Pastures in New York. 509 



the plants in many places. In some there were three times as many 

 plants as in others; a few spaces showed as many weeds or as many 

 plants of the second-grade as of the first quality. As it was in Central 

 New York, I knew that blue-grass {Poa pratensis) would appear as a 

 volunteer, ' although perhaps feebly at first ; and that the clovers would 

 nearly disappear at the end of two years. I naturally supposed, there- 

 fore, that I had made a mistake in sowing so large a proportion of 

 clover in a permanent pasture; but it proved to be just what was re- 

 quired to furnish by its death and decay the necessary nitrogen for 

 the sustenance of the grasses. In subsequent years the practice was 

 followed of sowing biennially one or two quarts of mixed clover seed 

 early in the spring while the ground was open, soft and moist, and drag- 

 ging it in with a brush drag. ^ 



Experience with this and other pastures has led me to question the 

 recommendations of the seed catalogues as to the amount and kinds 

 of seeds necessary or desirable for a permanent pasture. Although a 

 pasture should contain many more plants per unit of area than are neces- 

 sary to the production of hay, there may easily be so many that there is 

 a constant struggle among them for moisture, light and nutrition, and 

 they will inevitably be lacking in vegetative power and length of life. If 

 I were to lay down a permanent pasture now, under conditions similar to 

 those existing in the Roberts pasture, I would add to the seed sowed 

 per acre, five pounds of orchard grass {Daciylis glomerata), five pounds 

 Kentucky blue-grass {Poa pratensis), and five pounds red-top {Agrostis 

 alba, variety vulgaris). 



About 1880, this pasture was given a dressing of ground bone dis- 

 tributed broadcast — the amount I do not remember — because I had 

 learned that there was a district in Europe which produced weak- 

 boned animals and that the hay of this district contained only about 

 half the usual amount of phosphoric acid. As there was trouble in our 

 dairy with premature and weak-boned calves, and the veterinarian, 

 Dr. James Law, had recommended feeding bone meal in small quan- 

 tities, I thought it well to apply bone-making material to the pastures. 



During one season, in the winter, a light dressing of barnyard manure 

 was spread over the greater part of the field; several times a half dozen 

 loads of coarse material, such as cornstalks, refuse straw, and the like, 

 were put on the gravelly knolls, but it was a long time before a good 

 sod was secured on them. 



'See page 385, Success will be more certain if blue grass seed is sown, and a 

 number of years' time will be saved. 



•See Roberts, Fertility of the Land, p. 211. 



