GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 45 



ject to cultivation. On the range such fertilization 

 would not be practicable because of the cost. Of these 

 fertilizers none are so effective probably as farmyard 

 manure, since as when applied to meadows it acts as a 

 fertilizer and also as a mulch, and the more quickly 

 it can be applied after it is made, the greater is the 

 benefit that follows from applying it. While it may 

 be applied at nearly any season, the greatest benefit, 

 probably, will accrue from applying it in the late au- 

 tumn or earlv winter because of the protection which it 

 affords and because of the stimulus given to the growth 

 of gTasses covered by it as soon as growth begins in the 

 spring. So great is the stimulus given to such dressings 

 by the growth of grasses that they crowd out many kinds 

 of weed life that may be present. The deeply rooted 

 objections in the popular mind to such applications, 

 because of the weed seeds which they bring to the pas- 

 tures, would seem to be cherished to an extent far 

 beyond the danger incurred. Such dressings are pe- 

 culiarly adapted to pastures which form a part of the 

 regular rotation, since the stimulus thus given to the 

 gro^vth of the grass plants adds to the humus of the 

 soil when the pastures are overturned with the plough. 



Artificial fertilizers are more commonly used in top 

 dressing pastures in the complete form, but frequently 

 the fertilizer is applied only in the form of nitrogen. 

 Sometimes phosphates only are used and sometimes 

 wood ashes. The needs of the soil should chiefly de- 

 termine the kinds of fertilizer to be used and the quan- 

 tity of the same. 



Only with certain kinds of grasses can pastures be 



