218 BETTER DAIRY ' FARMING 



1. Field to be hayed one or two years, then pastured 



! timothy 8 pounds 



red clover 2 pounds 



alsike clover 2 pounds 



Kentucky bluegrass 2 pounds 



white clover 2 pounds 



redtop 2 pounds 



Orchard grass* 2 pounds 



Total 20 pounds 



2. Field not hayed — pasture only 



Timothy 4 pounds 



Alsike clover 2 pounds 



Kentucky bluegrass 2 pounds 



White clover 2 pounds 



Orchard grass 2 pounds 



Redtop 2 pounds 



Meadow fescue 2 pounds 



Total 16 pounds 



3. For very unproductive or wet land: 



Alsike clover 2 pounds 



Canada bluegrass 4 pounds 



White clover 2 pounds 



Orchard grass 4 pounds 



Redtop 4 pounds 



Total 16 pounds 



* Meadow fescue may be substituted for orchard grass on the best limestone soils. 



383. Grasses differ in value. — The feeding value of pasture 

 grass will depend upon the variety of grasses. A pasture contain- 

 ing considerable clover will furnish the cow much more protein 

 and lime than where the grasses are made up of non-legumes. 

 The same advantage for legumes hold here as in the case of the dry 

 roughages and this is an important thing to remember in seeding 

 and fertilizing the pasture. 



384. Pasture aids assimilation of lime. — There is a response 

 in milk production when animals are turned out on pasture, — 

 a response which seems out of proportion to the feed. It has been 

 explained on the basis of succulence, the high digestibility of the 

 grass, its content of easily assimilated minerals and on other 

 grounds. Now, as we have mentioned in discussing minerals, we 

 know that green feed contains something which aids in lime assimi- 

 lation. When this important discovery is considered in the light 

 of the fact that on a winter ration a dairy cow takes lime out of 

 her bones to make milk and that this drain on her bones must be 



