Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-07-29
NKe "
PASTURE IS A L
OF FEED

The real value of a good pasture 10
so little realized that on only q few
farms does the pasture play the part
that 1t should in providing the years
feed for dairy cattle and other stock.
says w. j. Fraser, dairy farming spe-
cialist Of the college Of agriculture,
University of Illinois. A good produc-
tive pasture will feed the dairy herd
for practically eone-half the year and
so Is entitled to al much considers
ton as all the other crops combined
ration, he pointed out +
"A good pasture not only saves
land and labor. but also provides TOT
and stimulates production and has Z
fine conditioning effect on live stock,
especially on milk cows In getting
them In shape for the winters produc-
ton on barn feeding.
"One-slxteenth Of the area Of the
farms In Illinois Is untillable land
and bluegrass Is the pasture crop
commonly used 0ver this large area.
1t IL a well-known fact that bluegrass
gives a low yield of pasture In mid-a
ummer. For this reason the college
Of agriculture, University of Illinois,
conducted q pasture experiment to de.
termine the actual amount of feed re-
ceived from bluegrass each week
throughout the growing season, for
four consecutive years. The result
showed that bluegrass produced only
about o~ne-seventh as much feed 4
year as did the Same area In corn or
alfalfa; only one-half as much as
oats, and one-fourth a. much as red
clover.
"The low yield Is not the only
trouble with bluegrass pasture. The
worst of 1t Is, 1t turns up Its toes and
stops growing entirely when the rains
cease, because 1t is shallow rooted.
And this drought usually comes when
there ia the greatest need of feed, be-
cause of the excessive heat of mid
summer and the tortuous flies.
zone OF the four years II would
have required nine and one-half acres
OF bluegrass pasture to support a COW
after June /. Two years there were
periods Of three and a half to four
months when bluegrass pasture was
practically worthless as a CROP to pro-
duce feed for stock, as 1t would have
required 80 acres a cow to furnish
barely sufficient feed. Now 1t is easily
seen that when pasture is this poor It
ceases to be a pasture and becomes
merely an exercising ground.
"These tests and common expert
ence show that bluegrass fails more
than half the season and fails at the
busiest time of the year, and when
stock need the feed the worst. The
most certain thing about bluegrass
pasture is Its uncertainty, and the loss
that comes to the whole herd from
lack Of supplying sufficient feed dur
Ing the hot dry weather of midsum-
mer. The loss thus sustained In the
year is almost beyond comprehension.
1t may easily amount to the difference
between success and failure to the
dairy farmer.
1.-The cows requirement for feed is
continuous throughout the summer,
ard In order to solve the pasture
problem economically we must have
some pasture crop that will furnish
an ample and continuous supply of
feed for the six summer months. The
results on e~ighty-one dairy farms In
Illinois show that three-f0urths of an
acre Of sweet clover pasture is enough
to support a COW during the six sum
mer months. This Is the average efi-
cheney Of sweet clover pasture, not In
a few exceptional cases, but the COM
mon experience in all sections Of the
state and under all the varying con
dltions on these farms. The reason
that sweet clover continues to grow
In dry weather Is because 1t has q
large and deep root system, growing
from four to six or more feet deep.
while most bluegrass roots are In the
top six inches Of the soil.
ITO show that cows. will produce
we'll on sweet clover pasture, 1t Is
only necessary to mention that / have
had a COW on my own farm that pro-
duced SO pounds Of milk a day with
out grain. / have seen four other
COWS that produced between 85 and
rs pounds Of milk a day on sweet
clover pasture alone without grain"