Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/397

Rh GRASSES.] AGRICULTURE 371 Column III. contains the average number of seeds in one ounce. Column IV. shows, in inches, the depth of cover at which the greatest number of seeds brairded. Column V. shows, in inches, the depth of cover at which only about half the number of seeds brairded. Column VI. shows, in inches, the least depth of cover at which none of the seeds brairded. I. II. III. IV. V. VI. Agrostis stolonifera, 13 500,000 to i 4 to f 1 vulgaris, .... 12 425,000 Aira cxspitosa,. 14 132,000 o to 4 ftol 21 Alopecurus pratensis,. Anthoxanthum odora- tum, .... 5 6 76,000 71,000 o to 4 o to 4 1 toli 1 tol| 2 Arrhenatherum avena- ceum 7 21,000 4 to f 14 to If 4 Brachypodium sylva- j ticum,. . . . ) 10 15,500 to i ito f 2 Cynosurus cristatus, 26 28,000 Dactylis glomcrata, 12 40,000 to i fto l 2J glomerata gigantca, 10 34,000 Elymus arenarius, . . 11 2,320 1 to 14 2 to 24 5&quot; gcniculatus, . .. . 12 2,300 Festuca duriuscula, 10 39,000 to i ftol 21 14 20,500 to i 1 toll 2f elatior gigan ea, 13 17,500 to i 11 to 14 3 hetcrophylla, 12 33,000 to i 1 toli 21 16 8,600 ovina, 14 64^000 to i ftol 2&quot; ovina tcnuifoUa, . 15 80,000 pratensis, . . . 14 26,000 to 4 ftol 24 pratensis loliacea, . 15 24,700 rubra, .... 10 39,000 Glyceria aquatica, . 13 58,000 Ito 4 fto l 21 fluitans, .... 15 33,000 Holcus lanatus, . . . 7 95,000 ito | fto l 24 6 85,000 Lolium italicum, 15 27,000 to 1 1 toll 31 perenno, ; 18-30 15,000 ito 4 14 to If 34 M ilium elTusum, 25 80,000 ito 4 1 to | 23 Ph alar is arundinacea, . 48 42,000 Phleum pratense, . . 44 74,000 to ftol 2 Poa nemoralis, . 15 173,000 nemoralis semper- j mrens, 15J 133,000 to i Ito 4 1 pratensis, 13 243.000 trivialis, .... 15 217,000 to 1 4 to 3 1| Psarama arundinacea,. 15 10,000 4toi 14 to If 4 Trisetum flavescens,. 64 118,000 to 1 ftol 2 Achillea Millefolium,. 30 200,000 Ito 4 ito f ji Cichorium Intybus ) (chicory), 32 21,000 Lotus corniculatus, 62 23,000 to i i to 4 IJ major, .... 64 51,000 Medicago lupulina, 63 16,000 to 1 3toi i i sativa, .... 60 12,600 Onobrychis sativa, . . 26 1,280 ftol 2 to 21 4i Petrosalinum sativum, 41 12.800 Plantago lanceolata, 52 15,600 i to 4 11 to 14 24 Poterium Sanguisorba (burnet), 25 3,320 i to 3 14 to If 4 Trifolium filiforme, 65 54,000 to 1 ito 4 1J hybridum, . 63 45,000 to i 4 to f li pratense 64 16 000 Ofr* Utr 1 * pratense pcrcnnc, . 64 16^000 t&amp;lt;J ^ o to 4 tO 1 i 11 tol| 2 repens, .... 65 32,000 to I 4 to J i &quot;The results in the three last columns of the preceding table were obtain ed_ by sowing the seed in finely-sifted dark loam, which was kept moist throughout the process of germination, to which is attributable the circumstance of so many of the sorts vegetating best (as shown in Column IV.) without covering, and under full exposure to the light. ^The combination of such favourable circumstances of soil and moisture can, however, seldom be calculated upon in field sowing, therefore a covering of mould for the seeds, however slight, is always advisable. But it will be seen, by the results in Column VI., that a great number of seeds must be inevitably lost from over-depth of covering, unless the ground be in all cases care fully prepared and pulverised before sowing either the natural or artificial grasses. &quot; 1 From tliis it is evident that to scatter these tiny seeds over a cloddy surface, and then to harrow it, may more 1 Morton s Cydopadia of Agriculture article &quot;Grasses,&quot; vol. i. p. 999. aptly be called burying than sowing them. The following is a more rational mode of proceeding : When these seeds are to be sown among winter wheat, it is expedient to begin by using the horse-hoe (supposing the wheat to have been drilled), as well to loosen the surface and produce a kindly bed for the seeds as to destroy weeds. In the case of broadcasted wheat, a turn of the harrows secures the same end. In the case of the more recently sown barley all that is needed is to smooth the surface with the one- horse roller. Over the ground thus prepared the small seeds are distributed by a broadcast sowing-machine, which covers at once a space of 15 or 18 feet in width. The covering is then effected by simply rolling with the smooth roller, or by dragging over the surface the chain- harrow, which may either be attached to the sowing- machine or to a separate frame ; or by using Cambridge s or Crosskill s roller, with a very light chain harrow attached to it. On clay soils the chain-web is to be preferred; but on loose soils Crosskill s roller imparts a beneficial firmness, and, with its tail-piece of chain-web to fill up the indentations, gives an accuracy of finish which rivals the neatness of a newly-raked garden plot. We have long regarded this covering in of grass seeds as the most important use to which Crosskill s valuable implement is put. The only drawback to it is, that it makes a heavy demand on the horse-power of the farm at a pressing season. As it can only be worked in dry weather, it is advisable, when the land is in trim, to work it double tides by means of a relay of horses. This mode of procedure is alike applicable to the sowing of mixed clovers and grasses, &quot;and to that of the clovers alone, and is the course usually pursued in sowing for one or two years &quot; seeds.&quot; When it is intended to lay down arable land to grass for several years, or to restore it to permanent pasture or meadow, it is always advisable to sow the seeds without a corn crop. This doubtless involves an additional cost at the outset, but it is usually more than repaid by the en hanced value of the pasture thus obtained. To grow the grasses well, the soil should be pulverised to the depth of 3 or 4 inches only, and be full of manure near the surface. There is no better way of securing these conditions than by first consuming a crop of turnips on the ground by sheep folding, and then pulverising the surface by means of the grubber, harrow, and roller, without ploughing it. Much diversity of practice exists in regard to the kinds and quantities of seeds used in sowing down with a grain crop. In Scotland from 2 to 4 pecks of ryegrass seeds, with from 10 to 14 R&amp;gt; of those of red, white, alsike, and yellow clovers, in about equal proportions, is a common allowance for an acre. A pound or two of field parsley ia occasionally added, or rather is substituted for an equal weight of clover seeds. The natural grasses are seldom sown, and only when the land is to be laid to permanent pasture. In England ryegrass is in much less repute than in Scotland, the clovers being there very generally sown unmixed, and always in larger quantities than we have just named 20 ft&amp;gt; per acre being a common allowance. There can be little doubt that both these plans are faulty. When a good natural pasture is carefully examined, it is found to consist of an amazing number of different grasses and other plants. Not only does a natural pasture contain a great variety of herbage at any one time, but it has its plants which replace each other at different seasons; and some also which are prominent only in wet years and others in dry ones. The provision thus made for affording at all times such a variety of food as is at once grateful and whole some to the animals which browse on it, and for keeping the ground fully occupied under every diversity of seasons and weather, is truly admirable, and the study of it well