114 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 12, 1913. 



question, and the only other way of ameliorating the 

 soil conditions is by the application of organic 

 manure with a view to increasing the reten- 

 tion of moisture through the accumulation of 

 humus. Closely connected with this matter is the 

 question of manuring generally. The feeding of 

 artificial foodstuffs to the animals is the most 

 satisfactory way of increasing the supplies of plant 

 food, for one-half of the nitrogen, two-thirds of the 

 phosphoric acid, and nearly the whole of the potash fed 

 in the food is excreted in the f;pces as manure. 

 Mineral fertilizers arc often of considerable value too, 

 though few definite experiments have been conducted 

 with them in the West Indies. I'rovided that the 

 conditions of water-supply are good, nitrate of soda is 

 likely to stimulate the vegetative growth of grasses; 

 basic slag has also proved useful on heavy land under 

 pasture, chiefly, perhaps, on account of the free lime 

 it contains and the occasional lack of phosphoric acid in 

 clay soils. Potash manures are known to stimulate the 

 development of leguminous plants in a marked degree, 

 and finally free lime and even common salt e.\ert 

 a favourable influence under certain conditions. 



These facts however are, to a large extent, 

 secondary matters compared with the thorough estab- 

 lishment of the pasture in the first place. The 

 preliminary cultivation before the planting of the land 

 la extremely important, for on this depends the nature 

 of the first year's growth which will indicate the future 

 success of the established ley. Nor should cultivation 

 be restricted to the preparation of the land. A pasture, 

 like cotton or sugar-cane, is a growing crop. It 

 demands careful interculture. This should consist 

 of frequent weeding, and scratchings with a light 

 harrow. The weeding lessens competition and the 

 harrowings spread the faeces of tethered animals and 

 remove dead grass stems, thereby letting in air and 

 sunlight. 



Lastly we have to consider the \egetation itself 

 from the point of view of improvements in regard 

 to the establishment of pastures. In proceeding 

 to this question it will be neces.sary to under- 

 stand that our definition of a pasture is intended 

 to include land planted in both perennial and annual 

 fodder plants. It seems that in the West Indies the 

 intermediaries between a permanent ley and an annual 

 ley are not fully recognized. For this reason little 

 attention has been devoted to the judicious intermix- 

 ture of grasses of varying periods of duration and 

 habits, of which the object is to reduce competition and 

 govern growth, so as to produce a maximum but evenly 



distributed yield throughout the year. The important 

 characteristics to be considered in pasture grasses are 

 duration, dejith of root system, tall and tufted habits, 

 and adaptability to certain soils and climatic conditions. 

 The nutritive value of the species is an important 

 matter as is also the question of inclusion of legumin- 

 ous plants. 



In the Tropics there is no large selection of 

 pasture plants to drawn upon such as exists in tem- 

 perate countries, but there is a considerable number 

 of grasses. Useful annuals like Eragrostis ahyssinica 

 (tetf) and Panicum Colonum occur in the West 

 Indies, and also well-known perennials like Panicum 

 viaximum (Guinea grass), Sporobolus indicus (bed 

 grass), Pas2)alui)i conjugatum (sour grass), Panicwm 

 ?)iM<ici(TO(Para grass), — which is the most nutritious of 

 them all — and Andropogon caricosus (liay grass) — 

 a plant very rich in soluble carbohydrates. There is 

 also the little creeping trefoil {Stylosayithes procwiii- 

 hens) which is seasonal in habit but apparently useful 

 as a fixer of atuiospheric nitrogen. These examples 

 by no means exhaust the list of plants that are avail- 

 able, and it would seem not improbable, that after 

 a few trials and systematic observations had been 

 made, more accuracy and precision might be 

 introduced into the selection of planting material 

 for pastures of varying duration. For the question 

 of temporary pastures is of much significance, 

 since by means of theiu it might be practicable to 

 increase the present area under grass through the 

 introduction of leys forming a rotation with sugar-cane, 

 cotton or provision crops, a practice which has already 

 been adopted by some of the successful land-holders in 

 St. Vincent and elsewhere. The full significance of 

 this suggestion will be better appreciated in due course. 



Turning now from the productive characters of 

 pasture land to considerations of animal hygiene, we 

 are first of all met by the great problem of tick eradi- 

 cation. The serious nature of the problem needs no 

 explanation. The general methods of prevention and 

 cure are also familiar. The chief difficulties lie in their 

 application. In considering tick eradication it is 

 necessary to bear in mind that some ticks are contin- 

 uous feeders, whilst others are interrupted. It is the 

 latter which mainly influence the hygienic characters 

 of pasture land, since the grass becomes infected, which 

 results in the oomnmnication of the pest to animals 

 newly arrived. Prevention lies in the resting of these 

 infected pastures. But as already indicated the area 

 at present under grass leaves no margin for the 

 closing up of fields, and then again the absence of 



