Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-06-27
Treatment Of Grass
RESULTS OF GENERAL NEGLECT OF THE
CHIEF FARM CROP.

Grass is probably the most abused
and least appreciated of all the farm
crops In this country. The yield Of hay
shows the very general and ruinous
neglect that is bestowed upon land In
grass, meadow as we'll as pasture, the
country over. The rarest sight on the
farms today Is a fine grass growth.
Thousands of dairy farmers have mil.
lions of acres of so.called "pastures"
that do not pay the interest on the
money invested in them. They are sour,
muddy, compacted, overweeded and
undergrassed, and the milk cattle con-
demned to Craze on them find on them
very little material to convert into meat
and milk. Other thousands Of general
farmers own millions of acres of social
ed "meadows" that pan out as badly as
do the neglected pastures. Yields OF
hay from these neglected meadows range
from a ton down to almost nothing.
The hay produced is as poor In quality
as in quantity. It can not draw large
feeding value from exhausted soil. 1t
is poor stuff at best. The great need of
the farms to-day is better grass culture.
Grass Is the great natural fodder OF the
most important animals on the farms,
and it should be produced in the great
est possible quantity In order to secure
the greatest possible economy In the
production of meat, milk and other
staple foods. Soil can not produce good
grass indefinitely without regular fertil-
ization, and it is fertilization OF grass
land that is most generally neglected.
A well-known agricultural writer, In a
recent communication to this journal,
says that last year he made notes on
what he saw on many thousands of
farms in many states, and his summa-
tion on the grass situation is that mot
one farmer in fifty, on the average, gives
his grass land proper care and treatment,
even on dairy and stock farms, on which
grass is of the highest value and i'm
portance."
He found hundreds, even thousands,
of cases in which "meadows and past.
ures received absolutely no treatment
year after year." The result is that
'the grass thins out, the soil goes sour,
the weeds come ia, and what should be
the best crop in many cases runs down
in both quantity and quality until 1t is
of little or no value to the owner" He
found hundreds of so-called shay
FARMS" that Is, farms on which hay is
grown for sale or for stock feeding,
which are averaging only "quarter ton
of dry hay to the acre." and in some
cases he found FARMERS moving five or
six acres to get ton Of bay to sell at "a
to So per tom" he found that "even
ton-acre Yields are not numerous" and
1.-TWO to three tons per acre are the ex-
ceptions." In some entire milk pro.
ducing regions, containing hundreds OF
farms, hardly meadow could be found
that yields ton of dry hay to the acre.
Farmers who understand the value and
the possibility OF hay do not need to be
"hunched" on the subject of grass-grow'
ing. There is imperative need that
grass-growing should be revolutionized
on most farms. The last two years of
drouth in large part of the country al
most put the death touch to the grass.
This year, even with the most favoring
weather, only small grass yield may be
expected. General reseeding, unweed-
ing, sweetening and fertilization are
needed to restore pastures and meadows
to a paying basis. Under the neglect
system, grass and hay have become poor
aud profitless, and farmers can no longer
close their eyes to the necessity OF action
to restore grass to it's natural and right
full position in the list of farm crops
New York Farmer.