314 



PAS 



PAS 



from three to four feet wide, and 

 sown by a line in drills on the mid- 

 dle of the beds. There may be 

 either one or two rows on a bed. 

 if there be two, they should be full 

 twelve inches apart, and the inter- 

 vals proportionably wider. 



Autumnal sowing in the field cul- 

 ture is not amiss, as the ground is 

 to be kept light by horse hoeing. 

 In this operation the ground should 

 be stirred very deep. The plough 

 should go twice in a furrow. At 

 the last ploughing, the furrows 

 should be turned towards the rows. 



PASTURE, according to the 

 laLi/uage of farmers in this country, 

 means land in ^rass for the summer 

 feedi,ng of cattle. 



To manage pasture land advan- 

 tageously, it should be well fenced 

 in small lots, of four, eight or twelve 

 acres, according to the largeness 

 of one's farm and stock. And these 

 lots should be bordered at least 

 with rows of trees. It is best that 

 trees of some kind or other should 

 be growing scattered in every point 

 of a pasture, so that the cattle may 

 never have far to go in a hot hour 

 to obtain a comfortable shade. The 

 grass will spring earlier in lots that 

 are thus sheltered, and they will 

 bear drought the better. But too 

 great a proportion of shade should 

 be avoided, as it will give a sour- 

 ness to the grass. 



Small lots thus sheltered,are not 

 left bare of snow so early in the 

 spritig as larger ones lying bare, as 

 fences and trees cause more of it 

 to remain upon the ground. f'he 

 cold viads in March and April hurt 

 the grass much when the ground is 

 bare. And the winds in winter will 



not suffer snow to lie deep on land 

 that is too open to the rake of winds 

 and storms. 



It is hurtful to pastures to turn 

 in cattle too early in the spring : 

 and] most hurtful to those pastures 

 in which the grass springs earliest, 

 as in very low and wet pastures. 

 Potching such land in the spring, 

 destroys the sward, so that it will 

 produce the less quantity of grass. 

 Neither should cattle be let into 

 any pasture, until the grass is so 

 much grown as to afford them a 

 good bite, so that they may fill 

 themselves without rambling over 

 the whole lot. The 20th of May 

 is early enough to turn cattle into 

 almost any of our pastures. Out of 

 some they should be kept later. 

 The driest pastures should be used 

 first, though in them the grass is 

 shortest, that the potching of the 

 ground in the wettest may be pre- 

 vented. 



The bushes and shrubs that rise 

 in pastures, should be cut in the 

 most likely times to destroy them. 

 Thistles, and other bad weeds, 

 should be cut down before their 

 seeds have ripened; and ant hills 

 should be destroyed. Much may 

 be done towards subduing a bushy 

 pasture, by keeping cattle hungry 

 in it. A continual browsing keeps 

 down the young shoots, and totally 

 kills many of the bushes. Steers 

 and heifers may mend such a pas- 

 ture, and continue growing. 



But as to cleared pastures, it is 

 not right to turn in all sorts of cat- 

 tle promiscuously. Milch kine, 

 working oxen, and fatting beasts, 

 should have the first feeding of an 

 enclosure. Afterwards, sheep and 



