19a THE SOILS AND CBOPS OF THE FAllM. 



In the west large areas are grazed in advance of 

 approaching cultivation, or in regions where the rain- 

 fall has not been considered sufficient for successful 

 cereal production. The native grasses of the plains 

 produce a nutritious diet, although often scanty as 

 compared with the grass produced in cultivated 

 regions. It has not been uncommon for a rancher to 

 control 25 acres for each head of cattle that he raised. 



Permanent pastures are not the rule in this coun- 

 try on land capable of easy tillage. Occasionally, 

 but not often, there will be found a piece of tillable 

 land in the older settled regions which has never 

 been broken, but has been constantly in pasture since 

 it was in prairie grasses, tame grasses having sup- 

 planted the wild ones. As a matter of convenience 

 also, such as proximity to farm buildings, land is kept 

 more or less permanently in pasture. The rule in this 

 country, however, is to make the grass on the tillable 

 lands a part of a more or less systematic rotation of 

 crops. 



In England it is quite the reverse. There are many 

 pastures in that country which have been down so 

 long that there is no record of the date of seeding. 

 The land was once cultivated, however, as is shown by 

 the furrow marks which still remain. There they 

 consider that the pastures improve from century to 

 century. 



The acreage of permanent pasturage has increased 

 considerably in Great Britain during the past quarter 

 of a century, while the acreage of grain crops has 

 been diminished. 



Manure. — The value of grass crops, besides their 

 intrinsic worth as a crop, is in maintaining the fer- 



