SHIFTING GRAZING STOCK 327 



after growth has stopped, but during the summer I do not believe 

 there is much danger from over-grazing, but, on the contrary, heavy 

 grazing will give the best sod. We are working on the matter of 

 weed eradication and have seen various instances where broom 

 sedge and other troublesome weeds have been destroyed by feed- 

 ing a haystack on the infested area and also by liberal dressings of 

 stable manure." 



This indicates that the question requires quite local 

 interpretation. Deeper in the Virginia mountains, in 

 a moister region, perhaps, lives Henry Stuart, a leader 

 among cattle grazers. It has been his experience that 

 there should be "good grass in June and just enough 

 cattle on it so that the grass keeps gaining a little all 

 the rest of the summer." Thus he makes his export 

 steers, and after they have gone he puts younger, thinner 

 cattle on the pasture to graze in the fall. 



Rotate Animals in Pasture. Where possible it is best 

 to feed off the pasture with different classes of animals 

 in rotation. Horses like one class of herbage and cows 

 a different sort, while sheep eat things that both horses 

 and cattle reject. If then the pasture can be grazed al- 

 .ternately by each class of stock, or if they can live peace- 

 ably together, the whole field will be well eaten down 

 together and few spots left to grow up untouched. Sheep 

 also will aid greatly by keeping down the weeds. If 

 brush comes in to trespass, goats will aid in destroying 

 it. Naturally, the animals first put in take the cream, 

 the sweetest clovers, the best herbage, and those coming 

 later may not thrive quite so well unless rains cause 

 the swift upspringing of the tidbits again. There is 

 one great advantage in rotating animals on pasture 

 they do not take parasites from each other, so the sheep 



