The Wilmington morning star., 1940-03-11
BE%17ERPAS1URES
SOUGHT BY TILS0N
,,,combe Agent Tells Farm
Pasture Cheapest Feed
produced Or Any Farm

Y. Tilson, buncoiioe couh'
" agent, is waging a vigorous
farm s1ccessful campaign for the
. no of pastures in west
'mpi Worth Carolina. John A. Arey,
erh NJ the dairy extension office
heAs 4ate college, says that Tilson
Presenting such a convincing
sant and one that applies
nnIv to the mountains but to
pu' sections of the state, that
o'pe all over North Carolina
fsln ave the benefit of his as
t Ens,h1ed data on the value Of pas
ror me thing, the Buncombe
aut is telling farmers that pas.
s ssa i. the cheapest feed that can
rroduced n any farm for any
M NJ livestock. He cites expert.
h nas data which shows that each
~" nounds of digestible nutrients
wv .,ned from pastures costs 81
o0nts: from Alfalfa hay, SO cents;
tsan corn. s1.sS; and from corn
,aage, s1,54.
a., .ble TO consume 100 pounds or
rore of green feed per day under
n,orsble conditions. This, with an
.rsrase grazing season in the
contains (more in the Piedmont
and coastal Plain) would amount
~ one ton per year. An acre of
sood pasture should supply one
t0v removing one ton of feed
each year.
Plant Food Is Removed
whether this feed is removed
Nv a dairy COW converting the
t.sd into milk, or a beef animal
mnverting the feed into meat, ap.
moylmately 100 pounds of phos-
nborous and approximately 100
mounds of nitrogen, potash, and
r,lci,m oxide combined, is removed
tron this acre of land. 1t is need
ls TO say that unless this plant
.cd is returned to the soil in
snmes and grasses with an ap-
Nation Of lime and phosphate,
ts sod will become depleted in
is same manner that other land
does when crops are poorly man
aged"
As a further argument, Tilson
saws ANY farmer who a pro-
duce good corn, small grain, or to.
bacco on his place can certainly
produce good pasture" He adds,
however, ut is useless for a live
stock producer to attempt to com
pete on the market with his cattle
or their products if the cost Of
feed is excessive"
Nj. Arey agrees heartily with
1ilson's advice that pastures should
he re-seeded at this season, espe.
cially in sections which had a dry
fall last year. A mixture Of adapt
able grasses and legumes is rec
commended. Orchard, red top, and
blue grass are among the best, and
white clover will Craze we'll on fer
tile soil that is not acid, the Bun
cOmbe agent says. Manure is the
best fertilizer for pasture plants.
Lespedeza has its place in the pas
ture, but should not constitute
more than 40 per cent Of the mix
ture.
Discussing the need for fertiliza.
ton Of pastures, the Buncombe
agent says: phosphate is the most
needed element, but considering
that the plants we fertilize are SIM
liar TO corn, a complete fertilizer
such as is used under corn is more
satisfactory. Much Of the land in
the state is acid, and from results
obtained through the use of lime
al the rate Of two tons per acre in
buhcome county, this should be
one OF the first considerations in
making a permanent pasture.
When the pasture is made, over
grazing should be avoided. Animals
should not be on pasture too early
Ill the spring, or allowed to re.
man too late in the fall. More
slazlng is realized from a given
acreage when the pasture is divid-
ID and used in rotation. ]. P. Nc
Ilafy, a leading dairy farmer of
Tue Emma section of Buncombe
'ouhty, reports that he has in
creased his grazing % per cent by
lO'at'ns the cows in different pas.
tures.'
extension Specialist Arey says
uel Dairy Herd Improvement as.
sueiatlon records prove that the
leeo cost per 100 pounds Of milk
no1uced is half as much during
tut pasture season as during other
'Iohths Of the year.