The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1892-08-17
About Grass Steers

The Interesting and instructive articles
upon the above subject written and corl-
piled from va-io1s sources BY Mr. Henry
c.. Wallace have attracted y ide and
herty afIentio1- They have opened up a
ield 5fpracticaI agriculture which, While
I It is a simple one, Is Of i character thas
strikes every stoekman, be he great or
small The grass crop Of the country u
BY many times the largest gr0wn- From
Il the average stock owner derives much
Of his profit Yet il receives bat Httle
attention,and thought At his hands.
No farm crop rspsgs attention 80 4uck-
ly As the grass field From i1s very IN
ceptioa it requires skill and diligence
which Is seldom felt and appreciated By
the ordinary farmer. The selection Of
the seeds for ordinary pasture = n itself
somewhat ola science. Il requires con-
staat study To Gnd out. more especially
IN a new country, what vii suit the
climate and s0il ~Givs Is blue grzss.
says the Eentuckian- True, but while
Il H0urishes On the limestone formations
Of that state, driving out al other grasses
sill it does not follow that Il IS the best
for the l0amy, deep soils Of Illinois,
Missouri and Iowa Soms Of i5 Is neces-
sarv, but you can cal upon countless
other kinds and varieties % assist The
grass seed IS delicate Il needs a warm
bed, a fine mold on the soii, and great
care should be taken Enen sowed- In
It's infancy It wants close attention. Il
should not be grazsd too heavily, and
alEays before winter comes Z should be
allowed during the first years Of It's ex-
istenee % cover It's roots thicklv, 80 as
b withstand the iron ha1d Of Jack Frost
Greater perhaps than al the above
requisites Is that the field should be well
dried How often Dc We see feld, care
fully seeded down, grow = fairly good
crop OF grass for year or two, then
relapse into the old rut CT coarse, wld
zrasses- The caEse Is easy 70 Gnd. Il
wants traiEing- No plant requires dry
subsol 50 much As the better varieties
Of grass. They luxuri4te where the
draupipe exists
With such conditions We can nearly
gst what Mr. Wallace says = requisite
% feeding steers successfully on grass
namely, "a falI pasture" But more is
needed. Mr. Wallace has come . the
conclusion that steers VIII gain nearly
Is m1ch Oh grass 4l5ne a. when grlin is
fed al least for tFo or three months dlr-
ing the sumner The proof Of this L. 50
ample lhal iE eIano5 b. tispa1tssl, and az
first thought Il would seem foolish to
spend grain where NJ evident gain is
made. Lo0ki1gaf the matter hr0m
stockyaris point Of view we are al vel
aware that tae purely grlss fsI steer Of
equal weighs cannot compete win the
animal thas had corn How often wheu
autumn comes DO We hear Of ~grassy"
steers The grazier coming a2 vita his
clstls Standing next door TO 4 pen Of
steers seemingly the sane as his own.
The experienced eye Of tie buyer, Who
IS daily ant hourly At his w0rk- detects
It once tie diF-reace, and he pays
much higher price for the lot that have
had corn. The magic word is -s4.Iov.7
You can ueaver get It on grass 70 perfec-
ton. Z requires the corubin or 0ilcake
cr1shsr 70 make It. We aiuit that AZ
the height Of the grass season, 2 short
and deetiag period under j sc0rchiug SIN
such as We have, the gain from artificial
food IS little or nothing, bnt 10 the afler
days il tells. II the catt.s are 10 Be
err led from Summer into autumn, CT
even winter, the addition ola far amount
1 Of corn Or 05lctzs Is slla seen B. such
treatment they get the polish whieh
reveals to the educated eye the inherent
value when they are tested On the block
Then they are weighed II the scale ard
not found wauuns.
We % further. Our able correspond
I en-: must have "a fliJ plsturs.- To get
that acue of perfection you must be
liberal IN the way Of feeling the plant
As y0u stuff the bullock, 80 yoG attain
this point Nothing maEEres and so
thoroughly as sheep dr0pPiHgs, more es-
peciaIlg when they are generously treat
ed Next 70 them comes the bovine race-
You may use dissolved bones, nitrates,
s-c bus they flil to make pasture in
{ comparison win the steady secretion
that goes on hourly from sheep and
cLt-le wandering over Il n this coCu-ry
We need more permanent pastures VITA
labor high, il IS necessity, and there is
no branch cf Agricultural economy which
needs closer study A good pasture is a
thing Of beauty and Joy forever. To
attain perfection two requisites are
absolutely necessary and
nauurs.-LiUs silcE Rsport-