Pastures in New York. 



511 



3. It was not overstocked early in the season. The plants thus had 

 an opportunity to tiller and to get a firm hold on the soil. 



4. It was mowed early in June. 



The prime factors in the development and maintenance of a good 

 pasture are conservation of moisture and protective shade, which is 

 secured by late and light grazing. 



THE COST OF PASTURE LAND IN DIFFERENT STATES 



G. F. Warren 



The cheap grazing lands of the West were the means of practically 

 exterminating the wool, meat, and horse industries of New York. In 

 order to learn whether such competition is still to be feared, the writer 

 sent letters to each of the agricultural colleges and experiment stations 

 asking questions about the cost of pasture land. These questions were 

 sent to the professors of farm crops, animal industry and kindred sub- 

 jects. Reports were asked for concerning the average value of pasture 

 land, the number of acres required per cow, the months used, and the 

 number of months of full feed that the pasture furnished. If full feed 

 is furnished for four months and half feed for two months, the pasture 

 furnished the equivalent of full feed for five months. 



As a basis for comparison, we have calculated the amount of money 



that must be invested in land in order to furnish full feed for one cow 



one month. Pasture land should pay at least 5% on the value of the 



land if it is to pay interest and the cost of even the minimum attention. 



On this basis we can readily calculate the cost of the month's pasture 



in each of the states. A summary of these results is given in Table i. 



The detailed reports are given in Table 2. It will be seen that only 



one man reported free range. 



TABLE 1 



Average Cost of Pasture Land Rkquired to" Fred One Cow One Month 



North Atlantic States 



Corn-belt 



Middle West, outside of best 



corn-belt 



Blue-grass region 



Southern states 



Arid regions 



Western irrigated or moist land . . 



