The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1881-03-25
An ABLE LECTURE.
On Laying Down Land to Permanent
PasfHre.
DELIVERED BEFORE THE STATE AGRI-
CULTURAL COLLEGE RECENTLY
AN EXCELLENT AND INvALU.
ABLE DOCUMENT INDEED.

AN EXCELLENT AND lNtALU
ABLE DOCUMENT INDEED.
b. Before leaving this part OF the
,ubject, / beg again to point out that
.s each grass is only III perfection
,mall part of each year, 10y employ
ng many grasses we attain the great
,bjpct Of securing during the whole
growing season saccesslOn OF good
grazing for our animals.
Some cloVers are essential to q
good permanent pasture. The good
qualities Of these ase 30 well known
that is rs sufficient to name them on
ly TrifoIu,s perea,se perennial Red
Cloyer). or Cow Grass; FRI ;foli,sns re-
pens perennial White); 7rJotiuna
hv6rid,tn. or Alsike Clover; Medicu-
90 lupaaliaa. or Yellow Trefoil, snould
all be included.
Alsike is hybrid between fpra-
tense and t'reps,as and combines the
the free growth of the first with the
permanence OF the second. Care
must be taken that the Perennial
Red Glover is the sort soMn, as the
arnual or biennial variety is the
cheaper and more common.
C. Some essential in both grass and
clover seeds cannot he too strongly
insisted upon, that is, that they shall
be free from, aoeeds, true to name, new
and of sufficient soetght per bushel.
If it is important to select clean
wheat for sowing for one years crop,
how much more important for a crop
which may remain 20, 80 or more
years, or a lifetime.
d. The selection of seeds in due
proportion should be carefully stud
led and the purposes for which tile
pasture is intended should be first
considered. My experince leads me
to state firmly that grazing pastures
should be kept for grazing, and if
hay is desired a different combination
of seeds should be chosen. Pastures
always grazed will supply the best
grazing, and pastures always mown
will supply the best hay year after
year. The judgment and knowledge
of the farmer will in this be pot to a
severe test.
The preparation of the soil for grass
seeds is of great consequence. II
should be clean and free from weeds
of course, but a proper mechanics
condition must also be produced
The land should have been cultivated
to the depth OF six or eight inches
not more, for the previous crop, bu,
not deeply plowed Immediately pre-.
vious to the sowing of the seeds. The
object is to secure good tilth, fine
firm and level surface, as if the land
fis rough or hollow, some weeds will
be too deeply buried, and others not
covered at all. It must be firm and
close at the top or the tiny rootlets
of the grass will be On first starting
exposed to air and drought and will
perish. Rolling and narrowing will
accomplish this, but neither operation
must be proceeded with if the land
is wet. Ii autumn sowing be adopt.
ed clean wheat or oat stubble may
be chosen, which, by cultivation with
a cultivator, followed by harrow anu
roll, can be reduced to fitting ron
dition without being made hollow by
using plow. spring sowing among
the green grain be adopted the same
conditions must be produced with
roll and harrow.
Nv.
The time of year to be chosen fol
grass seed requires much considera
ton. The methods adopted in Eng.
land are as follows: DThe seeds arc
sown in the fall in September, and
any loss the young clover may sus
tain by winter frosts is made good in
the spring by sowing more seed, thi.
is without any grain crops of course
and the young seeds are mown twice
in the succeeding summer and moi
grszed till autumn, or (n), the seeds
are sown in wheat in FEBRUARY OF
March and left alone until the follow
ing summer, IL months, when they
are mown twice and pastured in the
autumn; or qII), sown on barley OF
oats in April; or (Iv), sown in Apri
with five or six pounds per acre Of
rape seed (brassicG campetrio) which
is fed off lightly during the summer
The constant showers which occur in
England during the summer time
render the spring sowing the bes,
way in my opinion, and / have been
uniformly successful in adopting it
but we have to deal here with entire
ly different conditions and must alte,
our methods accordingly. From my
observation Of the past magnificnl
summer, nearly rainless and hot. I am
firmly of opinion that no seeds sc
shallow rooted as grasses and clovers
are on first terminating, would have
chance of surviving. Afterwards
when they are established, no heat
will destroy them, and although
drought may stay their growth, ye,
they will revive again when the rair
comes.
So we are forced to consider the
fall sowing which has this draw back
that clovers when young are easily
injured by frost such as we have
just experienced; this i am told, il
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