The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-08-07

Farmers Club Discusses an Important
Subject.-At the last meeting of the Junior
Gunp0wder Agricultural Club the subject dis
cussed was !. How Best Improve Permanent
Pastures" We give below the views of some
Of those present:
Mr.. George e. Shelley said: - II is necessary
in retaining the fertility of pastures to add
manure and prevent pasturing too short, and
If reseeding is done the disc harrow should be
used. A good mulch of straw or coarse ma
teriaI gives moisture and is some benefit. It
should be the aim to get heavy sod, then
weeds will not give trouble. Any good fertil-
izer is well to apply, but there is nothing as
good as manure"
Mr.. Daniel 8. Pearce said: !" / have had no
experience except with manure and the feed
fodder stalks should not remain too thick to
smother the grass. Before keeping cattle
field looked bare, but the droppings Of the cat
tie have improved it. / have not used any
commercial fertilizer on permanent pasture.
When feeding fodder on the pasture the fod-
der wastes and adds fertility
Mr.. H. Amos Matthews said !" / have 20
acres of pasture land that has not been plOwed
for many years. It is better than it was, and
there is wonderful growth of grass, as l have
applied manure on most of it with spreader.
When fodder is fed on hillside it scatters by
the tramping Of the cattle"
Mr.. Calvin D. Price said: " have hillside
aud having put out manure from time to time,
/ see good results from it. / know of field
that has not been plowed for 25 years, and
some say 40 years, and it affords great deal of
pasture"
Mr.. Lewis M. Bacon said 1T is well to ma
nure permanent pastures, and the applying of
straw will make mulch that will do good.
A year ago, owing to having crimson clover,
did not SOW any red clover, hence utilized the
manure on a field that showed decided inn
prOvement with II tons of hay to the acre. /
40 Cd off ofrou LAM
the mulch acting as a fertilizer. 1t is best 10
keep the weeds cut, and if any part Of the pas
tufe needs reseeding it is we'll to use the disc
harrow first. Owing to the drought did not
SOW any crimson clover, but am anxious to
SOW as / have fine set of grass and the wheat
yield is good on land where crimson clover
grew. wanted to SOW crimson clover to fol-
low with coWpeas, wheat and set of grass"
Mr.. Thomas V. Richardson said: Top
dressing with manure is the very best thing to
continue permanent pastures. The use Of
South Carolina rock is well. A good perma-
nent pasture is as profitable as q cultivated
field. / make use of the permanent pasture
for night runs and other fields for day time.
A permanent pasture shows the effect OF
long drought. but the rain starts it up quickly
afterwards. In applying the s. G. rock of 200
pounds to the acre it is done with q drill.
High fed cattle manure shows 10 an advantage
over the other. have used one spreader with
the stable manure and one with the yard ma
nure and find that the stable manure shows
better. l use plaster about the stables, but
have not used s. @. rock with the manure. l
am running mowers over the fields and have
men with scythes cutting weeds out of fence
corners, as l think it important to keep the
weeds from seeding"
fMr. William D. Curry said Manure is the
best for permanent pasture, and then add other
fertilizers. have q field that has not been
ploWed that has had manure applied several
aqf de
year. It starts early and continues with good
returns To get permanent pasture would
start in August and SOW orchard grass, redtop,
timothy, alfalfa and alsike clover; blue grass
and white clover will come. Orchard grass is
a quick grower, but its tendency is to make
the ground uneven because of the tussocks.
advise MIR. Bacon to SOW other grasses in his
corn now, rather than crimson clover. got
IL tons from 16 acres of corn land"
Mr.. Laban Sparks said: ut seems to me
the improvement of permanent pasture is
not decided unless more is done than the rum
ming of CATTLE with their droppings. Not hav-
ing sufficient manure to add to the permanent
pasture, it is necessary to do something else.
We should know what best to do as it is very
important 10 care for the pasture and make 1t
better"
M. II. Arthur Matthews said IF manure
cannot be had then it is necessary to add 3. Q.
rock or some other fertilizer. Where | have
applied the rock it has done good"
Mr.. James B. Ensor said: "a few acres pays
me better than any other part Of the farm.
We should not put cattle too early on the pas
ture / can see decided benefit from the appli-
cation of manure and the feeding of fodder to
the cattle on the permanent pasture. We
should not allow weeds to grow. | have al
ways remembered the kind reproof of Mr..
John Crowther, who, on seeing weeds about
the buildings at my place, asked why grew
them. Lime is good for grass and should re-
main two years on a sod before the land is
plowed Icould not improve my farm until
commenced to lime"
Mr.. Howard Lyon, of Baltimore, who has
travelled much, said: " ! have heard of Ber--
muda grass being heavy growing grass and
best for grazing | have seen grass fields in
Maryland that are washed in places, but in
Pennsylvania it is not so much washed. In
Georgia 1 have seen the billy land terraced
and prepared for cotton, sorghum and corn.
The terraces are 10 to so feet wide"
Mr.. Charles M. Chilcoat said: The benefit
of manure on pastures is seen in the washings
from the barnyards. Care should be taken to
save the liquid manure to put over grass
lands"
Mr.. E. E. Scott said II find meadows are
made rich by an overflow. Sometimes the
grass is covered by the earth, but later there is
benefit seen."