Science and Practice in Farm Cultivation Part 12

In concluding this description, it may be well to remark that many more plants might have been included in the different sections; but enough has been done to show that a pasture, to be good, must not consist of any plants which chance, accident, or more commonly neglect, may throw together. In arable culture one-half the expense is, in one way or other, connected with weeding, and we are of opinion, that if only one shilling per acre was spent on the weeding of pasture, it would yield 300 per cent. profit on the outlay.

CHAPTER XIII.

ON THE IRRIGATED MEADOW.

Irrigation, as a means of increasing the amount of pasturage, is so important a process that it may be well to describe it in this place.

For a perfect irrigated meadow, we should have full command of water whenever it may be required. This water should be capable of flowing through, not of pouring over, and standing on the land,-this latter being flooding. The drainage should be so perfect that the land will be sound enough for us to walk over in the dry in a few hours after the water has been turned off.

Where these conditions can be secured, irrigation will be found most useful, not only in augmenting the supply of gra.s.s, but in producing it so much earlier than in the higher meadows that the farmer hereby gets a fresh green pasture, of great utility, especially in fattening and bringing on early lambs. From these circ.u.mstances it follows, that although some land is occupied in the water-conduits, yet the value is so far increased that meadow at 30_s._ per acre before irrigation has, under one's own eye, become worth 5 per acre in four years. There are, however, some necessary expenses in setting out the work, making floodgates, &c., the extent of which will of course depend upon the nature of the ground. In Gloucestershire, on the banks of the Churn, where irrigation has been successfully carried on for years, there is a permanent cost of about 6_s._ an acre for keeping the works in order, and charges of the "drowner," the name given to the man who overlooks the works, in some instances of several proprietors or tenants.

A peculiarity in irrigated meadow of the best quality is, the general absence of coa.r.s.e gra.s.ses on the one hand, and of any plants other than gra.s.ses on the other; hence, then, good succulent and nutritious herbage is the rule, and anything that can be otherwise described is the rare exception. Indeed, so much is this the case, that a bit of coa.r.s.e gra.s.s-such, for instance, as _Aira caespitosa_ (Tussac Gra.s.s)-making successful growth in any part of the meadow, is at once an evidence of a stagnation of water at that spot-a condition that a clever drowner at once looks to when he has discovered it.

As an evidence of the changes which go on as the process succeeds, as well as of their nature, we give the following as the tabulated result of the irrigation of half of a meadow whose slope was too great to allow of the whole being operated upon. From these it will be seen that the proportionals of different pasture plants before and after irrigation offer a material change; and it may be added, that in some cases, what would otherwise be a bad and useless gra.s.s, may become succulent and useful from the beneficial action of water. One of this kind is the _Agrostis stolonifera_ (Fiorin Gra.s.s), which is in arable couch-gra.s.s weed, but in the irrigated meadow it becomes of a fine green colour, is nutritive in quality, and will bear with any amount of clipping. It may here, too, be remarked that in cases where only a part of a meadow can be irrigated, good accrues to the whole, as in depasturing the whole is ranged over by our cattle and sheep.

We here give the following

TABLE OF CHANGES IN GRa.s.sES AND OTHER PLANTS UNDER IRRIGATION.

+----------------------+------------------+------+--------+--------+ Trivial Names. Botanical Names. After After Before 2 Years' 4 Years' --- Irrigation. --- +----------------------+------------------+------+--------+--------+ Meadow Foxtail Gra.s.s Alopecurus 1 2 3 pratensis Field Meadow Gra.s.s Poa pratensis 2 3 4 Rough-stalked ditto trivialis 1 2 1 Quaking Gra.s.s Briza media 2 0 0 Dogstail Gra.s.s Cynosurus 2 1 0 cristatus Ha.s.sock, or Tussac Aira caespitosa 1 0 0 Gra.s.s Marsh Bent Agrostis 1 2 3 stolonifera c.o.c.ksfoot Gra.s.s Dactylis glomerata 1 2 3 Yellow Oat-gra.s.s Avena flavescens 2 3 3 Soft ditto p.u.b.escens 1 1 1 Meadow Barley Hordeum pratense 1 2 2 Perennial Rye-gra.s.s Lolium perenne 2 4 6 Meadow Crowfoot, or Ranunculus acris 1 3 1 b.u.t.tercup Bulbous ditto bulbosus 3 1 0 Narrow-leaved Plantain Plantago 3 1 1 lanceolata Broad-leaved ditto asiatica 3 0 0 Dutch Clover Trifolium repens 2 0 0 Broad Clover pratense 1 2 2 Common-beaked Parsley Anthriscus 1 2 1 vulgaris +----------------------+------------------+------+--------+--------+

The general conclusions from this table are, that large and innutritious herbage is, for the most part, destroyed by irrigation, and its place is supplied by gra.s.ses; hence, then, the increased value conferred by the regulated action of water is due to an increase in quant.i.ty and quality of the gra.s.ses, added to a much more certain, as well as early, production of these. Of course the districts best adapted to irrigation will be valleys of denudation, the centres of which are occupied by more or less copious and rapid streamlets. Some of these valleys in the Cotteswolds having been scooped out of the oolitic freestones, have left the spoils of the rock as a gravelly deposit, sometimes on the lias, at others on the fuller's earth, and then on the Oxford clays; so that, stiff as these soils would be by themselves, they now only tend to throw out the waters by natural drainage, which are again conducted over the porous gravels through which they flow with great regularity; thus fertilizing what would otherwise be but a scanty thin-soil herbage, and to such an extent that early depasturing, haymaking, and later pasturage (_lattermath_) are the rule year by year.

These circ.u.mstances make water-rights of great value, and which, if not in possession, are secured at a fixed charge per acre; this, however, is usually included in the expenses, which, as before stated, are covered by about 6_s._ per acre.

Before concluding this chapter, we must say a few words in reference to flooded meadows. These will be found on the banks of the larger rivers or on streams of sufficient importance to be called rivers, as distinguished from brooks or streamlets. Here the flooding is caused by the water overflowing the banks, as the result of sudden thaws or an unusual quant.i.ty of rain. Here then the flood is not under control, and as it may happen at any and all times of the year, the gra.s.s may be spoiled by being covered with silt and drifted materials, or even the hay may be carried away by the flood.

These river flats, then, have seldom the requisites for carrying on irrigation, although the waters are of course more abundant than those supplied by the smaller streams; for even if we could by embanking so far control the water as to get it over the field when we might wish, yet alluvial flats like those of much of the Thames and Severn would not readily drain.

From facts like these it will at once be seen that there is a wide difference between irrigation and flooding; and we have hence endeavoured to separate what is too often confounded.

CHAPTER XIV.

ON THE LAYING DOWN OF PERMANENT PASTURE.

If we reflect upon the fact that much of the meadow of Great Britain is ribbed by the ridge and furrow of former arable culture, we shall conclude that the laying down of land to permanent pasture is an ancient no less than a modern process.

Formerly new pastures were made by sowing the collected seeds from a hayloft, but as in modern farming no one in his senses would let his gra.s.s get ripe enough for seed before cutting, present practice necessitates the mixing of such seeds as may be considered best in suitable quant.i.ties for our purpose. We shall have, then, in this place to consider:-

1. The preparation of the land;

2. The kinds of seed best adapted for different places; and

3. The after-treatment of the new meadow.

1. The plan usually adopted in a preparation for gra.s.s seeds is that of sowing our mixture with the barley crop. Now this, in the case of a tenant who is not sure of his tenure, would obviously recommend itself; but to a proprietor wanting a quicker and surer result it offers many objections.

We recommend, after turnips have been fed off on the land, to make the ground as level as possible, then harrow and roll smooth with an iron or wooden roller. Upon this surface our mixture should be carefully sown; then harrow with very light harrows just to cover the seed, and roll again.

By this plan you start the seeds in good soil instead of in that from which you have carried off a crop of ripened gra.s.s, straw, and seed; but besides this, your gra.s.s will get a stronger const.i.tution than when grown as seedlings amid taller plants, which draw up the "seeds," and thus make them so weak and attenuated as scarcely to be able to withstand the rigour of winter-a matter of great consequence when our object is to get a vigorously-growing swarth quickly.

2. We come now to consider the kinds of seeds which should be sown; these, though few in number, will yet vary according to soil and situation.

Our remark that few kinds of gra.s.ses are required in laying down for permanent pasture may surprise those who have seen the usual prescriptions for this purpose; but if we start in our selection by leaving out coa.r.s.e gra.s.ses,-such, for instance, as _Phalaris canariensis_ (Reed Canary Gra.s.s), for damp meadows; annual forms, or at least not permanent ones, such as _Lolium Italic.u.m_ (Italian Rye-gra.s.s); and useless varieties, as _Poa nemoralis sempervirens_, _Phleum pratense majus_, and the like,-we shall be then confined to as few species of gra.s.s as we shall ever find will form the best parts of our best meadows.

Now, as regards sowing useless or annual species, we should recollect that the better they come up the more mischief they create, as they take up the room that the more permanent forms should occupy, and so smother them out. How often have we seen our friends in ecstasies at the success of their new pasture, when the smiling face had been suddenly put upon the matter by the quick-growing Italian rye-gra.s.s having taken a possession, which, however, in a year or two it would most probably yield; and so it has happened, that while the seedsman has been advertising a certificate vaunting of success, the pasture is declining, and the proprietor, looking for the reason for such a result, either himself concludes, or is led so to do, that as the seeds came up well, these were not in fault: it must then be the nature of the soil!

In giving such directions for gra.s.s mixtures as experience would seem to warrant, we confess to a great deal of diffidence; for as scarcely two cases are alike, the difficulty is as great as would be that of a medical man prescribing for his various patients without seeing them; indeed, to profess to do so in either case, as a general rule, savours somewhat of quackery.

The following tables, then, it must be understood, are only meant to convey some very general notions as to sorts of gra.s.ses and other fodder plants, and their quant.i.ties, which we should employ under the specified conditions of soil; albeit, even the quant.i.ties should be variable, depending upon the quality of the seeds, the season, and the climate in which they are to be sown:-

1. _Proposed selection for rich loams in best gra.s.s-growing positions._ ------------------------------+---------------------------+---------- Botanical Name. Trivial Name. Quant.i.ty Per Acre.

------------------------------+---------------------------+---------- lb. oz.

Lolium perenne Perennial Rye 10 0 Poa pratensis Meadow Gra.s.s 2 0 Dactylis glomerata c.o.c.ksfoot 5 0 Festuca pratensis Meadow Fescue 3 0 duriuscula Hard 3 0 Alopecurus pratensis Foxtail 2 0 Phleum pratense Catstail 2 0 Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet Vernal 0 8 Trifolium pratense Common Clover 4 0 repens Dutch 2 0

2. _Proposed selection for a poor stiff soil on a clay subsoil._

Lolium perenne Perennial Rye 12 0 Poa pratensis Smooth Meadow Gra.s.s 3 0 trivialis Rough 2 0 Festuca loliacea Lolium Fescue 2 0 duriuscula Hard 2 0 Phleum pratense Catstail 2 0 Dactylis glomerata c.o.c.ksfoot 6 0 Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet Vernal 0 8 Trifolium pratense Common Clover 6 0 repens Dutch 2 0

3. _Proposed selection for thin uplands on calcareous soils._

Lolium perenne Perennial Rye 12 0 Poa pratensis Smooth Meadow Gra.s.s 4 0 Festuca ovina Sheep's Fescue 2 0 duriuscula Hard 2 0 Avena flavescens Yellow Oat-Gra.s.s 1 0 p.u.b.escens Soft 1 0 Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet Vernal 1 0 Trifolium pratense Common Clover 3 0 repens Dutch 5 0 Achillaea millefolia Yarrow 0 8

4. _Proposed selection for light soils on sands._

Lolium perenne Perennial Rye 14 0 Poa pratensis Smooth Meadow 3 0 Festuca duriuscula Hard Fescue 3 0 Avena flavescens Soft Oat-Gra.s.s 1 0 Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet Vernal 0 8 Trifolium medium Zigzag Clover 4 0 pratense Meadow or Corn Clover 2 0 repens Dutch Clover 5 0 Lotus corniculatus Birdsfoot Trefoil 0 8 Achillaea millefolia Yarrow 0 8 ------------------------------+---------------------------+----------

The above positions may so far be considered to present generic types of land which would be laid down in permanent pasture in the ordinary course of farming. Selections for park glades, covert, and the like, are exceptional, which must be provided for according to circ.u.mstances.

We should advise care in the selection of these seeds; the newer and fresher they are the better, as, perhaps, no seeds suffer more from keeping than do those of the gra.s.ses. And we would further add that, as a rule, we should prefer to procure our seeds separately and mix them ourselves: for this we should expect to have more to pay at most houses, but they will be much better. Of course, in all such strictures about seeds, we mean them to apply only to those who are not sufficiently particular to keep from trade tricks, or who do not observe that care in selection and mixing that would be necessary to ensure the fullest amount of success; for, as we are well aware that seeds, however old or worthless, are seldom destroyed, we should expect to have some of them sold to us if we did not look to the character, position, and judgment of our seedsman on the one hand, and be prepared to go to such, and so pay a fair price, on the other.

We will now suppose that the seed has come up regularly, and so must describe the after-treatment. In the first year it will be all-important to look after weeds: should these make their appearance, it will be well to hoe or spud them out at once before they can seed, as then the gra.s.s will not only have a better chance, but little provision will be left for weed-continuance.

In the following winter, say about January, if the weather will suit, a slight but even dressing of not over-rotten manure will act as a protection to the young plants, and provide food for their spring growth by its gradual decomposition and mixing with the soil.

Towards the latter end of February, or early in March, bush-harrowing should be employed to break up and disseminate the manure, and then the roller should be actively used to consolidate the whole; and, if the gra.s.ses have at all thrown out, the croskill will prove a most efficient implement. In the following May we should stock with sheep just thick enough to prevent any extent of seeding; and if the next year should show vacant s.p.a.ces, which it would be likely to do from failure or wire-worm (the latter will be less than when corn is grown), we must re-sow, mixing our seeds with a little mixed guano and soot.

These, then, are some of the simple rules upon which to act in growing a permanent pasture; and the more rigidly they are kept to at first, the sooner and the more perfect will our meadow a.s.sume the aspect we should desire for permanency.