Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1921-02-16
!. !. !. !. j. !. i. !. i. i i i !. i
j. COUNTY AGENTS NOTES. !.
i. !. !. j. !. .is !. !. j. !. !. !. .' !.
PEIsAIA NENT PASTURES.

seen in lean and lank condition
throughout the countryside, and no
profit is realized in their keeping.
The first requisite for a pasture
, is Il fertile soil. Fenred-in gullies
and woods do not constitute Il pas
! ture. They do make good burial
grounds or animals. Either plant
Il good bottom in suitable mixtures
or else first enrich your hillsidcs by
turning under good growth Of vel
vet beans or cOwpeaS, and then plant
rye in the fall and turn it under for
the soil before you think about the
planting for the pasture. Do not
think you can dodge the economic
laws. for things that will bo perma-
nent must he built slowly. Haste will
surely make waste.
After building the pasture. Craze
1t lightly at first and fence it into
two or more parts, so that part Of 1t
can be rested at times and bald spots
restored and weeds kept mown down.
Using fertilizer for pastures is a
questionable practice, but little
acid phosphate used at times will
help considerably Legumes should
always be planted on medium or
poor soil and turned under for soil
Improvement before planting to pas
ture grasses. For grass seed deep
seed-bed Is not needed, for the roots
OF the grasses are usually shallow,
and there will be little or no gcrmi-
na lion in a loose, deep secd-bcd A
fine top, thoroughly narrowed is
needed, and a roller should be used
TO compact the soil around the small
seed after sowing.
What little shade that is left in
the pasture should be left on the
poorer hillsides and not in the richer
bottoms.
'Sod-bound" pastures should be
plowed in the spring, taking care not
to completely invert the furrow
slices, the plowing serving TO opcn
up the soil and restore vigor. Har-
row and roll afterwards, rolling in
some Lespedesa clover seed if this
is done in March.
Rest Pasture Plants Here.
According to those experienced in
building pastures. Bermuda grass
and Lespedesa or Japan clover are
the two most reliable.
Bermuda started from roots is
, move Cciia@Ic than thlt started from
SOD. "urn up ihc Rc@npdn SOD ia
o slice $50 of thr.c inches thick. ana
"auu this with Z spade into Ii,Nc
blocks. Spring is perhaps the best
time to do this, but it can be done
nearly any time that plowing can be
done. Place these blocks or clus-
ters Of roots s inches apart in rows
about two feet apart, or they can
be planted closer if enough roots are
available. Sometimes roots are run
through a feed cutter and pl0wcd
under. Or, another good method
which has been tried by farmer
near Piedmont. with good results, is
to run out the water furrow where
corn is to be planted and put the
roots in. and then run the corn
planter and fertilizer distributor over
this, covering while the corn is
planted. Cultivation should then be
carried on with a spring-tooth cult
vator or harrow, not using sweep,
as the latter will cut the roots and
kill many Of them. Then you have
tho advantage Of corn crop, while
you have started the Bermuda at
tho same time. Then the following
spring SOW broadcast about ten
pounds OF Lespedesa seed per acre
and scratch it in. Mix in three
pounds OF white clover II sown very
early; otherwise SOW tho white clo-
yer in the fall, as white clover will
start better then, doing most OF its
growing in the cool weather, being
an early and late pasture plant. Toe
much white clover should not be
used. however, as It has a tendency to
"salivate" horses and mules TO some
extent
Burr clover can be mixed into the
pasture on the rich soil, sowing it
in August in rows, using two or more
bushels to the acre, as it IS hard to
gcrminate. Manure in the rows will
be OF great value for this plant. DO
not waste time with burr clover ON
tho DOOrpr soils hOwpycr