Abstract
THE outstanding work on grassland carried out by the Welsh Plant Breeding Station at Aberystwyth is well known to all specialists of the subject. A definite insight has now been gained into the meaning of the agricultural value of hay and pasture, and the methods by which the desired results may be obtained, even if much more knowledge is still required before adequate control is reached. For the student and farmer, however, much of the published work on the subject is perhaps too elaborate to be of immediate practical use, and the booklet by Prof. R. G. Stapledon entitled “Four Addresses on the Improvement of Grassland” will be welcomed by many (Aberystwyth: University College of Wales, 1933. 1s.), The fundamental aims and methods of grassland management are described in a clear, concise and eminently practical manner. Given a good grass mixture, then judicious grazing and the use of the mowing machine are two of the chief factors upon which success depends, the important part played by the grazing animal being clearly brought out. Where the improvement of land in very poor condition is the problem, the necessity of sowing wild white clover is stressed and the use of some form of phosphatic manure advocated. In fact, the proper balance between grass and clover seems to be the central feature of all good grassland, and in the attainment and maintenance of this optimum ratio by wise choice of mixture, judicious grazing and introduction of wild white clover when needed, the secret of success would seem to lie.
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Improvement of Grassland. Nature 132, 202 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132202a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132202a0