The Wahpeton times., 1891-05-21

ttaT1N9NTiN0 R1AplNQ ron Ao-
Sss 9l6ULTURAI READERo. !.


0rasses for Pastuvs and Orchard.
d One Of the most successful Of wide.
lwake farmers in the United States
~ srscordsd his opinion, based on
snty years experience, that a mix
hire, gof which orchard grass is the
leading feature, is far in advance Of
the ordinary timothy and clover mix
ture. Orchard grass possesses the
great advantage over timothy that it
il ready to cut at least three weeks
earlier. And this means two things:
1, That it can be cut before that de-
testable weed, the ox-eye daisy, has
gone to seed; 3, that the early cutting
allows the growth Of a heavy after
math, such as can never be produced
by the later maturing timothy. And
added to these substantial advanta-
ges- either Of which Is sufficient of it.
self to justify the encomiums passed
upon it's another Of very great inn
portance, namely, that heavy seed
ing of it, combined with other grasses,
on properly prepared land, will make
a meadow that can be moved for a
score of years, producing all that time
q third more weight of hay annually
than the common method of seeding.
Since timothy and clover mixtures re-
quire renewal every three or four
years, the advantage in favor OF the
orchard grass mixture is enormous.
The following mixture, for either hay
or permanent pasture, is highly rec
ommended: Orchard grass. meadow
toxtail, sheep fescue, Rhode Island or
creeping bent, hard fescue, sweet
scented vernal, meadow fescue, En-
glish rye-grass, Italian rye-grass, red
top. One half of this should be orch
ard grass, and If the best results are
to be obtained the quantity shown
should be so large as fairly to take
the ordinary farmers breath away,
namely, fifty to seventy-five pounds
per acre, according to the richness Of
the soil. To this should be added,
sown separately in the spring, ten
pounds of red or mammoth clover.
ffthis seems heavy outlay, it is to
be taken into the account, as an
eminent authority puts it, that five
acres treated by this method would
produce as much as twenty-five acres
treated after the usual method.
Seeding down in this fashion is "high
farming" in the best sense. And that
kind OF farming is what the future will
demand. Getting two blades of grass
to grow where one grew before is but
q step toward the grand result which
farmers must aim at if the agricultural
industry, on which all other industries
depend, is to be profitable one in the
coming time, not far away, when the
population of this country will be a
hundred millions, and the "struggle
for existence" will besharp and urgent.
There is vast saving in labor and
cost in getting from five acres the same
quantity of any product as from
twenty five, and the farmer who sue
ceeds in accomplishing it is the one
who will make farming pay.
It is claimed for the orchard grass
mixture gwen above that it is more
nutritious, pound for pound, as q feed
for cattle and sheep than timothy
hay. A careful observer found that
OH Changing the Ieeu OI MS COWS from
hay made from orchard grass, clover
and other mixed grasses, to timothy
hay of good quality, the tri-weekly
churning of butter fell offfrom twenty
five pounds to seventeen pounds, and
no increase of grain food could he
safely given that would restore the
loss.
! Farmers would find it to their ad-
vantage to study carefully these ex-
periments of progressive, careful men,
and try for themselves, on small
scale at first, whether these things
are So" To 60 on year after year for
3 q lifetime making q lifelong blunder
through following the old ways, is
surely not the part Of wise and pru-
dent men. Rash experiments are not
advisable, of course. There are not
many farmers who can afford to take
great risks with new things. But
neither can farmers afford to neglect
well-attested improvements in farm
ing methods. ''rhe BEST" and only
that, sis good enough for the Ameri.