Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1853-09-01
Grasses---Pasture Lands.

HCiV orc pfopoo'y ho hioiS Hahii
grasses between The 5lh of May e. 10Th
of September, than grow spontaneously
upon our prarios. None of The tame
grasses nor any combination of them
will fat!en cattle e. horses quicker when
turned upon them in the spring, or give
them a better growth. This is the uni
form opinion Of all eastern graziers and
drovers who have herded cattle upon the
Illinois and Iowa prairies.
But there are some objections 10 prai-
RE grass. It. does not start early enough
in the spring and it is killed by the first
frosts of autumn. When close fed, il
soon runs ont and the ground produces
Mullen, May weed and other worthless
and troublesome weeds for second
crop and il does not produce SO much to
The acre, or in other words, the same a.
mount of ground does not support the
number of cattle that is desirable and
would be supported by tame grasses
TO enclose a piece of prairie land for
pasture without sowing tame grass seed
upon it, would be the poorest economy
in the world. for the reason that j, will
no, furnish one half the feed that prop
erly sowed tame pasture will.
The grea, secret of success ir having
good pas,urage in Europe and in the
older States, lies in the abundance and
the variety of seeds sown. The roots
Of some varieties strike deep into the
ground, and others are near the surface.
The stalks Of some are long and others
Of ciffereh, heights. Thus neither the
stalks nor the roots interfere. Some
star. early in the spring and draw their
nourishmen, from the soil before others
commence their growth.
But the increased amount of hay or
grass is not the only advantage derived
from sowing variety Of seeds. The
grass is moi 60 apt to run to heavy and
long stalks, and consequently there is
not SO great an amour, Of oats or waste
hay. Ii will be finer and more nutritious.
Cattle will relish and thrive better upon
hay and grass composed of different va
rie,ies, than upon one or two kinds
The greatest advantages, perhaps. in
tame pasture land is, that some varieties,
such as rye and orchard grass furnish a
full bite for cattle ut least two or three
weeks earlier and later than blue grass,
and three or four weeks earlier than the
prairie grass.
This subject Of pasture and grass
lands is becoming Of deep importance
10 the farmers Of Iowa. Ours is desti-
ned 10 be grazing State. The open
ranges for herding cattle, which a few
years ago were supposed TO be illimita-
bic and unacceptable, are every day be-
coming more and more contracted. It.
will be but short time before every
one will be compelled to Craze his stock
upon his own land. Ii becomes an OBJ.
ject, then, Of the highest importance to
raise The greatest amount of feed and
hay possible from given quantity of
land.
We intend in the future numbers Of
this paper TO devote considerable space
10 the characteristics and qualities of
The differen. species Of grasses raised for
hay and pasturage, believing that it
could not be more pro6tably used. In
the mean time, We append the recon-
mendation of the American Farmer, for
permanent pasture:
Sow on each acre, one peck Of Tim
o.hy seed, four pecks of orchard grass
seed. two pecks OF red TO-, seed, two
pecks of Kentucky blue grass seed. two
pecks Of perennial rye grass seed, and
and three pounds. of sweet scented YER
nal grass.
The Timothy seed should be sown
by i,self,rihe other seeds mixed together
with thrice their bulk of ashes, and sown
by themselves, both lengthwise the fur
row and crosswise, to insure an equal
distribution Of the various kinds of seeds
over all parts of the field. The orchard
grass seed would be all the better mois.
tened, and left in bulk IL or "a hours.
then to be dried in ashes before being
mixed with the other seeds.
After the grass seeds are sown, bar.
row them very lightly with light har-
row. and roll the ground well. This
done, you may congratulate yourself
that you have the ground work of per-
maneni meadow and pasture, that will
last your life .time---and which if you top