CHAPTER IX 

 SODS FOR PASTURES 



Permanent Pastures. -- There is a large total 

 area of land that can be brought into profitable 

 production of food only by means of pasture 

 grasses. A small part is too low and moist for 

 tillage, but a larger part is too rough or too in- 

 fertile. It can be made to yield profit in grasses 

 that are harvested without expense by animals. 

 The grasses afford feed and at the same time 

 protect the soil from waste. The efficiency of 

 much pasture land is kept low by poor stands of 

 grass, the encroachment of weeds, bushes, and 

 briers, close grazing, and the failure to supply 

 fertility. When making a sod for mowing, the aim 

 is to select varieties of plants that mature near 

 the same time. Pastures need varieties maturing 

 at different times, and this is a matter under con- 

 trol when temporary pastures are used. Per- 

 manent pasture land soon becomes occupied by 



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