Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1879-02-17
Agsienltnral department.
MANAGEMENT OF PASTURES.
BY ALEXANDER HYDE.

vested in unproductive pastures. We
are by no means certain that the leak
age from unproductive pastures is not
as great as from useless fences. How
ever this may be, there is no question
but that most farmers have undervalued
their grazing lands; have made them no
returns for the constant drafts upon
them for milk, meat, and wool, in short |
have skinned them until they are des-
titute of the fertilizing element of grass
as skinned milk is of cream. Few |
farms can pay interest on the capitals
invested in them unless they furnish |
good grazing. There is, therefore, a
crying need of reformation in the man
agement of our pastures. They must
receive portion of the fertilizing ma
terial which heretofore has been monopo-
lized by the moved and plowed fields.
AS an ounce of prevention is worth
pound of cure, we will first consider how
our pastures can be prevented from dy-
ing of consumption, as SO many of them
are. Just what elements of fertility are
first exhausted from our pastures may
be known to good degree by the stock
they carry. An average cow will carry
off from the pastures annually, in the
form of milk, 10 pounds of phosphate
of lime, and 5 pounds of chloride of
potassium, besides no inconsiderate guam
tity of common salt and other saline
material. AS there is no way in which
an ordinary pasture can resupply itself
with this inorganic matter, it follows
that it must be furnished artifcially, or
the pastures will sooner or later become
exhausted and refuse longer to grow
nutritious grasses. At first clover, tim
othy, red-top. and other succulent spec
les will disappear small. wiry grasses
taking their place, and finally weeds and
bushes, that have longer roots and can
forage to greater depth, will be SUBJ
stituted. The remedy for this slow con-
sumption of our pastures grazed by cows
is to top-dress them occasionally with
compost. or if they are too remote from
the barn for this, to sprinkle them with
wood ashes, bone-dust, or Stockbridge's
special fertilizer for grass. Sometimes
it is the sulphate of lime only which has
given out in the pastures, and then plas-
ter is the specific. This can be ascer-
tanned by a trial on small scale. Most
commonly in our cow-pasturcs ammonia,
the phosphate of lime, and the chloride
of potash, are the wanting fertilizers.
In case wood ashes can be obtained at
a reasonable rate, there is no fertilizer
for pastures so cheap and at the same
time so efectual. These contain phos-
phate of lime, potash, soda-in short,
all the inorganic elements which plants
require for food. Ammonia and carbon
are the only essential constituents Of
plant food which are wanting in wood.
ashes. and as these. especially carbon,
are abundant in the air We have found
that ashes sprinkled on pastures at the
rate of 20 bushels per acre once in three
or four years, or, better still. every year
will keep them IN good heart. They
bring in white clover and other succu
lent heritage. and when the ground il
covered with foliage plants it is KEEP
moist and porous, ready for the absorb
ton of carbon. Plaster and ashes mixed
together in the ratio of l bushel o
plaster to 10 of ashes makes a chea]
and excellent dressing for cow pastures
as the plaster, besides forming a direc
food of grasses, is good absorbent o
ammonia.
When pastures are grazed by fatten
ing cattle the exhaustion is comparative
ly slow. They. however. carry off con
siderable quantities of nitrogen in thei
flesh, and phosphate of lime in thei
, bones. Such pastures, therefore, shout
occasionally-say once in to 10 year
be dressed with bonedust or phosphat
of lime.
Sheep are also good stock for pas
: ture. They not only eat almost ever
, plant that grows. and thus keep dow
weeds and bushes, but their excremer
is all left on the land, and what the
carry off in their wool and meat is sma
in comparison with mich COWS. Mos
pastures will slowly but surely deger
1 crate when stocked with sheep unles
s doctored occasionally. Wool is largel
< made up of organic matter, as whe
y burned it leaves only from l to p,
cent of ash. Like hair, it is distinguish
ed from flesh by the large proportion
about per cent.-of sulphur which
/ contains. The specific dressing for
n sheep pasture. therefore. is plastic (su
n phate of lime) The dropplngs of shet
: are rich in ammonia, and will, wi,
what descends from the air in sno,
" rain, and dew, furnish a suficiency
8 this fertilizing material, and if bush
# of plaster and few bushels of WOO
e ashes can be scattered over sheep-pa
ture occasionally it will hold its oV
= and very likely improve.
e When different kinds of stock a
kept on farm, it will be found profit
# BILE to let the cows, sheep, and fat catt
exchange pastures with each other eve
two or three years. A rotation of sto'
u is analogous to a rotation of crops. Co,
If exhaust a pasture of some elements
r plant food, and sheep of others. If +,