Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-05-10
Improvement Of Pastures.

The pasture question IS one OF the
most difficult the farmer has to meet.
For years, as a rule, the fertility has
been removed from them; and in too
many lnstanc es. and on too many farms,
the appearance Of moss and bushes, and
the feebleness OF the grass growth give
evidence that the process cannot be car
ried much farther Just consider. the
matter. For years the cattle have left
the pasture nightly, each with their
stomachs loaded with food, and this and
the milk is left behind; and the one day
is repetition of the other. The young
stock are turned on the pasture to get
their growth, and then this growth is
sold from the farm. For years there
has been continual process of carrying
of, and not single instance of carrying
on. Is it strange that barrenness should
creep during the years on a field thus
treated? In many, too many instances,
barrenness has come, until it at the
present seems public calamity through
the gradual abandonment of large areas.
If cattle are kept from the pasture so
as to allow, through species of fallow,
the natural fertility of the land to re-
turn, then weeds and bushes spring up,
"a score OF vexation and future ex-
pense. We have now come to the ques-
ton OF what can we do? And we can
see but two answers that seem reason
able. Either the pastures which are
too far exhausted to yield sufficient
profit must be abandoned to the forest
and here comes in the present inter
est in and claims for forestry-or else
the pastures must receive that treat
ment which shall improve them so that
they shall soon yield a return, and ulti-
mately aproft.
We cannot usually plough and fertil-
ize and reseed pastures, for various
reasons, among the most prominent Of
which are the roughness of the land, the
steepness OF the slopes, and the tread
ing Of the cattle. If the sod is once
destroyed, the rains have tendency to
wash the soil down the slOapes, togeth-
err with the seed while the treading of
the cattle hinder the quick formation of
firm sod; and weeds come in and in
crease. Certainly it is only where the
pasture fields come within a system of
rotation that we can be justified in
breaking up an established sod; or those
few instances where the state of the
surface is so bad already that we need
have no hesitation as to any process of
ours making it wOrse-provided, always,
Improvement can be made in more
economical way.
The fundamental difficulty of pasture
improvement is with ourselves. We
know not the real value of an acre of
pasture to us in dollars and cents, and
cannot makeu up our mind as to what
definite outlay we can be justified III
making for its amelioration. The pro-
duct of an acre of pasture is not in a
single crop which we can take off and
weigh and value, but consists of series
of crops which are harvested by the
animals each day of the season. Hence,
if we apply fertilizer, we cannot meas
ure the good it has done, in way that
is sufficiently striking to produce the
impression that it has paid. If by ap-
plying bone dust to a pasture we obtain
ton of extra growth the first year, and
if we suppose that the harvesting of
this ton is going on during each one of
one hundred days, then the two thous-
and pounds divided by one hundred
days gives but twenty pounds a day per
acre,-a quantity evidently too small
for us to appreciate. There can be no
question but that pastures can be i'm
proved by the application of plant food !;
the only question is, can we make our
selves believe it?
Let us suppose an ordinary New Eng
land pasture, worn out, Astounding with
moss and rock, the turf firm and close,
the grass grazed to the roots, and brown
with drought during the dry season.
How can it be improved? First, an adj
mirable way is to secure flock of sheep,
and overstocking the pasture, feed lib
orally of outside products, such as cot
ton seed, wheat bran, etc. The food
furnishes an increase in fat which will
sell, an increase in wool which will sci,
while the sheep distribute their dung,
over the ground they wander over
When sheep husbandfy is not advisable,
then the same process may be followed
with cattle, keeping them in the pasture
night and day, and feeding literally
with outside material as in the case of
the sheep. A flock of hens kept in the
pasture will scratch over and distribute
the dung as it falls. so that in general
there is no waste We here reverse the
process which has been followed, car
rying on instead of carrying off. In
both these methods, sheep and cattle,
we are not approaching the cost, be-
cause we seem to be obtaining, and I'M
der proper care are obtaining, the value
of our extra feeding in meat, milk, or
growth.
If we desire to use our money direct
ly, and have faith to wait couple Of
years or so for a recognized return, then
we can purchase fertilizer-bone dust
is excellent-and apply in as large a
quantity as we can afford. The more
we apply, the sooner shall we be salts
| fed of it's good effect; for bone takes
time to act on the land and it is only
the portion which becomes soluble each
year which one crop of grass receives.
A way we recommend is for the farmer
to decide how much money per acre he
is willing to spend, and then buy as
much fertilizer as this sum will pur-
chase A good way to apply is to SOW
broadcast, then tear the sod with har
row sufficient to open a seed bed, but
not sufficient to destroy the sod. Then
SOW a heavy seeding of mixed grasses,
and roll with a heavy roller,
or If the land is too rough,
brush the seed in the crevices made by
the harrow with a BUSH Scientific
Farmer
The Horn Bug.