June, 1940] Studies of Pasture Management 21 



time. Burning required an average of about 60 hours per acre. Cut- 

 ting was least effective in controlling brush and required about 80 

 hours labor per acre. Without cutting, grazing would have been 

 effective only with the brush that is edible. 



For a given fertilizer, there is no apparent dift'erence in effective- 

 ness of the three methods of brush removed. The difference is be- 

 tween different fertilizer treatments. With a small percentage of 

 grass present on many of these pastures, response in more grass 

 would be relatively small. The small amount of grass coupled with 

 the acid condition of most of the soils would reduce the response to 

 fertilizers. There was sufficient wild white clover in all the pastures 

 tt) respond to fertilizer. Under favorable circimistances at the end of 

 the third season the Potter and Friend plots had a wald white clover 

 cover of about 50 per cent. On the Potter, Savage, Muzzey, Garland, 

 Shaw, Dearth, Chaffee. Tenney, and Stewart pastures the lime — su- 

 per])hosphate treatment gave best results in a shift from poor grasses 

 and weeds to good grasses. The Friend. Cutter. O'Dell, .\hern. and 

 LaCoss pasture plots treated with lime and superphosphate gave re- 

 sults as good aS' or better than plots treated with lime and complete 

 fertilizer. Under circumstances in which the grass and clover cover- 

 age is light by reason of poor soils and the shading and crowding by 

 Itrush, the nitrogen of a complete fertilizer is largely lost. Lime and 

 .superphosphate put soil in condition to increase good grass and clover. 

 Only where the sod coverage is reasonably good will nitrogen be 

 needed. Potash apparentl}- is not needed to increase the stand of 

 clover, but mav he needed to maintain it once established. Nitroeen 

 was quite effective in killing moss and in stimulating grass, weeds, 

 and brush already present, but was of little value in increasing the 

 amount of clover. From these tests the conclusion may be drawn 

 that for improvement of peruKinent pastures reclaimed from brush, 

 lime and superphosphate offer the best and most economical initial 

 fertilizer treatment that can be applied, particularly under the con- 

 servation program. 



Aside from fertilizer, costs for brush clearing wuth an assumed rate 

 of 40 cents per hour for labor varied from $5.17 to $91.60 per acre 

 for pulling, $5.50 to $40.33 per acre for cutting and $4.00 to $33.60 

 per acre for labor in burning, plus $.11 to $.88 for oil. 



These costs are high, and would be prohibitive if all labor were 

 hired. Rut much of the work would be done with home labor or 

 other already available labor at such times as would interfere least 

 ^^■ith other farm work. 



To what extent such pasture improvement should be done depends 

 on the need for pasture and the effect it Avill have on farm organi- 

 zation and income. The data indicate that returns from good pasture 

 are such that labor expenditures up to probably 50 to 60 hours per 

 acre can well be justified. Lime and superphosphate have given as 

 good or better results than other fertilizer treatment, and under 

 the conservation program are obtainable at a cost of less than a 

 dollar per acre. The addition of potash when clover shows in quan- 

 tity increases the cost only slightly over a dollar per acre. These 

 three materials on cleared, good-soil pasture should make possible 



