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MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 262 



The manner in which each of these principles has been applied at the Mass- 

 achusetts Agricultural College during 1928 and 1929 is as follows. 



Division of Area Into Plots 



Seventy-four and one quarter acres of land that had formerly been in a 

 crop and pasture rotation (two years cultivated crop, one year hay and three 

 years pasture) were divided and fenced off into nine fields of 8^4 acres each. 

 Square plots are most desirable since cattle will graze more uniformly over 

 such a field with less damage to the turf along the fence lines. However, the 

 area available did not lend itself to this sort of division and the fields had to 

 be somewhat rectangular. This division of the area into small plots offers a 

 twofold advantage over the old system of large pastures. First, the cattle 

 restricted to a small area will graze the entire area equally close thus pre- 

 venting a tall growth of grass in certain portions which becomes unpalatable 

 and will not be consumed until there is an actual shortage of good grass. 

 Secondly, this system of small plots permits rotational grazing, the advantages 

 of whidi will be discussed later. 



Cbart A. — Grassland Management Demonstration. 

 Arrangement of Plots. 



Use of Concentrated Fertilizers 



The second principle is fertilization with concentrated fertilizers to provide 

 a luxuriant growth of grass of high nitrogen content At the beginning of the 

 experiment the land was in a better state of fertility than the average New 

 England pasture, since it had been limed and manured in the previous crop 



