The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-02-01
OLD PASTURES, OR NEWg
m the american .Aqriculturist.

From the american Agriculturist.
There are two opinions about pastures.
One is that it is more profitable to feed only
newly seeded land, using it not more than
two years before blowing it up for reseed-
ing; and the other to let it remain for many
years, allowing the surface to become fully
occupied by the native grasses, these being
supposed to be best adapted to develop its
power of production.
Ii we consider this question according to
the general practice of farming communi-
les in this country, we can not hesitate to
decide that the greatest profit will follow
the first-named method, for there is no dis
putting the proposition that timothy, red
top, orchard grass, and red clover, newly
sown on a well prepared and well MANFRED
soil, will produce much more forage land
of highly nutritious kind than will
close turf of blue grass, white clover, ETC.,
which has for many years had full posses
sion of the ground, and has had no artiti-
cal stimulation. The difference in amount
will be much more than enough to repay
the cost of breaking up, manuring, and
seeding.
1t is not now question whether the cons
will do better on one kind of pasture than
on the other, only which will produce the
largest money profit. If single COW were
allowed to roam over ten acres Of short, old
pasture, picking up her whole living in
white clover and the tender sprouts of blue
grass, there is no denying that she would
give more milk, more butter, and more
cheese than she would if feeding, however
abundantly, on the coarser grasses of an
artificial pasture. But our purpose in farm
ing is not to get the largest possible yield
from our cows, but to get the largest pos
sble yield form our land. The COWS are
only implements for converting the pro-
ducts of the field into the salable products
of the dairy.
An average first-class cow coming in in
May will make 200 lbs. of butter in the
season on good natural pasture, but she
will require at least three acres of land for
her exclusive use. At 80 cents per h., the
seasons produce will be $60-or $50 per
acre. On a good artificial pasture she may
give only $50 lbs, worth $54, but she will
be fully supported by the produce of Il sin
gle acre. Supposing that one-third of the
produce is consumed by the interest on
the extra number of COWS, and by the
cost of keeping up the pastures-which
is surely a very liberal allowance
we shall have 500 instead of $50 as the
return per acre. In addition to this, we
shall make ourselves much more ndepend-
ent of variations of the seasons, or a we'll
worked rich meadow is far less injured by
on the same soil could be. This of itself,
will often equal the drawback we have al
lowed for extra cost.
To put the proposition in another form,
we may expect, from the foregoing calcu-
latien, as large cash profit from ten acres
of artificial as from eighteen aeres of natur-
al pasture, and there would lie far less risk
of loss from unusual drouth. 1t is not pro-
posed, of course, that rough or waste lands
should be used for artificial pastures they
would not repay the cost only that such
fields as are susceptible of profitable sub
lection should not be left wild.
How nearly natural pastures may be
made equal to artificial ones, by the use of
the harrow and liberal top-dressing is a
proposition not considered above. The
cost would generally be less than that of
reseeding, and the result equally good. In
any case, no pasture-old or new-should
erer be over-stocked.