FERTILIZERS FOR THE PERMANENT PASTURE 135 



over about four or five inches deep, and harrow and roll. Then apply a coat 

 of freshly water slaked lime at rate of 20 bushels per acre. Do this in the 

 spring about corn planting time, and you will at once have a fresh and 

 strong growth as the soil warms up, and when well under way apply the bone 

 and potash dressing at rate of 200 pounds of bone to 50 pounds of muriate 

 of potash. Plowed and renewed in this way once in eight or ten years, there 

 is nothing that can surpass the Bermuda and Texas blue grass, on the lands 

 to which they are suited and in the climate where they belong. 



In the upland red clay soils of the Piedmont section of the South, the 

 best grasses we have ever tried for a permanent pasture are orchard grass, 

 red top, Kentucky blue grass and white clover. Of the three grasses we 

 would sow 10 pounds each per acre, and then scatter about 4 pounds per acre 

 of the white clover. The orchard grass and red top will at once make their 

 appearance, and while the red top will not be a permanent grass on the 

 uplands, it will furnish the first green and will help to protect the coming 

 of the blue grass among the tussocks of the orchard grass, and if the land is 

 dressed and limed as heretofore advised, the blue grass will finally become 

 the main sod of the field. In the southern part of the upland region of the 

 South I would leave out the Kentucky blue grass and substitute the moun- 

 tain blue grass (Poa Compressa). This grass is almost as persistent as the 

 Bermuda, and forms a dense sod, and should never be allowed to encroach 

 on the cultivated fields, since on heavy and moist land it is as hard to get rid 

 of as the Bermuda. But it is far better adapted to Southern conditions 

 than the Poa Pratense, or Kentucky blue grass. 



It seems probable from experiments that have been made that the 

 Smooth Brome grass (Bromus Inermis] will be a valuable pasture grass on 

 the lighter lands of the South, and it is well worth experimenting with till 

 its true value is determined. 



From the mountains of Virginia, all over the Southern uplands, there 

 are now thousands of acres of worn and wasted land, washed into gullies 

 and in some places irredeemable, which could be put to use as pasture if 

 properly treated. These lands now, where there are no deep gulleys, are 

 generally covered by the broomsedge that nature puts on every wasted spot in 

 the South. The broomsedge itself is not a bad pasture in the early spring 

 but it soon gets tough and worthless; and if these hills are to be utilized 

 as pasture we must get something better than broomsedge on them. An 

 experiment I made years ago in the mountains of Virginia showed that this 

 can b(> done easily. I had a rough and rocky mountain side that had never 

 been plowed, and that was really too rocky to attempt to plow. But it was 

 ncrr the barn and would make a convenient place to turn the cows at night 



