210 GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS. 



TOP-DRESSING OF GRASS LANDS. 



The idea was formerly entertained that pasture lands were 

 sufficiently enriched by the animals which fed them. Practical 

 men begin to think otherwise, for it is found that a profitable 

 return is made for the little outlay which they require. Particu- 

 larly is this the case with pastures fed by milch cows. Tliey 

 do not return the essential elements of the plant to the ground 

 in so large a proportion to what they take from it, as some other 

 animals. These elements are required in great quantities to 

 form their milk, while in other animals they are required only 

 to form bone and muscle. The ordure of cows is, therefore, 

 less valuable and fertilizing than thtit of other animals. The 

 consequence is, that lands fed wholly by cows are exhausted 

 sooner than those fed by other animals. For it is evident that 

 where more is taken from the soil than is returned, exhaustion 

 must follow. 



"We furnish animal and vegetable matters to the earth, to 

 supply it with substances which the growth of plants has taken 

 from it. It will be obvious, on a moment's reflection, that the 

 constituent parts of the plant are taken up from the earth and 

 the air, in much the same manner as our food and drink 

 become our bone and flesh. The analogy is still more distinct 

 when we reflect that all our applications for the improvement 

 of the soil, are nothing more than the supply of food for plants. 

 For the food of plants is found in all manures, and the value 

 of these depends upon the quantity they contain. 



The methods of renovating mowing and pasture lands by 

 means of top-dressings, do not essentially difler. An interest- 

 ing experiment, not long ago, fell under my observation. On 

 different parts of the same field, common meadow mud, rich barn 

 and liquid manure impregnated with lime, were used as a top-' 

 dressing. The mud was hauled out in the autumn and thrown 

 in heaps, and there left to the action of the frosts and snows of 

 winter. In spring it was spread about the same time the other 

 manure was applied. Strange as it may seem, the top to which 

 the mud was applied, appeared to far the best advantage. The 

 grass was lieavier, and after the crop liad been removed, that 



