Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/400

Rh 374 AGKICULTUKE [GRASSES. sequence of this is, that forage crops have been compara tively neglected. There is now, however, a growing conviction among agriculturists that it is more convenient to keep neat cattle and horses, during summer, in yards or loose boxes, and to feed them with succulent forage, mown and brought to them daily as it is needed, than to turn them adrift to browse in the fields. The pasturing plan is preferred by many because it involves the least labour, and is alleged to be more healthful to the animals. In behalf of the soiling plan it is urged that a given space of ground under green crop keeps nearly twice as much stock, when its produce is mown and consumed elsewhere, than when it is constantly nibbled and trodden upon ; that housed cattle being exempted from the vicissitudes of the weather, the attacks of insects, mutual disturbance, and the labour of gathering their food, eat less and yet fatten more rapidly than they do at pasture ; that more good is gotten of their excrements when mixed with litter and trodden down under cover, than when dropped about in the open fields ; and that land from which a green crop has been mown, when ploughed up, is freer of weeds and (other things being equal) bears a better corn-crop than that which has been pastured. It is a further recommend ation to the soiling plan that it admits of oilcake or meal being administered along with green food with a precision and economy that is unattainable in the pasture fields. There being so many and such cogent reasons in favour of the practice of soiling, we may warrantably anticipate that it will in future be much more generally adopted. It is proper, however, to notice that the success of this system is absolutely dependent on the following conditions: The green food must be mown and brought home at least twice a-day, owing to the rapidity with which it ferments when put together ; it must be given to the stock not less than four times daily, and only in such quantity at each feed as they can eat clean up in the interval betwixt meals ; they must have constant and ample supplies of pure water and of fresh litter ; and, in particular, matters must be so arranged that there shall be an unfailing supply of green forage of the best quality through the entire season. This is accomplished either by successive cuttings of one kind of crop from the same ground as of irrigated meadow or Italian ryegras? or by a combination of such crops as naturally come to maturity in succession, or are made to do so by a sequence of sowings. From what has been said it is obvious that soiling can only be carried out successfully with a moderately good soil and climate, a liberal use of manure, and skill and foresight on the part of the farmer. With these, however, its results will usually be highly satis factory. It is peculiarly adapted for clay soils, on which the culture of root crops is attended with much difficulty, and where there is, therefore, abundance of litter for use in summer, and much need for the soiling system to get it converted into good manure. Section 2. Natural Meadow Grass. In proceeding to notice the crops most usually cultivated in Britain for green forage we shall begin with natural meadow grass. In the south-western parts of England abundant crops of grass are obtained by irrigation with water alone. Our remarks will here, however, be re stricted to those situations where sewage from towns or villages is available. &quot;Wherever a few scores of human families are congregated together, and have their dwellings properly drained and supplied with water, there is an opportunity for manuring a considerable extent of meadow with the sewage-water accruing from them throughout the year. The celebrated meadows in the environs of Edin burgh are interesting illustrations of the value of such water for irrigating purposes, and o the astonishing bulk of rich herbage which can be obtained in the course of a year from an acre of land thus treated. From the thick ness of the crop in these meadows, and the rank luxuriance of its growth, the grass must be cut before it exceeds ten inches in height, as otherwise the bottom gets blanched and the grass rots out. The mowing begins usually in April and continues till November, so that by fitly pro portioning the head of stock to the extent of meadow, and having the latter arranged in plots to be mown in regular succession, soiling can be practised throughout the season by the produce of the meadow alone. This practice is necessarily limited to situations where sewage-water is available. The following excerpts from a paper read before the Koyal Scottish Society of Arts in January 18G7 On the Collection, Removal, and Disposal of the Refuse of tlie City of Edinburgh, by Charles Macpherson, C.E., burgh engineer, to which the society s silver medal was awarded, will explain this system and exhibit its results : &quot; The waters of the Craigcn tinny Burn, the Lochrin Burn, the Jordan Burn, and the Broughton Burn, are used in irrigating part of the lands adjoining the course of the respective streams. The waters of the Craigentinny Bum are used for irrigating aLout 250 acres; Lochrin Burn, about 70 acres; Jordan Burn, about 11 acres;, and Broughton Burn, about 5 acres being 336 acres in all irrigated by the water flowing in these four natural outlets for the drainage of Edinburgh. &quot;The area within the city draining towards the Craigentinny Burn to the meadows irrigated by the waters of which I shall confine these remarks is about one square mile and a half in extent. From this district there flows about 20 cubic feet of spring-water per minute ; the surplus rainfall being the non-absorbed portion of 24 inches per annum; and the sewage from a population of 95,589 persons, according to the census of 1861, with a water supply of say 25 gallons per head. Of this population about 60,000 have the use of water-closets ; and excrementitious matter from about 15,000 or 20,000 of the remainder finds its way to the sewers connected with the burn at the rate of about 265 feet per minute of sewage. &quot; Various kinds of soil are irrigated. The subsoil of the part of the meadows nearest the city is peat, with loam over it near the course of the burn ; while to the northward it is naturally sand, but the sand has been taken away, and the ground made up with rubbish of buildings, &c., dressed oft with soil. Further down the course of the stream the soil is reddish clay, or loamy clay, or sandy clay ; while at the part of the Figgate &quot;VVhins adjoining the sea-shore it is pure sand, with a coating of rich loam, varying from 1 inch to 4 or 5 inches deep, entirely derived from repeated applications of the sewage, no soil having been ever spread over the sand. The deeper soil is nearest the channels for conveying the sewage to the land. The meadows on the farm of Lochend, at Kestalrig, and at Craigen tinny, have a slope transversely to the course of the stream, varying frum the steepest part, 1 in 25, which is of small extent, to about 1 in 50, which is the slope of the greatest part of these meadows. The Figgate &quot;VVhins were artificially levelled to allow of irrigation. &quot; It is important to remark that the land (except the sand at the Figgate Whins) has been drained thoroughly to a depth of 4 feet below the surface. It was found that with shallower drains the sewage was drawn off by the drain, leaving the lower part of the ground without irrigation. At the Figgate Whins the sewage soaks into the sand, and oozes out upon the sea-shore. &quot; The kinds of grasses grown are Italian ryegrass and meadow grass. The ryegrass requires to be resown every third year ; but the meadow grass has not required resowing, not even on the Figgate &quot;VVhins, which were sown about forty years ago, when the ground was first irrigated. Opinions differ as to which grass is best adapted for the purpose ; but ryegrass seems to produce the heavier crops. The irrigated ground is let off in small plots or squares for the season to the highest bidder. The grass is cut by the tenant as required, so that the annual yield of any particular plot has never been accurately ascertained ; but an average crop is considered to be from 30 to 40 tons per acre, in four cuttings. The first cutting takes place at the beginning of April, and the last at the end of September, the let of the ground expiring at 1st October. The time of cutting the intermediate crops depends upon the wants of the tenant. &quot;The whole grass is eaten by about 3100 cows the number previous to the cattle plague in Edinburgh, Newhaven, Leith, and Portobello ; but after the fourth crop is cut, sheep are turned on some parts of the ground about the beginning of November, and remain for about a fortnight, should the weather be favourable. The sheep do not seem to thrive, however, although the food is plentiful. The grass has been found most suitable for feeding cows the attempts to use it for feeding other animals having been found not to answer, and