1 8 A MANUAL OF FARM GRASSES 



This loss may be greatly reduced by allowing the stock 

 to graze upon a limited area each day. The fields may 

 be of such a size in relation to the number of animals that 

 practically the entire crop will be grazed off in a few days 

 or before the trampled portion is killed or too greatly 

 injured. Another method much used, especially for the 

 smaller animals, hogs, sheep and poultry, is the confine- 

 ment within movable pens or enclosures that are shifted 

 from time to time within the field. 



Under the system of farming commonly in vogue in the 

 United States during the past, temporary pasture has 

 been an incident. It has been for the purpose of utilizing 

 a field that for the moment was lying idle, or it has been 

 to meet an exigency such as the unexpected failure of the 

 usual pasture crop, or to tide over some other emergency. 

 In the modern system of agriculture, annual pasture 

 plants are coming to have a definite place of importance. 

 The yield is larger than that of perennial plants and 

 annual plants are better adapted to systems of quick rota- 

 tion. On the other hand the cost of production is 

 greater for a series of years. 



Permanent Pasture 



The term pasture as commonly used refers to the herb- 

 age produced by perennial plants through a series of 

 years. The advantages of permanent over temporary 

 pasture has been mentioned under the discussion of the 

 latter. Under favorable conditions there is a grazing 

 crop each year without cost other than the original prep- 

 aration and seeding, and small additional annual cost of 

 up-keep, such as the repair of fences and, sometimes, the 

 mowing of weeds, or the application of fertilizer. 



