254 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



plan their farm practices toward fulfillment of a scheme 

 that will end in increasingly large areas of meadow and 

 pasture in the height of productivity, and feed to prof- 

 itable types of animals, will always be the men who will 

 steadily grow richer along with their grassy fields, and 

 will be recognized, too, wherever they may be, as men 

 of substance and reliability, pillars in society and lead- 

 ers in their counties. There are curious psychological 

 reasons for this that we have not time now to consider. 

 Getting Land Ready for Grass. I hope I may be per- 

 mitted here to use the word "grass" in the farmer's 

 acceptance of the term to include grasses and clovers 

 grown in meadow or pasture, since it will be convenient 

 so to use it, and I have good scriptural warrant for so 

 doing. What type of soil will give us best returns in 

 grass, either for meadow or pasture ? Let us briefly con- 

 sider the soil. An amazing thing it is to see how almost 

 any soil is covered with plants, one nearly as densely 

 as another, and when one comes to examine closely, one 

 finds that on certain soil types one class of plants is found 

 and on another soil type a quite different class of plants. 

 For example, he will find walnut trees and bur oaks, 

 ash and hickory for timber and when the land is cleared 

 it will set to white clover and bluegrass. It will grow 

 strong timothy and 'red clover, wheat, oats or corn. 

 Under that soil there lies limestone, be well assured, 

 and mixed through the soil is quite a good deal of car- 

 bonate of lime. Near by there may be seen another soil 

 type ; the trees will be beech and chestnut, pine and hem- 

 lock, sour gum and white oak. When this land is cleared 

 it may set to redtop or Canada bluegrass, or perhaps 



