The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-09-06

4 Il
Across he mouFnfll marbles Dlsys |
Who hath mot learned in hours Of filth.
The truth 10 aesh end ssnss unknown, /
That life IL ever lord Of DEATH ~ III
And love can never loss its ORA A
kfJ Maassr.
s AGRICULTURAL.
PASTURES. q 49,
There is much difference Of opinion
among farmers in regard to the man
agement of pastures. One class insists
upon permanent pastures as most prof
liable, and some men say that they can
not afford to pillow up and again seed
down q good old parture, though by 90
doing they should get Q cropof 80 bush
els of wheat to the acre, and sell the
wheat at 50 bushel These men say
the older the pasture the better, and
they say that It takes many years TO es-
tsblish thick turf that's covered dense
lY with q large variety OF the best
grasses, that will put the most fat on
bullock, or that will cause COW to give
the most of the richest milk.
These or like views, prevail very gen.
orally in the so-cahed dairy districts,
and in such districts they have most
foundation in fact, butthey are extreme,
and really rest on a one-sided view Of
the subject, if they are to have univer-
sal applicatior-they are unsound.
Side hills, rocky lands, and generally
any land that cannot be plowed profit
ably for raising grain crops. may, and
in some cases must remain permanently
in pasture. Such lands require peculiar
treatment. As they cannot be plowed,
the weeds must be kept out by hand la
Dor, and frequent manuring, If the soil
is naturally poor, must be res0rted to
in order to keep up their fertility. Of
tn it will be necessary to cut up the
surface with sharp harrow teeth, work
ing in manure and grass seeds and de-
stroying MOSES and other useless
plants. But on some rocky precipices
this will be impracticable. Pastures SO
situated may be of considerable value,
but they must be of far less value than
such as are suitable to bring into TO
tation of moving, pasturing and grain
| raising.
have had no experience in pastures
hundreds of years old, such as are said
TO abound in England, but l have had
such as had not been broken up for from
% to 30 years. have only to look out
of my window to see pasture that my
father seeded Just at the beginning of
this century, and that has in that time
been plowed only one year. Some 30
years being not satisfied with the guam
tity of grass this side hill yielded, and
desirous of destroying the weeds that
were too numerous to dig up with the
hoe, I cultivated it for one season with
the pillow, though atgreat Inconvenience,
because of steepness of hillside. The
effect of that years cultivation have not
for long time been felt, and now the
,lass has mixed with it all the foul
weeds that find their way into such
fields, and constant war, carried on by
men with scythes, dock pullers, &C., is
necessary to keep these weeds within
any reasonable bounds. I would con-
slider the land of double its present val
ne, if it was level enough to be conve-
niently ploved, and to permit the use
of mowers. reapers and the other mod
ern improved Implements.
| Newly seeded pastures yield much
more feed to the acre than old pastures.
In those sections of the country entirely
devoted to the dairy, and where more
or less grain is imported to feed COWS,
the number of COWS kept by farmers
shows that from two to three acres Of
pasture is provided for a COW. Mr..
Harris Lewis, of Frankfort, Herkimel
county, who is authority on all matters
relating to the dairy, says in one OF his
articles in The Tribune, that he wants
200 acres to support dry of 40 COWS
Making proper allowance for wood-lot
orchards, yards, and roads, this gives
not less than four acres of pasture and
meadow for one COW. The hay to winter
a COW certainly should be grown on ont
and a-half acres. This would leave two
and a-half acres for her pasture. Thil
Ia about rs will be found to be the cas-,
where diaries are kept on permanent
pastures
There are other sections of countr,
where diaries are kept in connection
with grain-raising and mixed agricul
ture, and there are still other sections
where pool-producing is combined will
grain-raising and mixed agriculture
Rotation of crops is the rule in thes,
districts of mixed agriculture, and tn,
ground rarely stands in grass more thai
three years generally only two. Tn
first year after the grain crop has beer
taken of, the field is usually moved and
the grass made into hay, and the secont
year pastured, and then plowed and pu
into grain. These followers of. mixet
farming provide pasture for their neces
sary horses and teams, for their younl
stock OF cattle, for their COWS and TO
their focks. This is the variety of farm
: ing with which have been connected
all my life; and know that these farm
ers do not provide generally more thar
an acre of pasture for COW; but thi
pasture is new, not more than one o.
two years old, and in growing season
the feed will outgrow the stock and be
come too large and rank to be of tn,
best quality. This is true of this sea
son, and have only to lock out of m,
window to see a field of new pasture
that has had considerable more than on,
COW to the acre to support so far THU
season, that is so loaded with clover ant
other grasses, that fair crop of hay
might be cut on very considerabl.
part of the field. This field joins thu
side hill lot, before referred to, and al
there is fine brook running at the foo
of the hill, and there is no water in thu
new pasture, the two fields are now pas
tured in common. Every day see thu
COWS and horses selecting from this ole
and new pasturage such of the grasseI
as suits them best, and visiting every
part of both fields. I have no doub
that this is the perfection of feed fol
the animals, and that they do better By
having the two fields, old and new, t
range over and select from.
In the State of New York farm stocl
is pastured about one half of the year
and it certainly is matter CT great i'm
portance to know how to raise the mos
profit from the land devoted to thii
branch of farming. The dairymen an
generally in favor of permanent pas
lures, though there is now and then ont
among them who has found out by tria
the greatly increased yield of grass OF
newly seeded lands; but the tendency
among these men is to measure theil
years work, not SO much by determin
ing the products per acre of their farms
hnt rather the pounds of cheese or but
ter made per COW. I never heard dai
ryman state of his own accord. thu
amount of money his farm paid by tn,
acre, but have constantly heard o