2 MISC. PUBLICATION 194, U. S. DEPT. OF AGEICULTURE 



a policy. Greater security and a better living standard for the dwell 

 ers on the land who produce the Nation's food and clotliing are other 

 considerations leading toward the same objective of general pubhc 

 welfare. 



Advancement in the management of pastures, meadows, and ranges, 

 and reahzation that these crops contribute to soil conservation and to 

 efficient farming, have been salutary developments in the farm pro- 

 gram of recent years. The right use of pasture and of roughage crops 

 is of basic importance in a national program of efficient farming, in 

 the control of erosion, and in the building of soil fertility. 



Under the encouragement of the agricultural-adjustment program 

 that was in effect from 1933 to 1935, the greater part of more than 

 30 milUon acres of land was shifted from the growing of basic com- 

 modity crops that had been produced in excess of domestic and foreign 

 requirements, and was planted to grasses and legumes for pasture and 

 hay or was devoted to other soil-conserving uses. 



The programs developed imder the Soil Conservation and Domes- 

 tic Allotment Act, begiiming in 1936 have more directly encouraged 

 the planting of soil-conserving grasses and legumes, and the improve- 

 ment of pastures and meadows. 



Farmers' experiences in recent times of severe drought have em- 

 phasized the importance of established pastures and meadows and 

 of emergency forage crops in more effectively meeting the shock of 

 severe drought, preventing damage from wind erosion, and combating 

 damage from floods which often follow severe droughts. 



Each farmer should examine for himself the possibihty of devoting 

 more of his land to pasture and meadow crops. Many farmers will 

 thus be able to reduce production costs and thereby increase the net 

 gains from their farms. Experiments by the Soil Conservation Serv- 

 ice and the State agricultural experiment stations have shown the need 

 for increased use of grasses and legumes in rotations carefully planned 

 to protect soil that is subject to erosion. Such rotations, together with 

 the shifting to permanent pasture of land that is not suited to cultiva- 

 tion, help to maintain and improve productivity and to reduce the 

 cost of producing milk and meat. 



We are revising some of our thinking about pastures. We usually 

 find them on the poorest parts of our farms. Compared to the pastures 

 of other countries they are, as a rule, of low productivity. We must 

 make them more productive, eventually, in order to justify our going 

 further into a grassland agriculture. Marked improvement in methods 

 of pasture management has already been made, but this field offers 

 opportunity for further development. 



Farmers who wish to make their pastures and meadows more pro- 

 ductive by growing adapted grasses and legumes, by properly fitting 

 seedbeds, and by liming, inoculating, and fertihzing, will find helpful 

 information in tliis handbook. Additional help may be obtained from 

 the State agricultural experiment stations and the State agricultural 

 extension services. 



H. A. Wallace, 

 Secretary oj Agriculture. 



