28, 81. Rape, as nurse crop, 98, 127, 132, 143; in one-year grazing mixtures, 137. Red clover, 29, 46, 93, 117, 135, 138; broad red, 80, 93, 94,

117, 136, 1373; Cornish marl, 118, 141; late flowering, 80,

93,

117,

132,

133,

137,

139,

140, 141, 144; Montgomery late, 118, 1413 wild red, 15, 80, 117. Red fescue, 84, 108. Red Marls of the Midlands, 47. Red top, see Bent. * Rejuvenation’ of grass land, 42.

‘Renovating mixtures’, go, gr, 92, 93; best time to sow, 94. Rest harrow, 24, 48, 58. Rhinanthus, see Yellow rattle. Ribgrass, 23, 80, 122. Rock-rose, 16.

Romney Marsh sheep pastures, 25, 26, 84. Rothamsted, experiments at, 70, 72, 125. Rough-stalked meadow grass,

83, 114, 124, 125, 127, 128, 135> 142, 143,144. Royal Agricultural Society of England, mixtures suggested by, 132. Rumex Acetosa, see Sorrel dock.

Rush, 18, 19, 24, 26, 31, 32, 33, 35, 48, 58.

Rye, 46. Rye-grass, Italian, 92, 93, 94, 10Q, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 1443 for winter and spring grazing, 103, 110. Rye-grass, perennial, 16, 23, 25,

26, 29, 58, 59, 80, 81, 83, 84, 93, I10,

124,

128,

132,

135,

138,

139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144. Sainfoin, 104, 105, 120, 145. Salt, 6

Saltings, 14, 18, 19, 20. Sandwich marshes, 25. Saxmundham, experiments 71.

at,

Scabiosa Succisa, see Devil’s bit.

Scirpus caespitosus, see Deer grass. Sea meadow grass, 20. Sea pink, 14, 19.

Sedge, 24, 26, 32, 35, 48, 58.

Seeds, depths of covering of, 128; sowing in corn, 129. Seeds mixtures, to produce a grazing sward, 135; to produce hay, 135; for one year: grazing mixtures, 136, 1373 hay mixtures, 137, 138, 1393 for two years: grazing mix-

Index tures, 139, 140; hay mixtures, 140. Sheep as grazers, 37, 39, 84, 85, 86. Sheep’s fescue, 14, 17, 28, 58, 8 4. Sheep’s sorrel, 17, 27. * Slag land ,’ 23, 41, 50, 58, 69. Smooth-stalked meadow grass, 115, 144. Soft brome, 35, 39, 77, 93-

* Soil class ’, 136. Somersetshire marshes, 25. Sorrel dock, 39. Sour-docks, 35. Spotted medick, 120. Spurrey, 98, 123. Suffolk, East, marshes in, 25, 26. Surplus grass on grazing land, importance of ‘ cleaning up’, 44. Sweden, ‘ fold’ grazing in, 84; seeding heavy land in, 100; tethering of grazing animals in, 84. Sweet vernal grass, 115. Tall fescue, 28, 81, 84, 86, 113, 132, Tall oat-grass, 79, 80, 81, 84, 112, 137, 139, 140, 145. Temporary grass, extension of grazing season, 103; in Norfolk, 107; influence on fertility, 106; national aspect of,

107,

Thorn, 97.

Timothy, 28, 81, 93, 94, 104,

159

Trifolium pratense, see Red clover. Trifolium repens, see White clover. Triodia

decumbens,

see

grass. Tussock grass, 33, 37, 48.

Heath

Vetch, kidney, 108, 121. Vetch, purple milk, 16. Wales, natural and hill grazing in, 14, 17. ‘Warp’ soil, 25. Water grass, 32. Water meadows, 33; drainage essential for, 35; importance of grazing and mowing of, 35 ; in Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Dorset, 34.

Weeds, 26, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33; 39, 58, 71, 72, 74, 81, 92; eradication of, in lucerne and

cocksfoot leys, 105; meadows,

35;

seeds

of water buried,

98; smothering effect of annuals, 123. West Riding, need of constant attention to liming of grassland in, 51. Wheat, 123. ‘White bent’, 14, 17, 48. White clover, on neglected land, 98; white Dutch, 1393; wild white, for use on poor land, 98 ; inseeds mixtures, 135 ; on fattening pastures, 25, 26. Wild onion, 24. Wild rose, 24, 48, 58. ‘Winter burn ’, 83.

105, 112, 127, 128, 132, 133,

134,

135,

137,

139,

140,

141,

143, 144, 145.

Tor grass, 15, 23, 37, 43, 48, 58.

Tormentil, 17, 49. Trefoil, 120, 138, 140, 144. Trifolium hybridum, see Alsike clover. Trifolium minus, see Yellow suckling clover.

Yarrow, 27, 49, 122. Yellow rattle, 23, 29, 39. Yellow suckling clover, 16, 29, 119, 124. Yorkshire fog, 25, 26, 27, 28, 20,

35: 37> 39, 48, 77, 93, 114, 124.

Yorkshire, natural and hill grazing in, 143 trials conducted by Johnstone-Wallace in, 131.