384 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



and hay year after year without re-seeding. I have seen fields 

 which have not been plowed for 30 or 40 years, and without the 

 application of manure or fertilizer in the interim are still giving 

 an annual production of a ton of hay per acre. I make this state- 

 ment not as an approval of the practice but as an indication of the 

 natural resources of the section for grass-growing. The best 

 grasses for pastures, taking the state as a whole, in the order of 

 their value and importance, are probably as follows : Kentucky 

 bluegrass, timothy, white clover and wood meadow grass. For 

 mowing lands or meadows the following are of most importance: 

 Timothy, redtop, orchard grass and alsike clover. For re-seeding 

 pastures the following mixtures would be recommended for seeding 

 one acre: 



Heavy moist soils : Timothy 5 pounds, redtop 8 pounds, orchard 

 grass 4 pounds, meadow foxtail 3 pounds, white clover 5 pounds. 



Light soils : Timothy 8 pounds, redtop 4 pounds, Kentucky blue- 

 grass 8 pounds, orchard grass 8 pounds, white clover 4 pounds. 



Orchards and shady places: Timothy 6 pounds, redtop 4 pounds, 

 Kentucky bluegrass 6 pounds, orchard grass 8 pounds, wood meadow 

 grass 2 pounds, white clover 4 pounds. 



For re-seeding meadows the mixture per acre would be as follows : 



Heavy soils: Timothy 10 pounds, redtop 4 pounds, red clover 6 

 pounds, alsike clover 4 pounds. 



Light soils: Timothy 8 pounds, redtop 4 pounds, orchard grass 

 6 pounds, red clover 6 pounds, alsike clover 4 pounds. 



With the object of determining to what extent, by what means 

 and at what expense our pasture lands can be improved, the experi- 

 ment station began a series of experiments last year to continue for 

 a period of four years. The cost and relative merits of the following 

 treatments are to be studied: 



1. Harrow and re-seeding. 



2. Harrowing, re-seeding and liming. 



3. Harrowing, re-seeding, liming and fertilizing. 



4. Plowing and re-seeding. 



5. The pasturing of sheep. 



Although no definite results can yet be approximated the indica- 

 tions from the first season's work are that plowing and reseeding 

 constitutes the .most economical method of pasture improvement. 



A series of fertilizer experiments on hay land now in operation 

 for three years indicate that nitrogen fertilizers especially in the 



