5o8 



Bulletin 280. 



and the Professor replied: "I promise you that I will never have that 

 field plowed again if I remain here a quarter of a century." 



In fulfillment of this resolution ten or twelve head of cattle were 

 turned on the rather late "new" seeding the following year. In the 

 latter part of June the pasture showed signs of going to seed; as this 

 would arrest tillering and weaken its growth, it was mowed. In places 

 the grass was so thick that it was feared the clover would be smothered, 

 but before it could be removed it was discovered that the cattle liked 

 the wilted better than 

 the fresh grass. From 

 that time on, although 

 parts of the pasture 

 were mowed each 

 year, the cut grass 

 was not taken awa3^ 

 This experience 

 taught us that early 

 mowing arrested the 

 growth of weeds, pro- 

 moted the tillering of 

 the grasses and made 

 the pasture look green 

 and even. It may be 

 suggested here that 

 when a field is not 

 over-pastured, rank 

 bunches of grass 

 which the cattle do 

 not relish will always 

 be present. The early 

 mowing arrests the 

 growth of these to 

 some extent, and the appearance of the field can be further improved 

 by going over the field with a brush-drag in the early spring. More- 

 over, we learned that it was important to keep the cattle off the pasture 

 in the spring until the grass had made a good growth and the land 

 had well settled. 



Since I had resolved never to plow the field again it behooved me to 

 keep close watch on the plants, introduced and volunteer. Using a 

 simple frame which enclosed a square foot of ground, I carefully inspected 



Fig. 165. — Kentucky blue-grass and white clover sod 

 from the Roberts pasture. These two excellent pas- 

 ture plants thrive well together and should be present 

 in nearly every permanent pasture. 



