Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-02-24
THE MEADOW AND THE PASTURE,
Lecture by Prof. Cooke In the Farmers
Course,

Lecture by Prof. Cooke In the Farmers
Course,
The lecture at the experiment station
Friday afternoon, February II, was to
have been delivered by Hon. +. ID. Doug
las of Whiting, but President Buckham
announced that Mr.. Douglas was still con
fined to his bed by sickness and That Ptof'
w. w. Cooke would speak on The
Meadow and the Pasture"
Prof. Cooke said The two questions
that are of the most importance to the
farmers are the dairy and the hay crop
and they are closely connected. In taking
up the subject we may dlylae 1t into two
parasitic meadow and the pasture. The
three kinds of grass seed most co umOhlA
sown are timothy, red top and clover
They have for uany years stood the test
of our climate and Will continue to-
hold their place for years to come. Bu' II
would be well tor orchard grass TO I've
suwu more generally. 1t lipen5 earlier
than any other Kind and generally the sec
Ond crop is nearly rs good as the lr-t
Orchard grds- should be sown either
very thickly, about three bushels to the acre
SO that the roots Will be thlck or oytleS
with another grass, say Kentucky blue
grass. Oais are Que Of the most tNhduS
tive crops and consequently 1t Is not ad-
most farmers pay no attention to thls fact
Barley Wodld ne u much better crop with
which to stock down and II makes good
freu for cattle Rye is better than oats
for the same purpose, since there Is no
cOmprUtiOn between the roots in the
spring and the rye being cut early the
grass has a LONG time in which to gru".
a ouc HE CountC icnt valley corr Is very
commonly used with which to stock
down, the only difficulty being THAT the
stubhle is sometimes in the way OF tie
moving machine the next year, Oats
soWcd in dul-, five or seven inches
apart, aIe used to stock down in some
places in Orleans county and the results
obtained are said to be good. There l.
no crop that furnishes 50 much food for
cattle as corn and 1t takes out very llttIt
fro the soil.
The subject Of top dressing has been
much discussed. Top dressing on moist
soils will give better results than it would
If applied to dry soils. There Is one case
in which it would pay to use top dress
ing on 8uy soil, and that is on piece OF
land where au exceptionally good eaten
OF grass has been Obtained. Top dressing
should begin from TIE start ana continue
until it is Thought best to turn over the
sod Top dressing o. orch nj grass VIII
pay because the second crop IL so heavy.
There is q vide difference of opinion uu
the subject Of aftermath ana cphdeueu-
who has rich, heavy soil beleNco
in tuning liz cattle into the field ahN
the roots are probably not at all injured.
while the man " hose soil Will barely raise
one crop is strongly ami nightly opposed
to the plan. 10 cattle are turned mo
meadow they should he taken CUT before
snow comes SO rs to GIVE Lue roots an Cp-
portunIty to start. Grass roots have q
hard tine too tor Il few days after the
moving mac 1lue has passed over them,
and it cattle are turned in at all 1t should
not be done too early. Potash in ieitlllzers
seems to have special effect on clover,
aud so does plaster. But plaster applied
continually will in time exhaust the soil.
There has been more discussion over the
time OF cutting hay than over any other
question connected with the hay
crop The grass is at its pest
when about five inches in height, but
it would of course not pay TO cut 1t then.
Following this there is period OF growth
until the head begins to form. This is the
worst time to cut 1t and TO farmers make
this mistake. just as it begins to blossom
it changes and begins to lay up the matter
that Is most valuable Tor feeding pur-
poses This continues uuIil just Is the
seed sets and after this there Is NsNy little
of value for feeding purposes brought up
from he roots. If allowed to stand 1t con
tinually increases III weight aud the work
horse thnVes best on fully RIPE nay. But
the case is different on the farm. As II
increases in weight the hay decreases in
digestbiity, 50 that there is some one
time between biossoming and rpening
when it should be cut, and il any mistake
is made it should be on the side of early
cutting. Hay cut lare is less Kelly to be
come injured, but this will not balance
the loss in other directions.
We have in Vermont nothing but bad
pastures because 1t pays better to keep all
land possible fer moving. There is II
great loss of ma ure here but it Is
necessary loss. In seeding a pasture we
should use seeds that ripen at different
times instead OF those that ripen all Al
once, as Is desirable in a meadow. The
question Of reuovatiuga pasture is one con
cerning which there has been much dis
cussion but one to which there has rs yet
been no satisfactory answer.