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GRASS AND GRASSLAND
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GRASS AND GRASSLAND , in See also:agriculture. The natural See also:vegetable covering of the See also:soil in most countries is " grass " (for derivation see See also:GRASSES) of various kinds. Even where dense See also:forest or other growth exists, if a little daylight penetrates to the ground grass of some sort or another will grow. On See also:ordinary farms, or wherever farming of any See also:kind is carried out, the proportion of the See also:land not actually cultivated will either be in grass or will revert naturally to grass in See also:time if See also:left alone, after having been cultivated. Pasture land has always been an important See also:part of the See also:farm, but since the " era of cheap See also:corn " set in its importance has been increased, and much more See also:attention has been given to the study of the different See also:species of grass, their characteristics, the improvement of a pasture generally, and the " laying down " of arable land into grass where tillage farming has not paid. Most farmers See also:desire a proportion of grass-land on their farms—from a third to a See also:half of the See also:area—and even on wholly arable farms there are usually certain courses in the rotation of crops devoted to grass (or See also:clover). Thus the See also:Norfolk 4-course rotation is corn, roots, corn, clover; the See also:Berwick 5-course is corn, roots, corn, grass, grass; the See also:Ulster 8-course, corn, See also:flax, roots, corn, flax, grass, grass, grass; and so on, to the point where the grass remains down for 5 years, or is left indefinitely. Permanent grass may be grazed by live-stock and classed as pasture pure and See also:simple, or it may be cut for See also:hay. In the latter See also:case it is usually classed as " meadow " land, and often forms an alluvial See also:tract alongside a stream, but as grass is often grazed and hayed in alternate years, the distinction is not a hard and fast one. There are two classes of pasturage, temporary and permanent. The latter again consists of two kinds, the permanent grass natural to land that has never been cultivated, and the pasture that has been laid down artificially on land previously arable and allowed to remain and improve itself in the course of time. The existence of See also:ridge and furrow on many old pastures in See also:Great See also:Britain shows that they were cultivated at one time, though perhaps more than a See also:century ago. Often a newly laid down pasture will decline markedly in thickness and quality about the fifth and See also:sixth See also:year, and then begin to thicken and improve year by year afterwards. This is usually attributed
to the fact that the unsuitable varieties See also:die out, and the " naturally " suitable varieties only come in gradually. This trouble can be largely prevented, however, by a judicious selection of See also:seed, and by subsequently manuring with phosphatic See also:manures, with farmyard or other bulky " topdressings," or by feeding See also:sheep with cake and corn over the See also: Alopecurus pratensis . . Meadow foxtail. Anthoxanthum odoraturr. . Sweet vernal grass. Avena elatior . . . . Tall See also:oat-grass. Avena flavescens . . . See also:Golden oat-grass. Cynosurus cristatus. Crested dogstail. Dactylis glomerata . Cocksfoot. Festuca duriuscula . Hard fescue. Festuca elatior . . Tall fescue. Festuca ovina Sheep's fescue. Festuca pratensis . Meadow fescue. Lolium italicum. See also:Italian ryegrass. Phleum pratense See also:Timothy or catstail. Poa nemoralis . See also:Wood meadow-grass. Poa pratensis Smooth meadow-grass. Poa trivialis . . . Rough meadow-grass. Clovers, &c. Medicago lupulina . . . See also:Trefoil or " Nonsuch." Medicago sativa. . . See also:Lucerne (See also:Alfalfa). Trifolium hybridum . Alsike clover. pratense . . . Broad red clover. pratense Perennial clover. perenne „ incarnatum . . See also:Crimson clover or " Trifolium.” „ procumbens . . Yellow See also:Hop-trefoil. repens White or Dutch clover. Achillea Millefolium. See also:Yarrow or Milfoil. Anthyllis vulneraria. See also:Kidney-See also:vetch. See also:Lotus See also:major . Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil. Lotus corniculatus . . Lesser ,, Carum petroselinum Field See also:parsley. Plantago lanceolata. . See also:Plantain. Cichorium intybus . . . See also:Chicory. Poterium officinale . . . See also:Burnet. The predominance of any particular species is largely deter-See also:mined by See also:climatic circumstances, the nature of the soil and the treatment it receives. In See also:limestone regions sheep's fescue has been found to predominate; on wet See also:clay soil the See also:dog's See also:bent (Agrostis caning) is See also:common; continuous manuring with nitrogenous manures kills out the leguminous plants and stimulates such grasses as cocksfoot; manuring with See also:phosphates stimulates the clovers and other legumes; and so on. Manuring with The figures represent approximate percentages. Before laying down grass it is well to examine the species already growing See also:round the hedges and adjacent fields. An inspection of this sort will show that the See also:Cambridge experiments are very conclusive, and that the above species are the only ones to be depended on. Occasionally some other variety will be prominent, but if so there will be a See also:special See also:local See also:reason for this. On the other See also:hand, many farmers when See also:sowing down to grass like to have a good bulk of forage for the first year or two, and therefore include several of the clovers, lucerne, Italian ryegrass, See also:evergreen ryegrass, &c., knowing that these will die out in the course of years and leave the ground to the more permanent species. There are also several mixtures of " seeds " (the technical name given on the farm to grass-seeds) which have been adopted with success in laying down permanent pasture in some localities. C s. -d ai moo' •, ba ' o bn m N ,s ,E 4 '' a,a a ,- v o a ,. x Q .~ W L) a C7 a Cocksfoot . . . . 8 4 8 8 4 Perennial ryegrass . . . .. 2 .. 6 to Meadow fescue. . . . .. 6 2 .. 5 . . Hard fescue . . . .. I I 2 3 . 
Crested dogstail . . . 3 2 . . I 3 Timothy . . . .. 3 I .. 2 2 Meadow foxtail Io I 1 Tall fescue .. 3 I 31 . . 2 Tall oat grass . . . . .. .. I 3 . . Italian ryegrass . . . .. .. 2 5 Smooth meadow grass. . .. .. .. I . . Rough meadow grass . .. I I . . Golden oat grass . . . .. .. Sheep's fescue . .. i Broad red clover . . . .. I .. . .. 2 Perennial red clover . . .. i I z .. 2 Alsike . . . .. I I I .. 2 Lucerne (Alfalfa) . . . .. .. .. .. .. 8 White clover . 4 I I 2 2 2 Kidney vetch . . . 6 22 .. Sheep's parsley. . . . .. .. I . . . . . Yarrow . I I I .. Burnet 8 8 Chicory 4 . 22 . . Plantain 4 .. See also:Total lb per See also:acre . . 30 40 17 40 30 40 basic slag at the See also:rate of from 5 to so cwt. per acre has been found to give excellent results on poor See also:clays and peaty soils. Basic slag is a by-product of the See also:Bessemer See also:steel See also:process, and is See also:rich in a soluble form of phosphate of See also:lime (tetra-phosphate)which specially stimulates the growth of clovers and other legumes, and has renovated many inferior pastures. In the Rothamsted experiments continuous manuring with " See also:mineral manures " (no See also:nitrogen) on an old meadow has reduced the grasses from 71 to 64% of the whole, while at the same time it has increased the Leguminosae from 7% to 24%. On the other hand, continuous use of nitrogenous manure in addition to " minerals " has raised the grasses to 94% of the total and reduced the legumes to less than 1%. As to the best kinds of grasses, &c., to sow in making a pasture out of arable land, experiments at Cambridge, England, have demonstrated that of the many varieties offered by seedsmen only a very few are of any permanent value. A complex mixture of tested seeds was sown, and after five years an examination of the pasture showed that only a few varieties survived and made the " sole " for either grazing or forage. These varieties in the order of their importance were: Cocksfoot 26 Perennial See also:rye grass 16 Meadow fescue 13 Hard fescue 9 Crested dogstail 8 Timothy 6 White clover 4 Meadow foxtail 2 See also:Arthur See also:Young more than xoo years ago made out one to suit chalky hillsides; Mr Faunce de Laune (See also:Sussex) in our days was the first to study grasses and advocated. leaving out ryegrass of all kinds; See also:Lord See also:Leicester adopted a cheap mixture suitable for poor land with success; Mr Elliot (See also:Kelso) has introduced many deep-rooted " herbs " in his mixture with good results. Typical examples of such mixtures are given on preceding See also:page. Temporary pastures are commonly resorted to for rotation purposes, and in these the bulky fast-growing and See also:short-lived grasses and clovers are given the preference. Three examples of temporary mixtures are given below. One Two Three year. years. or four years. Italian ryegrass 14 to 6 Cocksfoot 2 4 6 Timothy . . . 2 3 Broad red clover 8 5 3 Alsike 3 2 2 Trefoil . . 3 2 2 Perennial ryegrass 5 to Meadow fescue . . .. 2 2 Perennial red clover .. 2 2 White clover . . . . .. I 2 Meadow foxtail . . .. 1 2 Total lb per acre . . 30 36 40 Where only a one-year hay is required, broad red clover is often grown, either alone or mixed with a little Italian ryegrass, while other forage crops, like trefoil and trifolium, are often grown alone. In Great Britain a heavy clay soil is usually preferred for pasture, both because it takes most kindly to grass and because the expense of cultivating it makes it unprofitable as arable land when the See also:price of corn is See also:low. On See also:light soil the plant frequently suffers from drought in summer, the want of moisture preventing it from obtaining proper See also:root-hold. On such soil the use of a heavy See also:roller is advantageous, and indeed on any soil excepting heavy clay frequent See also:rolling is beneficial to the grass, as it pro-motes the capillary See also:action of the soil-particles and the consequent See also:ascension of ground-See also:water. In addition, the grass on the See also:surface See also:helps to keep the moisture from being wasted by the See also:sun's See also:heat. The grarninaceous crops of western See also:Europe generally are similar to those enumerated. Elsewhere in Europe are found certain grasses, such as Hungarian See also:brome, which are suitable for introduction into the See also:British Isles. The grasses of the See also:American prairies also include many plants not met with in Great Britain. Some half-dozen species are common to both countries: See also:Kentucky " See also:blue-grass " is the British Poa pratensis; See also:couch grass (Triticum repens) grows plentifully without its underground runners; bent (Agrostis vulgaris) forms the famous " red-See also:top," and so on. But the American See also:buffalo-grass, the See also:Canadian buffalo-grass, the " bunch " grasses, " See also:squirrel-tail " and many others which have no equivalents in the British Islands, form a large part of the See also:prairie pasturage. There is not a single species of true clover found on the prairies, though cultivated varieties can be introduced. (P. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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