THE MANAGEMENT OF PASTURES 305 



satisfactory and permanent method of removing surplus 

 water from the land. When this extra supply of water is 

 removed, air can penetrate the soil, and better kinds of 

 grasses will grow on it. Clovers and grasses often thrive on 

 well-drained land which would not grow there at all before 

 the drainage was supplied. In many other districts beside 

 those mentioned, drainage is one of the prime factors in 

 improving pasture lands. 



The best pastures, those on which white clover and 

 Kentucky blue grass thrive, contain an abundance of lime. 

 All the legumes and many of the grasses grow best where 

 there is plenty of lime. Another step, then, in renovating 

 pastures, is to supply lime, particularly to those which have 

 recently been underdrained. The lime can best be added 

 by scattering finely ground limestone over the pasture early 

 in the spring at the rate of two tons to the acre. Lime may 

 also be applied in the ordinary commercial form, air-slaked, 

 at the rate of one ton to the acre, but this is usually more 

 expensive than the ground limestone. Soils on which blue- 

 grass and the clovers grow freely do not need lime, as their 

 presence indicates an abundance of this element. 



Disking and harrowing old pastures will often aid in 

 inducing new' growth by loosening the surface soil and break- 

 ing up a sod-bound condition which may have resulted from 

 years of continuous trampling by stock. If seed of good 

 pasture grasses is sown at this time, the growth of the pas- 

 ture will be still further improved. While much of the 

 manure is returned to the land when it is pastured, the addi- 

 tion of more manure will cause a more luxuriant growth of 

 grass. The use of commercial fertilizers, particularly 

 those which are rich in phosphorus, such as ground bone, is 

 sometimes advisable. 



