Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-07-01
Management Of Pastures.

S0tANs "Oio Vu iuo tOp-uIessing ana general
Management Of pastures, by james Porter.
which. We have perused with satisfactiok and
now give the substance to our readers II is
an important subject to Anerican farmers
enc which We have before urged upon their
attention, and notwithstanding difference in
climate, &C., the experielee Of this Scotch
farmer cannot be studied nd tested without
profit
when land under cultivation is in a high
state OF fertility, and is caefully sown with 4
full and well selected mixture Of grass seeIls
1t will often produce good grass for several
years without any additional manure. This
80 Tar fortunate for the enltiystor of the
-od' Tor n the wide exteTt of arabic land In
Isstures had to be regulsrly top-dressed In
rotation, the system uouk be very laborious
sTd costly. do not wish 4 to be Understood
soiption Of land; on the e6ntrary. when al,
sd climate and other eiresmstan noes are favor.
able, have found god dressing of iigbt
manurcs to the first and second years grass
prove very Temunerativs After varied and
numerous trials for may years, of a greAt
variety Of artificial manree, have come to
the conclusion that guant sulphate of ammo
mia, nitrate Of soda, ari SCOT, are the best
light dressings for new rass that can be ar-
piled. The large Pruporon of nitrogen which
these contain In state asily assimilated by
plants, by its great popr in developing the
blade, makes such manres peculiarly suit-
able for tee growth Of yung grass To render
these manures fully eftient, however. n is
very desirable that thy be sovn in rainy
weather. 1t j. needles to add that if the
manures are not quite gnuine, a partial fail.
Drs must be the result.
lon light land, witbi gravelly subsoil. I
consider 1t mistake . use these manures as
a top-dressing to gra, for when applied 70
such have seldom sen them do much good:
and in an unusually iy season, I think they
can by no means be knefcial For sucb soils
/ would prefer wellaade compost of bones
urine, vegetable mol, and salt. When near
the sea, L have uset a compost Of sea-weed
and fish refuse, TO-, n the following propor
tions:-Say IL loads f mold, loads of sea-
weed, load OF hsh rtue, and z tons of cattle
urine. This makes N lxceil' MT and .ubstsp
tiaf dressing for ono al Of ] ght land. When
II is laid on during te winter months, it's
good effects on the grasin spring are all but
certain; and within hort distance of the
ssa-coast 1t may be iulilied for about 2Ss an
acre.
So much for the rsnuring. I shall now
state few facts which, believe - be impor-
tsnt regarding the msIgement of these PISS.
tures Heavy rolling IL autumn and spring,
when the land is modeately damp, does much
good; fer, besides mak1g a smooth surface, II
packs the soil about to plants, and tends to
make them spread lItcally, and form closer
sWsrd- frequently chuging or shifting the
stock on the grass, andhaying it we'll eaten
down at proper pends. but not too bare. are
the best means of Keeing the pasture in
good and growing itae. 1t is always bad
management to ALLOW tie grass to run to seed,
seeing that 1t weskels he vigor of the roots,
and tends much to ethast the soil. 1t is, in
particular, absolutelr na aessary that all weeds
be cut early in the seson. Whenever. in
deed, they show ther tops above the ground,
teey should De cut liae under the suflau.
o. tne grass with a Ihao tool, by which pro-
cess the sap vessels q tie plan. are left open.
% as to bleed profEely and also admit the
rams, which all tend considerably to DESTROY
foe roots. 1t -, at the same dme, desirable
70 Keep the surface moth, by spreading the
noie-heaPs and drPpngs Of the cattle; for
9y attention to thee simple operations, the
creased -
For the destruction o. moss and the general
Improvement Of pe1nsnent pastures. a series
OF experiments wers tied on land that had
osen lald down, anc taat had become almost
worthless Lime, firn-yard dung, Peruyian
guano, nitrate Of sois.sulphate Of ammonia,
NefPnosphate Of line, sulphate Of potash,
..le tIied, each ace receiving dressing Of
aufe OF the values # about SO. The Peru
van gsaho and the slphate Of smmonis were
tue On'y manures tht caused an Increase Of
crop the first year suicieut TO uay cost The
extreme dry season yas uufayornble To the
experiment. Mr. P. avs:
on some Of the phss the extra produce 6f
nay VIE DO little mVe than pay the cost,
VINE IN DINERS the pice Of the manure is
neary altogether lost. It must also be borne
In mind that the soil } good, and well shell
iS, ILon 'ne drouth; otherwise the results
TTuis"t nave been siillHorse than they are
same manures its TO be expected, wSl
do little, If any good Ia. year. The second
crop OF grass looks lttIe more fresh after
tnem, but they have doe little indeed in ex :
urpanng the moss. TIE dung and tho COM
post viii, no doubt, be ,ore permanent; the
latter, In particular, Hp,,ars 70 have alresdy
done good deal in des.nying the moss. The
nne was against, rather hsn In favor Of the
nay crop; out at preseli Goth 0ctober) It's
eoId enecu upon the psturs are becoming
qune apPaIent-the nossis considerably de-
nrmer TO u foot; the vbie clover ia begin
nlng to sProut up thickly, and the whole sur
. apPesr' greensr nAfesls nrner than
that OF any Of che ether blots TIE effects,
II Is 10 De expected, viii gradually become
more visible ss the lime inks inso the soil;
sno nave little doubt ttat, in the course Of
year or two, is beneHsia elects win be tar
@PPeteHh- TOT t1t1aeeCr1ptlon OF pas
ture land, particularly slsre The soil is rich
IN vegetable matter, sna inclined 10 clay,
powdered lime has the nest powerful effect In
renoyating The grass, ofsny substance have
sTer tried. IL a once clans the surface, kills
insects, deoonposes deslying vegetable mag
'srs ssssa rsSsss zeSsseSsard Of .wsat, REtf-
tive grasses, inslndibg ensiders6fs quantities
o. white clover, and etttle will prefer the
grss. growing on the iiped land. Light dress
inxs, and repeated uhsn necessary, is, per-
baps the best way to apply lime. found
two tons 10 an acre 70 70 perfectly sufficient;
and the autumn or Vnter months viii, no
doubt, be the best tims Tor applying 1t to the
land. Where the landis much infested With
moss. Il will not, per5ps, extirpate 1t entire
ly, but il destroys il nbre than any other ma
nure / have tried, and thereby prevents its
choking the grasses-f least for q good many
years after. 1t j. qule clear that mossy pas
lures should be well brn on the surface be-
fore spreading on mnures Of any descrip
tion. which would allow them to be better
covered from the actin Of the weather, and
give them much better chance Of destroying
the moss
The ppts experims ted with were narrowed
before tae application Of the manures, but a
better nachine than be common barrow, for
IL