434 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



stood theoreticall}'^ at the foot in popular opinion as a graz- 

 ing grass. The mixture for the two 3^ears' trial justifies 

 popular views, 3'et it is seen that a single kind may give 

 good results. I would caution the reader against drawing 

 final conclusions, and especially from assuming that tall oat 

 grass is the best grazing variety. It is, however, a grass 

 that sends up a second crop quickly and vigorousl}^, being 

 a heavy ^delder. 



One sowing down for pasturage to remain a few years 

 should not hesitate in using mixtures. My experience with 

 varieties leads me to advise the use of the great yielders in 

 the table above, excluding English rye grass, Kentucky blue 

 grass on our granite soils, meadow foxtail unless for moist 

 soils, and alfalfa unless for soils with open subsoils and lime- 

 stone origin. Red top and Rhode Island bent grass may be 

 included for New England soils, especially if a little moist. 

 In reseeding a rough pasture, to remain permanent for graz- 

 ing, it is common to use a spike-toothed or a smoothing 

 harrow when the soil is moist in the spring, or in wet times 

 in early fall. Mixtures for such a pasture, or one intended 

 for a few years' use, include white clover and often red 

 clover. Red clover is a biennial, and of course soon dies 

 out. Alsike clover is a perennial, and holds well to the 

 soil, standing our winters well. 



It is common to give tables of the amounts of each kind 

 to be sown per acre, and to sow heavil3^ Whatever the 

 ratio of the mixture, the proportion Avill soon vary from the 

 original to adjust itself to environment, soil, fertilization 

 and even to seasons. 



It is common in the western States, or especially in the 

 southern belt of western States, to hold some pasture area^ 

 unfed, or practically unfed, until fall, or even well along 

 towards winter, and to save some grass over for an early 

 spring bite. Under some conditions this is not a bad prac- 

 tice. By this practice, or by understocking, cattle can be 

 grazed later in the fall and earlier in the spring. In inten- 

 sive farming this may not be the best method, but under 

 some conditions it is advantageous. My earliest beef has 

 been made in a pasture where a heavy growth was left over 



