390 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



Nebraska I would suggest 8 pounds of meadow fescue, 6 pounds 

 of Bromus inermis or Bromus inermis and timothy, 2 pounds of 

 red clover, 3 pounds of alfalfa and 1 pound of white clover. Omit 

 white clover where pasture is largely for horses. Omit red clover 

 and alfalfa where the land is extremely wet so that they will winter- 

 kill. As a mixture for upland pasture in the western part of the 

 state I would suggest 10 pounds of brome grass, 4 pounds of meadow 

 fescue and 6 pounds of alfalfa. In valleys sow less alfalfa where 

 cattle are to be pastured. For permanent meadows, alfalfa seems 

 to be superior to all others when yield and value of hay are con- 

 sidered. Alfalfa does not seem to fit into a rotation of crops as 

 well as clover, and where meadows are in a farm rotation in eastern 

 Nebraska, 10 pounds of clover and 8 pounds of timothy hay make 

 an excellent mixture, and furnish a high quality of hay. In south- 

 eastern Nebraska it would seem that bluegrass, where some mix- 

 ture of white clover is present, furnishes one of the most valuable 

 pastures, especially for early spring and for winter pasture where 

 it has been allowed to grow up and mature before being pastured 

 down. In the care and management of pastures it is apparent that 

 the experience of all good farmers is against close pasturing at any 

 season of the year, and especially so as the period of hot, dry 

 weather approaches. Pastures should always have a sufficient 

 amount of growth on them to protect them against burning sun 

 and against the loss of water by run-off where it would be absorbed 

 if there were sufficient growth on the ground. 



The experience of our best farmers indicates that pastures should 

 be mowed once or twice each year, first at the time when ragweed 

 and other coarse-growing weeds begin to mature in late June or 

 the early part of July, and second, if necessary, to get a few coarse- 

 growing weeds in the early part of September, before they have 

 ripened their seed. The experience of our farmers indicates that 

 the application of barnyard manure with a manure spreader very 

 greatly increases the productiveness of all upland pastures and prob- 

 ably of all pastures which are not liable to overflow from streams ; 

 that this manure can be applied at almost any season of the year 

 but can best be applied during the winter season, beginning in late 

 fall and continuing until growth starts in the spring. An annual 

 application of manure to upland pastures has very greatly increased 

 and has frequently doubled the stock carrying power of these pas- 

 tures. It is good practice where manure is applied to pastures 



