American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1913-01-09
IRRIGATION FOR A PASTURE
In Order to Secure Good Stand for
First Year Seed Bed shouiJ Be
Carefully Prepared.

Carefully Prepared. =
We often have inquiry for the seed
Ing of a pasture for dairy cows. Al
falfa. of course. is the most produc
tive single plant, but It is not Away
available. Common red clover will
also produce a good crop, but 1t re
guires care In p~asturing. A mixture
composed OF the following should Civ
good results on our irrigated lands
Timothy. six pounds; bronze grass
five pounds; meadow fescue, five
pounds; tall oat grass. three pounds
alsike clover. three pounds; alfalfa
two pounds. making q total OF twenty
-four pounds of seed to the acre and
little rec top may be added for wei
situations, say the Denver Field and
Farm. The bronze and the tall GA,
grasses are the quickest growers and
will produce the bulk OF the pasture
the first The seed bed should
be clean and well prepared and the
reed sown early In the spring. Since
a permanent pasture Is expected to
last for q number OF years 1t Is very
necessary that a good stand be OBJ
tanned the first season. In order to
secure this, care should be taken In
the preparation OF the seed bed. IN
the seed. and In the caring of pasture
until It Is well established. II the
sowing IL done In the fall the seed
should be put upon land hat has been
summer fallowed. 1t Is also a good
plan when sowing in the spring to
summer fallow the land for n sea.
son previous to the seeding and In
some cases 1t Is a good practice to
bury or pillow under at least one crop
In order to supply the land with hui.
mus and plant food. The seed Is usu.
ally sown by hand, after 1t Is thorough.
ly mixed. Care should be taken to
secure an even distribution of the
sary to SOW the larger varieties Of
seeds first and then go over the land
again with the smaller seeds. In
nearly all cases the seedsscan be GOV
cred deep enough with a harrow and
some folks finish with a corrugator.
As a usual thing it Is not considered
good practice to Craze a permanent
pasture the first year. A better plan
Is to NOW the crop of and leave the
grass upon the land to act as a mulch,
This also aids In keeping down the
weeds. The closeness OF grazing will
depend upon the soil and climatic con
ditions. II should not be fed o.. too
p1nqa In Qup,n,nr prnnfha uyhnn4 tho
weather Is hot and dry. as the plants
are injured by the tramping and the
loss of moisture. On the dry, light.
sandy soils close grazing should not
be followed, and a permanent pas
ture should never re grazed when the
land is so wet that there Is danger Of
injuring the plants by tramping them
into the soil. 1t is a good plan to feed
different classes OF animals on the
same pasture. The taste of each AMI.
NAL Is different and therefore the pas
lures may be grazed off more evenly.
The different animals may be put
upon the pasture at the same time or
at different periods of the season. An
other mixture that should prove sue.
cessful In our irrigated valleys con.
sists of timothy. twelve pounds; al.
sike clover. three pounds; alfalfa,
three pounds, and small white clover, |
two pounds, making a total OF twenty
pounds TO the acre. This pasture is
well suited to dairy cattle.
prevents the animals from bloat.
ing. 1t also furnishes succulent feed
for the greater part oil the season. The
grass ome on quite early and con.
to grow until late fall. Or.
chard grass and Colorado bluestem
added to thu mixture also increases
the feeding value. Fol this mixture
seed bed is prepared and the seed
In much the same way as for
meadow. However. some people have
had success by sowing the seed upon
Did pastures very early in the spring.
rhe melting SHOWS and spring rains
Will usually furnish sufficient cover
'or termination. Taking it all in all.
however. the better the seed bed Is
prepared the better the results will
be. On the dry lands of the west the
best grasses for maintaining a perma-
pasture are bromus nermis and
rye. Both of these will grow
IN nearly any Kind of soil and of all
he pasture grasses these two have
he greatest drought-resistant powers.
4 mixture of ten pounds each should
prove very successful upon the dry
ands. especially on the light, sandy
On the bench lands the follow.
ng mixture should give good results:
Timothy. four pounds; bromus liner.
mis-. six pounds; western rye grass.
our pounds. and alfalfa, found pounds,
a total of eighteen pounds the
lcre. Another good mixture. especial
y In the winter wheat districts. Is
rome. seven pounds; meadow ~fescue.
pounds; tall oat grass. five
and alfalfa. three pounds. a
otal OF twenty pounds of seed to the
ere. The pasture on dry land will
lot last so long rs on irrigated land.
tut II the soil Is well cared for II