12 



But these places suffer from protracted droughts in summer aiid fall, 

 which parch the pastures so that cattle aud sheep are not then able to 

 find a sufficiency of feed. The pasture and meadow grasses of the North 

 have not been generally cultivated with success in the States which 

 border on the Gult of Mexico, and the greatest want of agriculture in 

 that region is the introduction of grasses that will maintain growth and 

 vigor during protracted droughts. 



The same remarks may be made with respect to the grasses needed 

 for cultivation in the arid districts of the West, and there is every rea- 

 son to expect that grasses adapted to such conditions of climate and 

 soil will be*found. . 



Permanence of Pastures and Meadows. It has long been a question as 

 to how long land should be allowed to continue in pasture or meadow. 

 The answer to this question will depend very much on circumstances. 



Unquestionably the best plan for farming is the practice of mixed 

 husbandry, or a mixture of raising grain crops and the fattening of do- 

 mestic animals; for with a diversity of products there is an alleviation 

 of the evils of frequent crop failures, which are usually limited to one 

 or two kinds, and also an alleviation of the fluctuations in the prices of 

 crops, so that where some grain crops fail from any cause, the farmer 

 has a resource in those of another kind and in his live stock. Besides, 

 the rotation of crops, including the periodical laying down of cultivated 

 ground to grass, and the change of grass land to the growth of field 

 crops, results in the best condition of the soil. 



In the practice of most farmers, meadow lauds are seldom continued 

 more than three or four years without a change to the plow. But 

 pasture lands are more frequently kept undisturbed for a longer 

 time, and so long as they continue in a healthy, clean, and productive 

 state there can be no objection to their permanence ; but whenever a 

 pasture becomes overgrown with weeds, or filled with worthless or 

 unproductive grasses, it is time for it to take its place in a system 

 of rotation and renovation, at the same time regarding the needs of 

 the soil in respect to fertilizing and cleaning from rocks, briers, and 

 other shrubs. 



Drainage of Grass Lands. Generally speaking, there is the same benefit 

 to be derived from the proper drainage of grass lands, that is so con- 

 spicuously shown in lands devoted to other crops. All lands with an 

 impervious subsoil of stiff clay, or soils that are water-clogged, may be 

 greatly benefited by proper draining, both in the quality and quan- 

 tity of the grass product. On such land, properly drained, the grass will 

 start earlier in the spring and will continue to grow later in the fall 

 than without drainage. All soils which rest upon a porous subsoil do 

 not need it, and land may have so strong a slope that the water is dis- 

 charged from it with sufficient rapidity without the aid of a drain. 

 Wet, water-soaked pastures generally abound in rushes and sedges, 

 which may grow luxuriantly, but are coarse and innutritions. The valu- 



