EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 703 



cows — a condition which lessens the amount of labor expended in care- 

 taking, and which tends always to pi'omote the health and vigor of the 

 animals. 



No doubt the majority of land owners agree with this proposition that 

 a considerable area may with profit be devoted to the permanent pasture 

 on farms which are more or less broken, but there are a goodly number 

 who contend that land which is worth a hundred dollars per acre is 

 worth too much to be kept down in grass. For two reasons we are 

 convinced that a first-class pasture will pay on hundred dollar land. In 

 Great Britain land which is worth three or four times this amount is 

 devoted to grass crops at a profit; second, when a considerable area of our 

 farm lands is kept seeded down and relatively less is used for corn and 

 small grain production we are following lines of soil management which 

 more than any others tend to maintain our farms in a high state of 

 productive capacity. So much regarding the value of the pasture as an 

 investment. It is well to note, however, that only well-kept pastures are 

 profitable on high-priced land. But far too many pastures, possibly 75 

 per cent of the entire number, are not well kept. As a rule, the farmer 

 gives less attention to the work of maintaining his grazing lands in good 

 condition than he gives to any other portion of his farm. Consequently 

 many pastures are poorly drained, have a poor stand of grass, are overrun 

 with weeds at certain times of the year and yield crops which are very 

 far short of those which the same land is capable of yielding under proper 

 systems of soil management. But, fortunately, it is possible to improve 

 these pastures. 



Thousands and thousands of acres of pasture land need drainage. It is 

 difficult to understand why so many land owners persistently fail to tile 

 drain their wet pastures. Pasture lands respond to drainage just as cer- 

 tainly and with as great profit as cultivated lands. Sweet, palatable grass, 

 in maximum quantities, is found only in well-drained pastures. Therefore 

 In many instances adequate drainage should be the first step in the line 

 of improvement. 



Again, many pastures have a poor stand of grass, in many cases not to 

 exceed a half stand. Neglect, a lack of plant food, and too close grazing 

 very often bring a pasture into this condition. An earnest effort should 

 be made to improve the stand without delay, for a poor stand of grass, 

 like a poor stand of corn, cuts down the profits to a greater extent than 

 is understood by the average farmer. In order to get grass on the bare 

 spots where weeds have taken possession and on places where the grass 

 is thin and lacks vigor, do not plow up the entire pasture with the 

 thought of reseeding with blue grass and other grasses. The chances are 

 that the old pasture, if properly treated, will be superior in a year or two 

 to the new pasture after the lapse of one or two decades. The better 

 plan is to thoroughly disk and harrow the spots which are weedy or 

 thin; do this in the spring, just as soon as the frost is out of the ground. 

 There should be no half-way work with these implements, but the surface 

 of the ground should be thoroughly cut up and loosened. In other words, 

 a first-class seed bed should be prepared. This treatment of the land will 

 not destroy the sod, although it may seem greatly injured But this is 

 not enough. Additional treatment is essential for the best results. Clover 



