The Portland daily press., 1878-07-02
AGRICULTURAL.
Improving Pastures.

improving Pastures.
On this subject the editor of the Ne,c-E Eng
land Farmer gives the following advice:
A correspondent who is proposing to i'm
prove pasture by overstocking with COWS
and sheep, and feeding grain to supply the
deficiency of food, inquiries if it would not be
better to divide the pasture into two or more
sections, and turn the animals alternately
from one part to another, and thus give each
section opportunity to rest for few days at
a time. He fears that such constant over
stocking as he proposes, without division OF
the pasture, would endanger all the best
grasses now growing. Now this question of
dividing pastures, and turning cattle from
oHe to the other, is an old one, and we be-
lieve the conclusion reached by the majority
of farmers has been that such a practice
costs too much for fences, and that cattle are
less eontented, and thrive less than when
they have the whole pasture to roam over at
will. Hungry cattle are never contentedk
and when one pasture gets short, they are
uneasy to get into the next, and often be-
come unruly in consequence of such manage
ment. We much prefer to give the animals
full liberty, at first, to all the pasture they
are to have, and then they will know just
when and where they are at home. The
main point is to keep the animals so that they
shall not be hungry enough to break fence,
tAQ SiNC CuOuSA lOOu W hccp lucm CUuSLduG-
ly in thriving condition.
A system of partial soiling would come in
well in such a case. Feed the cows good,
dry hay, green food or grain, or all these
every morning, enough tor one full meal,
then let them lie in the stable till noon.
This would save overlooking the pasture,
and the stock would at all times be welI-fed.
In case of extreme dry weather, or short
feed, the cows might for few weeks be kept
xp1 ol1 uot ha har honx
practice for many years, and is still con-
tinued with satisfaction. In this way the
pasture gets all the manure it is entitled to,
while the balance is saved at the barn for
other portions of the farm.
We have had but little experience in i'm
proving pastures, except by putting them into
good tillage land, but the present season we
have commenced upon one Of six acres, and
propose to make some experiments with it.
Early in the spring, just as the grass was
starting, $40 worth of the Stockbridge grass
top-dressirg was sowed on the best portions
of it, and one or two dressings of something
similar will be applied every fall or spring,
as long as the results seem to justify it. The
stock is fed fully at the barn in the morning,
and is turned on to the pasture at noon, and
taken out again at night. Part of the cows
when first turned out will eat but little hay
for few days, but most of them eat quite
heartily both in the morning and at night.
Calves and yearlings eat hay and green rye
night and morning, with nearly as great rel
ish as last winter, when they were confined
wholly to cured fodder. All cattle. especial
ly young growing animals, like to get bite
at the green sward of good pasture, and
the exercise does them good, but we do not
believe that pasturing alone is the best meth
cd of keeping our farm animals. There is
too much risk from variation in the seasons,
too much danger of having hungry, breachy
cattle at midsummer.
No animals, unless well fed at all times,
can give constant return for the food con-
sumed, and no pasture is safe from injury by
overlooking if overrun in dry weather by
herd of poor, hungry animals 1t does pas
ture no harm to feed it close at certain sea-
sons of the year, provided the stock is taken
out or reduced when it is fed close enough.
To make our pastures of the greatest value,
we must not only use them, but we must
also, in measure, be Independent of them.
We must provide extra food, so that we can
take the stock out at any time for day, a
week or a month, if necessary. We would
prefer this method to mourning the expense
of division fences, as the cattle would be
much less likely to become unruly or uneasy,
and the cost would certainly be no greater
when everything is taken into account. We
must learn to keep our cattle better, and also
to be more Independent of pastures in sea-
sons of drouth, and we know of no better
method than by the adoption of system of
partial soiling.-1he Country Gentleman.