Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1861-03-14
3gtituItaraI 9epartMcnt.
Turning Stock to Grass Early.

Dear Sir: Ia the last number Of the Far
aer | noticed an article On turning stock to
grass early, and that yoa requested your cor
respondents to give their experience on that
subject. Since then | have talked with some
of our most experienced grazerS, and find this
opinion to be general in this county, which
annually fattens for market upwards of twenty
thousand beeYes, the earlier cattle are turned
to grass the better. When | commoUced ora,
zing, four years ago, | found this to be the
general practice, and | followed it without
making any experiment myself, but am in
formed by one of my neighbors who has grazed
for thirty years past, on an average, two hun
drtd head of cattle annually that he has
seen the experiment tried Two lots of cattle.
equal in all respects, and which had been win
tered alike. were selected in the spring, aud
one lot turned to grass ten days earlier than
the other The first lot took a start of the
other and maintained it through the season,
being ready for market one month sooner than
the second lot. A gentleman by the name OF
Fletcher, in The upper end of this county, was
in the habit OF ?cserying one of his sod fields
through the winter and turning out lot of
cattle about the middle of February. He
was thus enabled to send them to market
about the first of June, when beef is generally
high. He was very successful grazer
There can be no doubt whatever as to the
fact that, in our couutry at least, the sooner
we can get them to grass in the spring the
better. The grass at that season is tender,
aad has the quality of purging the cattle,
looSening their hides, and causing them to shed
off It thus prepares their systems to take on
fat rapidly as soon as the pasturage becomes
stronger and more mature. Later in the sea-
son it seems to lose this quality in a measure,
| have known men to turn their cattle on their
meadows for eight or ten days, early in the
spring, so as to give them a start against the
regular paSturage becomes Gt to turn on.
This is one of the finest grazing sections in
the country. The land seems to he naturally
adapted to grass, running into sod very quick
ly after ta!ow. One Of my neghbors has a
field Of one hundred acres OF greeusward, up
on which he fattens from eighty to ninety head
OF cattle every year; and in a good grass sea
son have seen portions Of the field from which
G. cood swath Of grass might have been cut
when the cattle were taken OF in July. On
the rest Of his estate he fatteus about two hun
dred head
GA the adjoining estate Of AirIey, Mr.. Sto-
vim tattenS about two hundred and seventy
FIVE head. He has a field Of about one hun
dred and fifty acres, on which last spring be
turned one hundred cattle and ninety sheep,
and kept them there until the first of June,
when portion Of them were moved of. The
grass was then nearly knee high over the field.
There are sods in this county nearly fifty
years old, and so firm and strong that, to quote
the language Of our representative, the Hon.
Wm. Smith, "a bullock Of thousand weight
may walk over them after weeks rain with
ont soing his hools more than a lady would
soil her delicate satin slipper by crossing a
Turkey carpet" This may sound like hyper
bole, but unto all that doubt, say come and
see R. ". bowman, FarQuar Co., Va
F1merican Farmer.