The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1923-08-30
FaSM NOTES
By E. B. Ferris

With further reference to dairying
IN Pearl River County, discussed in
Two previous articles, we would like
to emphasize the important of good
astures. A people fe have been
ia 4ght TO kill grass rather than
to encourage = because in the main
We nave grown cotton and grass is
It's. arch enemy. The reverse is
true, however, with dairying, for
here grass is our greatest friend.
1t having become second nature
with US to want to kill grass, t is
more or less difficult to "about
face" and encourage it, vet this
is what we must do to succeed. The
iced that COW gets herself in a
pasture is far cheaper than any we
can buy for her in a sack, or can
produce for her in the shape of hay,
silage or any from of grain AS a
rule in dairy sections the farmers
figure on merely breaking even
during the winter months when all
feed must be bought or fed from
that harvested at home and on
making money during those months
when the cows get the bulk of their
feed from pastures and the main Yea-
son there have been so many failures
among dairymen has been due to
lack Of appreciation of, and effort
to produce good pastures.
In this country the same grasses
and pasture crops generally that do
best in other sections, are not
usually the ones that we should
grow, and | believe we have less
choice of good pasture crops than
do any other part of the state.
Bermuda grass which is one of the
standard pasture grasses in other
parts of the state does not only
moderately we'll here on our best
permanent pastures, and very poorly
on the average pasture. Carpet
grass is far its superior as stand
ard pasture grass for the Coastal
Plains Region and besides has nona
of the disagreeable features OF the
BNmuda grass in being difficult in
getting rid of when not wanted. On
the Experiment Stations at Mcneil
and Poplarville, carpet grass pls-
lures on land of medium fertility
are carrying about as many cattle
per acre as are the best Bermuda
pastures of richer sections of the
state
Lespedeza, true clover, is sec
ond to carpet grass as reliable
pasture crop for South Mississippi
With our frequent showers it gen
orally flourishes from early Spring
until late Fall and in addition to
furnishing a most succulent and
nutritious pasture it builds up the
land to as great an extent as do
any of the clovers, peas or beans.
In experiments conducted at Pop
grazing for cattle and hogs from
combination of oats and lespedeza
This was started by sowing the oats
in the fall and the lepedeza in the
spring, allowing this lespedeza to
mature seed each fall before again
the land for the reception
of the oats, which we had been
sowing the oat seed over the les
pedeza sod and discing them in with
a harrow. In this way we have had
for a number of years as good pas
ture in Pearl River County, as per-
haps any dairyman has had in any
other part of the state. Land used
in this way for -four years and
planted to cotton in 1928, fertilized
with 400 pounds of Commercial fer
tilizer, is making more cotton than
any other land on the place, though
some of this other land is receiving
1850 pounds of fertilizer per acre.
The TACT that land properly handled
on dairy farms is built up rathez
than torn down, speaks more for the
benefit to be derived from dair
than any other one thing, and evea
though the dairyman merely break
even in the sale of dairy product
he succeeds in the end, because r.
builds up his soil and good sol
above everything else, is the secre-
of success in farming.