396 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



which are usually well supplied with lime. There are some 17 native 

 varieties of clover found in Oregon ; thus the common varieties of 

 clover do well. Red clover of course is the best, then come alsike 

 and white. Crimson clover has not been very successfully grown. 

 If it can be germinated early in the fall it will make a good crop. 

 Alsike clover does remarkably well on what is locally known as 

 "white land." This is a whitish clay land, very wet during winter 

 and practically devoid of humus. Where a seed crop is not de- 

 sired the red and alsike clovers are sown together and the combin- 

 ation makes a very desirable hay. 



Clover is usually sown in the spring with grain, although some 

 of our best farmers sow it alone or with about 1 pound of rape 

 seed per acre. This latter method is very popular in some dis- 

 tricts on account of the excellent fall pasture it affords for sheep 

 and other small stock. Another popular method for a somewhat 

 permanent pasture or meadow is to sow the clovers in the spring 

 and the grass seeds the following fall. Another popular system is 

 to sow red clover in the spring and timothy in the fall. This is 

 usually done for hay. The first hay crop is clover, the next is 

 half clover and half timothy and the next is practically clean 

 timothy. Gypsum is wonderfully helpful to all of the legumes, so 

 the general practice among our better farmers is to sow from 50 

 to 75 pounds of gypsum per acre each spring on all of their 

 leguminous crops. This practice has been found good in pastures, 

 particularly when clover is present. 



Little work has been done in this state in the way of rejuvenating 

 pastures and meadows. Some of our more progressive farmers 

 have secured excellent results from the application of a light coat- 

 ing of barnyard compost, disking and where needed re-seeding, 

 which is covered by harrowing. This should be done early in the 

 fall so that the first general rains will germinate the seeds. Over- 

 pasturing is the bane of the meadows and pastures. Close grazing 

 during the dry period is very destructive to the better grasses and 

 clovers. 



RHODE ISLAND. Dr. H. J. Wheeler, Director of the Rhode Is- 

 land Experiment Station, Kingston: For ordinary open uplands 

 the best grasses for Rhode Island are timothy (phleum pratense) 

 and redtop. Common red clover and particularly alsike clover are 

 also very desirable. From my experience, orchard grass is only 



