INTENSIVE GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT 



43 



well up with the other plots though they were actually grazed only part of 

 the season. The variations shown by Plots VII, VIII and IX in 1928 were 

 apparently in proportion to the amounts of hay damaged by rain and to the 

 turf injury by the cattle. The lower carrying capacity of Plot VIII in 1929, 

 as has been pointed out, was due to the lower hay yield since it was mowed 

 early in June. With the exception of Plot VI which received no nitrogen in 

 1929, all the fertilized plots showed a greater carrying capacity the second 

 season, probably due to an improved pasture turf and the residual effect of 

 the fertilizer applied the previous season. Even the check plot apparently 

 benefiting from the rotation and field operations showed a slight increase in 

 spite of the dry season. 



Chart C. — Carrying Capacity per Plot in Animal Units. 

 1928 and 1929. 







Plot I 

 fert. NPK 



In Table 1 the plots receiving a complete fertilizer were divided into those 

 used primarily for grazing (I, II, III, V) and those which were cut for hay 

 and grazed later in the summer (VII, VIII, IX), and in the following dis- 

 cussion the former are called the "grazed" plots and the latter the "hay" 

 plots. Plot IV, the check, and Plot VI, the PK plot, are treated separately 

 for the two seasons. In 1928 the ratio of milch cow days for the four group- 

 ings Plots I, II, III, V; Plot IV; Plot VI and Plots VII, VIII, IX was 

 11 : 4 : 10 : 4. Thus the average of the grazed plots was approximately the same 

 as Plot VI since in 1928 Plot VI received the comp^lete fertilizer. The grazed 

 plots averaged two and one-half times as many milch cow days as Plot IV, 

 while the hay plots averaged as many milch cow days as the check and in ad- 

 dition produced an average of 1.4 tons of hay per acre- The corresponding 

 ratio for the young stock group is 5 : 3 : .5 : 1.6. The check plot made a better 

 showing here since quality of feed was less important in this group, and the 

 hay plots ranked lower since the feed was used primarily for the milking 

 groups. The second season the complete fertilizer plots, both grazed and hay 

 plots, showed greater capacity, the check plot remained approximately the 

 same, and the ratio on Plot VI was about one-half of the 1928 figure, as fol- 

 lows: 12 : 4 : 5 : 5. Thus Plots I, II, III, V carried the milch cows more than 



