June, 1940] 



Studies op' Pasture Management 



11 



Yields on experimental pasture plots indicate that regularly fertil- 

 ized permanent pasture produces as well as rotated pasture. Through 

 the use of lime and superphosphate, and potash when necessary, 

 quality and quantity of pasture production on permanent pastures 

 may be superior to that from the less suitable pasture plants on ro- 

 tated pastures. Typical pasture plants are rather slow in establish- 

 ing themselves, so that most of the herbage on rotated pastures is 

 composed of hay, rather than pasture plants, and is somewhat less 

 suitable for pasturing purposes. Soils were rated from 1 to 5 on 

 their hay-producing capacity in a series 1-2-3-4-5, in which 1 is a 

 poor hay soil, and 5 is a good hay soil. 



Data indicate that soils on rotated pastures are somewhat more 

 productive than on permanent pastures. This better soil condition is 

 partly due to better management of hay land, and partly to the bet- 

 ter soil-making materials from which these soils are derived. 



Fertilization 



Pasture Improvement 



Pasture is one of the two crops that are frequently assumed to 

 grow without any attention. Very little improvement work has been 

 done on pasture, even up to the last year of conservation work. 



Top-dressing has been very limited. Two factors have tended to 

 hold down the use of nitrogen : its cost, and the fact that it pro- 

 vides most forage at the period when there is already an abundance. 

 The use of fertilizers on crop land has given more evident returns 

 than their use on pasture. 



The presence of much brush has discouraged many farmers from 

 applying fertilizer before removal of the brush, and its removal 

 seemed too expensive and impermanent. The opportunity to obtain 

 the use of crop or pasture land on adjacent farms no longer operated 

 as farms has delayed the need for improvement of the home pasture ; 

 and, as in many other fields of effort, the more distant pastures ap- 

 peared greener. 



The 346.25 acres shown in table VI represent only 4.8 acres of 

 pasture fertilized per farm or only 3 per cent of the total of 11,403 



Table VI. Pasture fertilizers most commonly used on farms surveyed, 1935 



County 



No. farms 



Acres 



Fertilizer used 



Belknap 



Carroll 



Cheshire 



Coos 



Grafton 



Hillsboro 



Merrimack 



Rockingham 



Strafford 

 Sullivan 



Nitrophoska, 8-16-16, manure 



5 

 7 

 8 

 14 

 6 



21 



49 

 25.5 

 28.75 

 108.5 

 37 



51.5 



34.5 



5.5 



Manure. !-(>-(>, cyanamid 

 Superphosphate, 8-16-14, manure 

 Superphosphate, 8-16-14, manure 

 Superphosphate, 8-16-14, manure 

 Superphosphate, 8-16-14, manure, 



cyanamid 

 Superphosphate, 8-16-14, manure, 



cyanamid 

 8-16-16 manure, NaNOs 

 10-20-20, manure 



Totals 



72 



346.25 



