704 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



and timothy seed and alsike should be sown on the disked area at the 

 rate of two or three pounds to the acre. An improved condition will be 

 noted in a few weeks. The blue grass starts with increased vigor and 

 the other grasses rapidly thicken the stand and afford many a palatable 

 mouthful of nutritious feed. A portion of an old blue grass pasture which 

 was sod-bound and which yielded very light crops was treated in this 

 way by the owner a few years ago. The field was not pastured heavily 

 for a time; it is estimated that the productive capacity was nearly doubled 

 the first season and that the land was brought into a condition which 

 would tend to maintain some such increase for many years to follow. 

 The treatment which was given this Illinois pasture was not expensive, 

 but it was effective. Cannot thousands of other pastures be improved with 

 equal success? The disking and harrowing loosen and mellow the soil, 

 thus making possible a more free circulation of air, the grasses crowd out 

 the weeds and furnish valuable forage, and the clover furnishes the blue 

 grass a more or less liberal supply of nitrogen and there are not many 

 old pastures which are not in need of this element of plant food. 



These facts seem to warrant two conclusions: The permanent pasture, 

 when kept in good physical condition, with a perfect stand of grass, and 

 when not pastured too closely, is one of the most profitable parts of the 

 farm, even though the land is valued at one hundred dollars an acre. 

 Secondly, continued neglect makes it an unprofitable area. No doubt the 

 better method of soil management in the latter case would be to abandon 

 all idea of keeping a pennanent pasture and to bring the land under 

 rotation. 



RESTORING AND MAINTAINING THE FERTILITY OF AN IOWA 



FARM. 



William I. Raymond, St. Charles, loiva. Before Madison County Farmers' 



Institute. 



That old proverb, "Necessity is the mother of invention," I feel, applies 

 to me to a certain extent. Perhaps if it had been quoted, "Necessity is 

 the mother of investigation," it would better have applied to my particular 

 case. As for myself, there is not much invention in my make-up; but I 

 find it quite a pleasure, and perhaps profitable, to investigates by reading 

 and putting into practice what others have invented or discovered. 

 Therefore, as we found ourselves some years ago located on a run-down 

 and impoverished farm we saw that something must be done; and so, if 

 it be in my power to interest you for a few minutes on this topic, you see 

 it is the surroundings I find myself placed in which must get the credit. 



We are all familiar with the term crop rotation, but perhaps we are 

 not all so well posted on just what the f^al meaning of the term implies, 

 or the alleged benefits to be derived from its practice. 



Scientific men find that one crop takes a certain element from the 

 soil; another crop takes another, or a certain number of other elements, 

 and so on. Therefore, it will be seen that by changing and having a 

 knowledge of what elements it takes to grow a certain crop, and also a 

 knowledge of the elements of growth contained in fertile soil, it is possible 



