A PASTURE HANDBOOK 31 



DAMAGE BY RODENTS AND INSECTS 



On range lands of the Western States prairie dogs, ground squirrels, 

 jack rabbits, and other rodents sometimes become a serious problem. 

 In years of severe drought, especially, some control of rodents may be 

 necessary to lessen their competition with livestock for the little range 

 forage produced. Pocket gophers sometimes damage pastures by 

 covering the forage with numerous mounds of earth thrown out in the 

 excavation of their underground tunnels, and their burrows may inter- 

 fere with the proper distribution of water in irrigated pastures. The 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Department of the Interior 

 has developed and demonstrated methods of controlling rodents.^ 



In some sections insect pests, notably those of subterranean habit, 

 cause considerable injury to permanent pastures. In Iowa, Wis- 

 consm, northern Illinois, and some Northeastern States especially, 

 white grubs have in some years done great damage to pastures. 

 Seeding legumes, such as sweetclover or alfalfa, in such pastures has 

 been found to be an effective way to restore their productiveness. 

 The sod webworms and some kinds of wireworms may be partially 

 controlled by similar measures. Leafhoppers are apt to do consider- 

 able damage to pure legume pastures, but are of no great importance 

 on pastures which contain a considerable percentage of grass. Close 

 grazing or clipping the pasture at the tune when the hoppers are im- 

 mature will reduce their numbers. This benefits the turf by compact- 

 ing the sod as well as by crushing many of the larvae. Chinch bugs 

 sometimes cause damage to supplemental pastures such as Sudan 

 grass but rarely trouble permanent pastures. A full discussion of 

 methods of control for various possible insect pests of pastures is not 

 warranted in this publication. Individual cases are best handled by 

 reference to the Bureau of Entomology, United States Department 

 of Agriculture, or the entomological department of the State experi- 

 ment station. 



SUPPLEMENTAL PASTURES 



While the hardy perennial grasses and legumes have a value that 

 cannot be denied for seeding pastures to pro\ade a turf that wdll keep 

 animals out of the mud and require but little attention after it is once 

 established, their inclination to be unproductive when it is too hot or 

 too cold makes it desirable to grow annual or biennial crops suitable 

 for grazing. Such crops as rye, wheat, barley, oats, Sudan grass, 

 rape, ryegrass, sweetclover, or soybeans are recommended because 

 they have 2 to 4 times the carrying capacity in early spring, mid- 

 summer, and late faU of the average permanent pasture on soils of 

 equal productivity. Larger yields, together with the advantage of 

 having pasturage to replace barn feeds when permanent pastures are 

 unproductive, offset the expense of preparing the ground and seeding 

 such crops each season. 



For a temporary pasture it is important to have level or nearly 

 level land and a soil that vnR not erode badly, as the plowing and 

 seeding require that the ground be bare for short periods each year. 

 The seasonal production of permanent pastures in the North and in 

 the South is shown in figure 9. 



3 Further information may be obtained from the Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Interior, 

 Washington, D. C, or from the representatives of that Service in your State. 



