214 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



KENOVATING PASTURES. 



The way to make more and better herbage grow 

 in our pastures, is something that most farmers are 

 anxious to tind out. We have hundreds of acres 

 of land called pasturage, on which no grazing ani- 

 mals, not even goats, can obtain such a support as 

 will enable them to yield their owners a protit. We 

 do not think it an ohject to attempt the keeping of 

 stock on the poorest of this land, under any cir- 

 cumstances.. It will not pay to improve it. Some 

 persons seera to think that sheep may be kept to 

 advantage on the hungry sands of Cape Cod. We 

 think such tracts could more profitably be devoted 

 to the growth of pine wood. 



But we must have some pasturage, and there 

 are lands which may be devoted to this' purpose 

 advantageously. AVe can not give such an exact 

 description as will indicate, in advance, in all cases, 

 what soils will pay for improvement in referenge 

 to this object. In many cases, lands wliich formerly 

 produced very good grass, now produce a much 

 less quantity of poorer quality. The causes of this 

 decline are various, and perhaps all of them are not 

 understood. Some of the most prominent are 

 these : 



1. There is more stagnant water in the soil than 

 formerly. Wlien the land was first cleared from 

 the forest, the rootsi of trees tended to conduct the 

 water into the earth ; and after the roots decayed, 

 the spaces tiiey had occupied in the soil formed 

 channels for the descent of water. This would 

 continue for some time, till hy gradual consolida- 

 tion from the tread of animals and other causes, 

 the soil and subsc.il become more impervious. 



2. In some instances, ffom the slow descent of 

 water into the earth, or its being retained near the 

 surface, mineral substances are deposited which are 

 injurious to vegetation, and at the same time in- 

 crease the obstruction to the discharge of water. 

 The "hard-pan," as it is called in some parts of 

 this country, and " moor-band " in England, will 

 be recognized as producing this efl:ect. The earth 

 becomes cemented by a precipitation of iron, with, 

 in some instances, other substances. 



3. In consequence of the check to the discharge 

 of water from the soil, the better kinds of herbage 

 are liable to be winter-killed — tliey are "hove out," 

 as the ttirmers say, by the frost — the expansion 

 produced by the freezing of the water in the soil, 

 breaking the roots, wliich, being exposed on the 

 top of the ground, die. 



4. In ccmsequence of the decline of grasses, wild 

 plants, shrubs and trees have sprung up, which 

 have still further checked the growMi of grass. 



5. It is probable that the soil has become actually 

 exhausted, in some instances, of some of the ele- 

 ments essential for grass. The most important of 

 these are probably alkalies and phosphates. 



Such are some of the causes of the deterioration 

 of pastures. We may now consider some of the 

 remedies. The first is drainage. Of course it is 

 only a particular class of soils that would be bene- 

 fited by drainage ; but wherever the conditions 

 mentioned under the first and second of the above 

 heads, are found, this is the proper remedy. The 

 operation will be attended with considerable ex- 

 pense in some instances, particularly on hard, 

 stony land, like some of our New England hills, 

 and actual trial only can show whether the value 



of the improvement will ovei4)alance the cost. But 

 trials may be made without much expense that will 

 afford a guide. Make a iiiw drains, of tiles or 

 stones, not less than two and a half feet deep, iF 

 such places as seem to need them most, and wher 

 they have been in operation a year or two, theii 

 effect will be sufiiciently obvious. If the wild veg . 

 etatiou declines, and more nutritious plants increase 

 and thrive, drainage is the needful thing. Still the 

 full effects can not be told till a sufficient time has 

 elapsed to show what changes will take place. Car- 

 rying away the water will let the air into the soil^ 

 and this will decompose the substances which to 

 the more valuable kinds of plants are unwholsome 

 — as the compounds of iron above-mentioned, aeids^ 

 etc. But in some instances it may be necessary to 

 sow the seeds of the grasses it is wished to intro- 

 duce, and we must wait till the new crop is fairly 

 established before we can know fully how it will 

 succeed. 



Bushes may be destroyed by mowing ; in many 

 cases it is the only way they can be destroyed. 

 Much pasture land is so stony that it can not be 

 plowed ; and if it could be, it is not likely that it 

 would be thus benefited for grass. It is the testi- 

 mony of many farmers that our hill pastures are 

 better without plowing; they were generally brought 

 into grass in the first instance without plowing, 

 and it has been found that when the first sward has 

 been broken and the surface reversed in position, 

 so good and permanent a sward has seldom been 

 formed again. Much of "natural mowing," so 

 called, in the hilly parts of this State, Connecticut, 

 etc., was never plowed, and it is considered better 

 for hay tlian similar land which has been plowed. 



It is admitted that some shrubs are very tenacious 

 of life ; but they can not long bear cutting close to 

 the ground every year, in August, whether it is 

 done in the "old" or "new " of the moon. Cutting 

 the busiies strengthens the growth of grass, and 

 this in turn hastens the death of tlie bushes. In 

 some instances it is desirable to aid the grass by 

 some top-dressing. Plaster has been used in this 

 way with great advantage on some soils, and as we 

 have before stated, it is tlie cheapest applicatioL 

 that could be made. On soils to which it is adapt- 

 ed, it produces so firm a turf that nothing else will 

 grow in it. 



Sheep may be put on bushy pastures to advan- 

 tage. If the bushes are cut every year, tlie sheep 

 will crop the lender sprouts to such a degree that 

 it greatly weakens their vitality ; while at the same 

 time the grazing increases the growth of the grass 

 and white clover, which, as before remarked, tend 

 to exterminate the bushes. It is a somewhat sin- 

 gular fact, but one well establislied, that land grazed 

 by sheep ratlier improves in fertility. There are 

 thousands of acres of land in Wales and Scotland, 

 on which sheep have been kept for thousands of 

 years (for aught that is known to the contrary), 

 without the application of any other manure than 

 that dropped by the animals, and yet the growth 

 of grass is undiminished. There are instances in 

 our own country, of sheep being kept a long time 

 on land, with no diminution in the growth of 

 grass. ' 



Various experiments show that sheep may be 

 made an important means of improving pastures. 

 We have several times alluded to the experiments 



