The Portland daily press., 1876-09-11
To Secure Good Grass Crops.

The opinion is commonly held withou
much thought, that after the grass sod Of
meadows and pastures is once established
little or no care is required to preserve it til
it is plowed up again; and that the only
means needed to increase its quantity, is an
occasional top dressing of manure. This
opinion is an erroneous and superficial one
thought and observation. The fact is, there
scarcely any crop that needs good manage
ment all through more than grass and clover.
Among the requisites for success are proper
times for cutting, the roots from winter, and
the best application of manure.
l. There are two objects to be kept in
view In cutting grass-the value of the crop
and the preservation of the aftergrowth. II
cut very frequently and cut short, like the
grass of lawn, the roots will not make the
same size and extent of growth as when the
stalks and leaves have free development. The
roots depend as much on the leaves as tie
leaves and stems do on the roots. Try the
experiment of sowing new lawn in spring,
and cut one portion once week, and anotll-
er two or three times only during the season,
and then carefully take up, wash, and weigh
square yard of the two portions. The re-
suit will show that free growing plant has
larger and heavier supply Of roots than an
other that is constantly and closely shortened
back.
But the cutting must not be deferred too
late. As soon as plant blossoms the newly
forming seed begins to draw upon lis vigor.
A hay crop should not be allowed to form
and ripen seed for this reason, if there were
no other. Again, try the experiment of cut
ting portion of crop of timothy when first
In blossom, and leave another portion till the
seeds are nearly or quite ripe. Examine the
after-growth of each one month after cutting
and it will be found that the former portion
has larger and denser growth than the
part cut in seed, at the expiration of month
respectively.
For this reason clever, when intended for
either hay, pasture or green manure should
never 60 to seed. Cut it for hay in early
blossom; do not allow patches in pastures to
ripen seeds; and pillow under, or cut with a
mower if intended as manure. It is better
to cut with reaper set high, that there may
be enough of the plants left to retain their
full strength. A clover field treated in this
way several times before blowing under the
crop, will be much better for it than by
merely blowing under when the first growth
has attained size. Each repeated crop will
mulch and enrich its successor, and the fin al
result will be eminently satisfactory, es-
pecially as some expense, time and labor are
required to get good clover crop under way.
Pastures should not be fed close if we ex-
pect to obtain the largest supply of forage
from them. But if allowed to grow too long,
they form more or less of seed, which ex-
hausts the roots. The reaper, set high,
should therefore be passed over them in time,
to prevent its ripeniDg. 1t may, at the same
time, have good incidental effect, in cutting
off thistles and other weeds which may have
found foothold.
2. On account of the protection of theroots
OF grass in winter, close cropping or grazing
should never be permitted. 1T would be bet.
Ter II moving machines were not capable Of
cutting within four inches of the ground, ex
cept it may be in extreme cases, or in lodged
grass. A meadow or pasture should always
enter winter with a heavy mat or covering
for the roots. This has a remarkably pro.
tecting influence on the plants. Bare ground
Ia found to freeze much deeper in winter
than ground protected by heavy mulch of
living grass. Wind sweeping over a bare,
frozen surface, so Injuries the young plants
that they are much longer starting in spring.
1t Is not uncommon to find grass in early
spring which has made growth of halt 4
foot where sheltered by the previous