PASTURE CULTURE 3 



important industries at that time, frequent reference is made in these sources to 

 pastures and pasture management. 



Toward the middle of the nineteenth century, the Massachusetts State Board 

 of Agriculture was established. This organization coordinated and greatly ex- 

 tended the work of the local agricultural societies. Through its annual reports, 

 it made public the observations and experiences cf many successful farmers, the 

 ideas and opinions of leading agriculturists, and the results of early experiments 

 in the agricultural sciences. A large amount of valuable practical information 

 concerning the pastures of this State was accumulated in this way, much of which 

 is extremely helpful to anyone working on problems associated with present-day 

 pastures. It is a singular fact that there are very few standard practices or 

 modern innovations in the field of pasture management for this section of the 

 country that have not been discussed in more or less detail in some of these 

 old reports. 



While a body such as the State Board of Agriculture was able to perform the 

 very important task of collecting and publishing much practical information of a 

 general nature, it was unable to sponsor or carry on scientific research to obtain 

 more specific information. This need was met during the latter part of the 

 nineteenth century by the establishment of the agricultural experiment stations 

 which began to conduct detailed scientific investigations in the various sciences 

 associated with agriculture. 



As a result of these activities, together with those of other scientific organiza- 

 tions, a scientific basis has been worked out for many of the soil management 

 practices, cultural methods, and harvesting procedures which are followed in 

 the production of most field crops. The pasture crop is an exception. Although 

 some attention has been given to pastures and to the production of pasture 

 herbage, this crop has never been given the consideration that it needs or merits. 

 The present approach is an attempt to formulate the fundamental principles of 

 successful pasture production in Massachusetts by integrating the general in- 

 formation which has accumulated from many past years' observations with 

 specific information obtained from researches in the different plant and soil 

 sciences during recent years. 



THE SOILS OF MASSACHUSETTS 



"... if the fundamental principles of the soil are understood, you 

 . . . will find their applications to practice." 



The following discussion on soils, although by no means exhaustive, is neverthe- 

 less an endeavor to present in clear perspective some of the outstanding character- 

 istics and essential knowledge of the soils of Massachusetts. It is included here 

 in order to facilitate a better understanding of why our pasture areas have for 

 the main part become so badly "run out" and also to show how some of these 

 lands may now be best treated to restore them to their most efficient level of 

 productivity. 



The Soil Profile 



The unit now in general use for describing a soil or for comparing one soil 

 with another is known as the "soil profile." A soil profile may be regarded as 

 that portion of a vertical cross-section of earth which includes the complete 

 succession of soil layers or horizons from the surface down to the geological 

 parent material. Profile lasers are grouped under three heads: the A-horizon 

 corresponds roughly to the topsoil; the B-horizon to the subsoil; and the C-horizon 



