Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-04-11
Care OF the Meadows.

great deal OF mischief nav be done
by thoughtleSs pasturing of the mead
ows in early spring. In haste to pluck
the first frui of the suns warmth and
the milder breezes of spring, by turning
the cattle out to pick scanty and
scarcely helpful mouthful of heritage, we
destroy the future growth without any
benefit. Just as the thoughtless, eager
boy hastens to gather the first apples
from the tree, aud suffers the pains and
penalties for his error, bes;de losing
the fruit which would be useful at its
time OF maturity, so the equally
thoughtless farmer Injuries his cattle by
impairing their taste for dry food be-
lore he has any adequate supply of
grass; sometimes. too, reducing the
yield of milk by the. immature heritage
and its unwholesome effects, while he
greatly in 'ures the field by trampling
the soft soil and checking the growth of
the grass. 1t is common practice, but
and careful farmer will never be driven
to make use of expedients of this kind
TO fill out the feeding of his cattle.
Down in the mows there will now be
uncovered the first cutting of hay,
sweet, tender and nutritious, and this
is the natural link which comes between
hay and grass. for it partakes Of the
character of both. And this will keep
up the flow of milk and the decreasing
appetite of the cows for dry food until
the grass has become firm and well es-
tablished. and the ground is dry and
solid and can bear the pressure of a
hoof without being poached and trod-
den into muddy holes.
There will be time. too, TO repair the
meadows and pastures by harro wing
and fresh seeding where the grass has
run out, or to spread manure or fer
tilizers on these bare spots. Our
climate is not favorable to the peren-
NAL verdure of a meadow. The cold
winter in many cases heaves the sod,
and lifts it wholly from the soil as If
knife had been passed under il. II
this is not repaired before the ground
dries, and the roots pressed back into
the soil and protected and nourished by
some manure, the grass dies and weeds
appear in its place. On the other hand,
the hot, scorching sun burns the roots
of the thin grass and leaves them dead
in the soil. Through the winter the
dead heritage decays, and in the spring
the bare soil is seen. This requires re-
pair by narrowing and new seeding,
aud of course while the new seed i
taking root it will not bear tramping
by cattle. Again, meadows intended
for hay should never be pastured; or, il
this is hardly ever done, it should be in
the fall, when n too heavy aftermath
might become an obstacle to the
mower the next season. Spring
paSturing of moving land can not
be defended or excused, and the
farmer tempted thereto by search
ty OF feed had better buy
hay or fodder to carry him through
than burn his candle at both ends by
eating down the young growth OF his
hay crop. For this not only lessons its
quantity, but it makes late moving and
late recovery of the grass, which in a
dry season may not recover at all, but
perish by the shock. The first rule OF
the farmer should be everything to its
proper use," and to pasture hay
meadow is as unwise as il would be to
pasture down a field of corn in the vain
effort to make something more out of il
than nature intended. We can not beat
nature in that way, and we can not
pasture meadow in the spring and
cut hay in the summer with economy
or profit. We too often make the mis-
take o. ignoring the fact that grass is a
crop and must be AIRED for as we'll and
thoughtfully as any other crop. And
we suffer for every one of our mistakes.
So, too, we frequently fail to give the
pastures the necessary annual repairing
by top dressing. new seeding. and an
occasional narrowing to freshen the
grass; while we are too apt to turn the
stock on too soon, and we suffer from
these mistakes. y Times.