Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-03-11
Permanent Pastures.
BY Prof. W. Brown, Ontario Agricultural Col
lege.


BY Prof. W. Brown Ontario Agricultural Col
lege.
Near Brockvlle twenty acres were
seeded down four years ago, and so
profuse was the first years growth that
pasturing and hayipg had to be adopt
ed in order to prevent smotherlng.
The second year was pastured, when
fully two head at cattle were kept per
acre; during the third year twenty
cows were grazed up to July II, and
then ten tons oil frst-class hay were
harvested from one-half the field, and
after the hay was removed seventeen
lcattle were grazsd for the remainder
Of the season, leaving the pasture
with a much better bottom. The en-
terprising farmer in this example gave
particular attention to the effect of
the variety of grasses and clovers up
on dairy products. He says, THE
mllk produced was richer and OF a
peculiar flavor having directly after
milking a greasy appearance like OIL
on the top of water; the butter had
also q peculiar flavor and a richer vel
low color" the same effect was pro
duced on the butter when cows were
fed on the hay. Not far from the
same place a prominent public man
seeded some forty acres, and he eX,
pressed his satisfaction to the writer
| In this way: IF the farmers take ad
vantage Of what the experimental
farm has shown can be done with per
manent pasture alone, it has more
than paid its cost TO the country for
mgny years 10 come" am not aware
how the calculation was made, but
probably some what in this man
ner: The present cultivated pasture
of Ontario maintains one COW on
every three acres Git is really three
and one quarter acres, and as the
average COW givas $500 pounds of
milk per grass season, the product is
II ,270 pounds per acre per annum. AS
! the permanent pasture IN question
can mold more than one cow per acre,
land enables the same cow to give
Ione-fourth more milk, the acre pro
lduces 1850 pounds of milk every
season. There being ABOUT 10000 600
acres of arabic land in Ontario 1t
results that if ten acres of permanent
pasture were established to every 100
acres, the 500, 900 acres thus changed
from the present stamp of pasture
would actually give a cash difference
of S25. O0O, GOO, or $3.50 year to
every farmer of the province. The
cash cost to the province of the On
tario Horticultural College and EXper
mental Farm is about $50, 600 a year.
| If this rough estimate is wide OF the
position taken by the gentleman re
| ferred to. shall be glad to have it
corrected, as his congratulations were
hurriedly made IN a railway car two
years ago. Another example is near
/ Stratford, where twenty five acres
were laid down two years ago. For
| the first year the farmer was obliged
| to Craze as we'll as make hay, Twen-
/ v store cattle, yearlngs and 2year-
olds. we're kept on these acres, and
they would have held more, he said.
The land was newly cleared and mad
never been cropped, Here was a case
of cash receipt of SO per acre OF
beef per anuum as against the aver
age of s. 25 from timothy and clover
pasture. On the experimental farm
the dairy testing last year was a
produce OF Z, 500 pounds of milk per
acre, where one acre maintained two
cows all the year through result
apparently so remarkable IN comparl-
son with the present provincial aver
age cf 1900 pounds that comment
stands still. The conduct of this class
of pasture has been very uniform and
characteristics On all hands the com
plant has been that it comes so strong
and prOfuse the first year, necessltat-
ing a kind Of management contrary
to the best practice in Europe. As an
example of this, take the case of the
four acres we seeded in May last IN pre-
paraton for the store steers in 1885
A late spring made a late seed bed of
good clay loam-ln good trim, how
ever, ia May. Growth became so
rank that for the purpose Of giving air
and better chance to roots we ran the
mower over in May and left the cut
ting as a mulch. In June another
/ cutting was considered necessary for
/ the like objects, as well as to check
some soft milk thiStles that had come
] with the grass seeds. Again the NOW
, err was used for the third time, and
j hnally in September, fearing that
Z the continued profuse growth might
z smother out some plants when win
ter came, we took oil a crop of hay
, the fourth cutting that averaged one
, and one-half acres. Thus, the same
/ season the cutting was done we had TO
cut four tin IS, and could have pastus-
ed afterward had 1t been consistent
with good management.