PERMANENT PASTURES. 399 



they are. In these, the soils are light and the normal 

 precipitation is also light. Such areas are sometimes 

 found along the eastern border of the semi-arid belt 

 and probably also in other localities. 



Such transformation may be made by sowing the 

 seed of the grasses desired in the early spring. Close 

 pasturing should follow. Where this cannot be done 

 the mower should be used once or twice to remove 

 shade ; where neither is done the seed sown will almost 

 certainly be thrown away. 



The best grasses to sow in areas where they will 

 grow are blue grass and small white clover; timothy 

 and the red -clovers may sometimes be sown on upland 

 prairie, alsike clover being added in low lands. There 

 is much less hazard in sowing a few pounds of seed 

 per acre, two or even three years in succession, than in 

 sowing all the seed in one year. 



Permanent Grasses for Shifting Lands. Some soils 

 are of such a character, that when cultivated for any 

 considerable time ; more or less of the soil is carried 

 down to lower levels and, in some instances, much of 

 It is carried quite away, in solution in the water, that 

 runs over the surface of the land. Gullies are formed 

 with more or less frequency and of ever increasing 

 size. These seriously interfere with the tilling of the 

 land and with crop production ; they are at all times 

 most unsightly. The best of the soil is thus carried 

 down to the lower lands or washed away entirely. To 

 so great an extent has this eroding process been al- 

 lowed, especially in some parts of the South, that the 

 further cultivation of the soil has been abandoned. 



