PERMANENT PASTURE 325 



Preparation of land and top-dressing 



In the preparation of the land and in seeding, 

 great care should be exercised to remove all 

 weeds, by allowing the land to lie bare for a 

 time previous to seeding, and frequently to cul- 

 tivate it. Since the pasture is to remain for a 

 long period, it is usually important that the land 

 be well limed, using from forty to fifty bushels 

 per acre, and thoroughly harrowing it into the soil 

 in the summer before the seeding. This will not 

 only sweeten the soil, but will encourage the 

 growth of clovers and other valuable legumes, 

 which are always desirable. 



Top -dressings should then be made at least 

 once each year, preferably early in spring before 

 the animals are turned on. The mixture may be 

 similar to that recommended for meadows, applied 

 at the rate of 200 to 300 pounds per acre. If ap- 

 plied in the fall, after the pasturage has ceased for 

 the season, one not containing nitrates is prefer- 

 able. An equal mixture of kainit, ground bone and 

 acid phosphate has been found to be very useful, 

 at the rate of about three hundred pounds per 

 acre. This top-dressing not only causes a thicker 

 growth of the nutritious grasses, but encourages a 

 tendency to deep rooting, and thus a greater 

 resistance to drought, besides improving the soil 

 from year to year and preventing running out of 



