Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-02-05
agricultural, &r.
Management Of Grass Lands.

grass lands would appear to he the princi-
pai business of Vermont farmers The well
An'"h fact that grass is our great staple
crop and that to it are we indebted for our
almost unexamped prosperity, very naturally
'edasthis c'ass into the error named. for that
II Is an error no close observer will for a mo-
ment deny. Management implies the inves-
ugation and application of principles, a
knowledge and control Of the subject in hand
Whatever it may be. Can it truly be said .
that the farmers of Vermont ever aspire to /
knowledge of the principles that underiie .
the successful management of their grass
landS ! Who among them all has ever con- /
Quoted successful and reliable experiment
to practically test the economy of any one OF
the prevailing usages in this department
which have come down to US from our faith
ers Would it not be nearer the truth to say
that there is among us absolutely no man
agement of grass lands Is it not barely pos
siblc that on thoroughly investigating the
subject it may be found that our treatment of
these lands. lacking all the characteristics Of
management good or bad. amounts TO absolute
abuse
When the country was first settled and our
lands were rich in plant food, and the burn
ing Of Of the forests had left large amount
Of potash in The soil, grasses sprang up al
most spontaneously and grew luxuriously ;
and 1t has ever been a wonder to many
where the seeds from which they sprang
can have came from. 1t it said that IN Eu-
rope the custom Of sowing grass seeds is but
little more than 100 years old. and that previ-
ously the seeding OF grass lands was entirely
left to chance. The winds, the migration Of
animals, and the transportation and fodder Z
ing ont Of cured hay were the dependence.
Daniel Lee says that all through the South, =
the paths Of the invading armies during the J
'' late uuIleasantue-~ may be traced by the
slrinEing up Of grasses not indigenous to the +
-oil of those States that Sheman's march o
has established pasi a doubt the fact, that il
the grasses and other forage plants may by
proper seeding be grown even on the lands Q
and in the climate heretofore deemed quite y
unadapted to tie growth Of such plebeian O
crops. C
But the people of every country where p
farms are enclosed, and farming reduced to a
system, understand that no dependence can b
be placed upon such indiscriminate seeding
as that indicated and that soils which have -,
l,oo- a.,l+f-a4,I --f1 IL --1
lying dormant in them has been exhausted. III
need very different seeding from new lands ~
But the most surprising feature of our sys- hi
ten Of seeding is that we make no discrimin- b
alton whatever in practice between different :,
soils and different degrees Of fertility but put in
on about the same quantity of seed, of the to
same kinds, upon eyeryso and under every e5
circumstance sn
4 very successful experimental farmer Of il
Massachusetts, recommends sowing a great
'ariety of seeds on the same field. on the ho
principle that each peculiar plant requires r c
PECULIAR food and that where lands are kept 10
n grass such variety makes a Tassable substi- 'W
ute for a system Of rotation. It seem, to be n
cry natural for grasses of various kinds t. Pc
TOW together, and in fertile fields long kept sm
n grass twenty or thirty kinds may be found 81,
n a single square foot, some Of which ma TO
ure very ea:iy in the season while others lh
re very late, thus aGording not only COM "
-ant succession but wholesome variety OF
ed
For meadows the prevailing practice in tie
his state isto SOW Herds grass, and clover u
lover is at best biennial. and the main rio
Silence for the second and all succeeding sln
ops Is upon the Herds grass and many san
Ire spots and general sparseness is IRE ina
ient result. We hear constant complaint hol
j this subject and the remedy almost inyari- the
by proposed i to sow more seed. There Io5.
c cases where a peculiar fitness Of soil viii ESQ
We full crop of one species but it is nev- but
thelcss generally true, that if we SOW but "
e kind, however abundantly the seed may ---
scattered, on whatever soil it may be, or
lder however favorable circumstances. vet
ly part of the plants viii flourish. Va
ai places viii occur throughout the field.
lieh will be filed up after time by grass TIL
Of an inferior quality, weeds. or moses
mixture ola large number of kinds Of
d VIII cover the entire surface with far
ter quality Of heritage. In sowing such a Ge
yture We do but follow nature. which viii
found to be our best teacher in this t. VI
ct In peek Of Herds grass seed. a- -.
nd by count and computation. there are Nv n
2i4 900 seeds, and in four pounds Of clog franc
seed there are ], G24,0O0 seeds. Very few best J
mcrs sow so little seed. while MANY sow MAJ
&c times as much ard the average is uroI- o,..-
= considerably more than twice this the P.
oUnt. \ little computation viii show from
il is utterly impossible for any such me
nhcr Of plants of these two species to
nd uron the ground. \ sward Of rich
pasture packed close ana entirely full. the lii9
: of..the twenty different species over " Tho
and commingling as the roots Of the theda
d's grass and clover cannot, has been only.
ID to contain only 1000 distinct plants on TINS
lare foot. 1t may then be assumed as -
'tically impossible to supply the defc- The
Y bv sowing more seeds of these tr, IN hands
e.. In some sections the practice Of SOW o1i le
-ed-top with these Is prevalent That is f., =,
step Ill the right direction, and one pecul- Tho,
csult Is that the farmer who has once "a tbe.
three kinds never returns to the prac- Bonds
Of sowing two. He may sometimes sow Iaiiroa
one with view to the production of ~ -,.l' =.
but this i always in a rotation, and not s7s5 an
laying down land for permanent mea- TBB,
Clover is not generally ranked among vul.
RAISES although much grown as a forage the ovei
&. Some farmers do not understand why The !,
uns out on their land after a year or t'on' is
The fact which they do not under I'm -Il.
is that clover is biennial and unles- onir,d T
I'll is peculiarly favorable, and seed The n,
b natures each year to restock the complete
d there is no reason why it should not annual IL !
IT. On soils adapted to its growth it aqa- w -
the very reason that il dies at the end tbrougb
second yearand leaves its large ton The b,
rot in the ground, most excellent the large
er and ,b;s : h. G. -. this port
AZ t0i' deyelopu
''e e'on III our meadows. Herds ally grea
our staple, is not well adapted to wet ted that
soils, but hourishes best on moist, peaty Cent
We generally NOV it too close. and .a,nro5 3,
ermath, even und ? the most favorable property.
stances, starts but slowly leaving the securities
grosed Il all the i,i,,,;,s s.. r. A portion
.,... to investo
u would make fresh green aftermath iOS
ret the roots of the Herds grass if for In CrEEi
he price
are few points in our practice where traqsifu a