The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-04-28


Board OF Agricultural
In the newer portions of our country
timothy and clover are about all that are
sown. In the best grazing sections of
the older parts of the United States
quite large number of grasses are en-
ployed. It is too often the case with the
farmers of Michigan that the LAM is run
down by field crops without much manure.
The sol. is in bad condition, timothy and
clover are sown, they do not catch well
unless the season is very favorable, time
and money are lost, the land is plowed
up again for more crops. Atbest, clover
cannot be relied on to last but two years
without re-seeding. Unless June grass
comes in, the remaining timothy will not
make good pasture.
MANAGING PASTURES AND MEADOWS.
Pastures are usually fed closely, espe-
cially in dry time. Stock are allowed to
run in them in the fall as long as there
is green thing in sight. The foliage
is all taken off clear down, including
part of the roots, which are left weak
and exposed all winter and spring. Dur
ing winter, stock ramble over fields, kill
ing the grass under their feet. Before
the frost is out of the ground, cattle are
digging away at the old turf again and
treading it up full of holes. In this way
the poor grass is beaten and eaten and
half starved, until, after time, depend
ing upon the strength of the soil, the
grass is said to "run out" and the field
to need breaking up" This is not the
way to treat grass land.
Meadows are often pastured for fresh
bite in spring, the stock are turned off
till one crop is moved, and then back
again where they eat all off closely as in
case OF the pasture just noticed. Plants,
to remain strong and healthy, need at
least a little time TO get nourishment
ahead for winter protection. Like ami
mails, they ought to be strong when win
ter sets in.
So far as have observed, almost moth
ing has been done in our country in the
way of fertilizing and improving perma-
nent pasture. We hardly know the
value of an excellent pasture of fine
have such to find.
enough to talk about the use of more
manure-to manure the grass land but
will it pay in this countryl Emphati-
cally, yes refer you to some expert
ments made by DIR. r. G. Kedzie in top
dressing meadow, printed in our report
for 1864. The outlay pays from thirty
five to over 100 per cent. per annum.
The top-dressing used consisted of ashes,
muck, plaster, salt, COW and horse ma
nure. We have found at the agricultural
college that we can make valuable
compost of much and barnyard manure
for twenty-five to fifty cents a cubic
yard. On most farms the supply and
value of manure can be trebled as
well as not by the use of muck.
Bones can be pounded up during winter
with ledge-hammer, and mixed with
ashes or fermenting manure, or sown
directly on the land. Many dead
sheep, horse or OK is buried which should
be cut up in pieces and mixed with the
manure. On one of the poor barren
islands near the eastern coast of Maine
/ saw the heaviest growth of timothy l
ever heard of. It was six feet high, and
had been literally treated with fish
guano. If a farmer can really once be-
lieve that it is profitable to pay good at
tention to his grass land he will find
ways enough to increase the quantity of
his fertilizers.
Whether it is best for farmer to
keep some of his land permanently to
grass, or to keep all of it under the
pillow occasionally, 1 cannot tell but 1
believe Michigan ought to have more
permanent pasture. If we allow the
grass to remain only two or three years
at time, there is no use of sowing the
finer sorts, as Kentucky blue grass, red
top, fox-tail, or the fescues. AS to the
relative value of grasses there must al
ways be variety of views on account of
climate, soil, what they are used for,
how they are treated, etc. Whether it
pays to drain land we'll or not, am al
most ashamed to mention to such body
of intelligent farmers as are here assem-
bled. You know it pays. Yet we must
keep repeating this as long as there is
so much wet landabout us which does not
produce half crop. 1t is not yet many
years since the people of Geneva, N. Y,
made all sorts of fun of John johnson
for burying crockery in his fields-re-
ferring to his ditching with tiles. He
has lived to see complete revolution in
all the country about him.
NATIVE AND FOREIGN GRASSES.
Some people think we should use
only the grasses native to our country.
But by moments thought on this we
see that such grasses are not necessarily
the best because they are native. For
eign plants and foreign insects often
thrive better than our cultivated ones.
1 need only refer to the thriftiness of
the imported codling moth, weevil, and
Hessian fly, and to most of the worst
weeds in our gardens and fields. Al
most any farm in the State containing
variety of soil will be found to grow
already as many as fifty or more species
of grass. On the farm of the agri-
cultural college, saying nothing about
the experimental plants, have found
about seventy.five species, besides the
cereals and clover. There are probably
growing wild in the State, at present,
about 115 species. These grasses make
their own selection of place, and from
this circumstance we can learn useful
lesson "Some prefer low, wet situa-
tons, others grow only on dry ground !;
some prefer the shade of forest trees,
while others flourish best on the most
exposed parts of the broad prairies !;