282 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



clover 6 Ibs.; Alsike clover 3 Ibs.; June-grass (Poa pra- 

 tensis) 5 Ibs.; red- top 5 Ibs.; orchard-grass 5 Ibs., and flat- 

 stalked blue-grass (Poa compressd) 4 Ibs. all sown in spring. 

 These, sown upon an acre should give a good seeding. The 

 timothy and clovers will give a crop the first year, which it 

 is best, generally, to mow and not pasture the first season, 

 as pasturing is likely to injure the young grass. Timothy 

 does not stand close cropping and will not probably last 

 beyond the second or third year, but the other grasses will 

 be well established before that and the timothy will not be 

 missed. 



This pasture, if the land be in good condition, will go 

 on satisfactorily to the time of plowing again. But in the 

 grain districts the rotation is short, the land remaining in 

 grass only from one to three years. In this case, only 

 timothy and clover are sown, and in many districts only 

 clover. The clover plant, with its long tap root, reaches 

 down into the subsoil and attracts all the soluble plant- 

 food within reach and brings it up to enrich the surface- 

 soil. The root of timothy does not go much below the 

 working-soil, and consequently does not enrich the soil 

 like clover. The weight of clover-roots, to be plowed 

 under, is considerably more than the crop above ground, 

 and this is mostly the contribution of the subsoil. This 

 renders it plain why clover is chosen to prepare the soil for 

 a wheat crop. Clover also becomes a profitable crop, cut- 

 ting from six to twelve tons of green food or from one and 

 a half to three tons of hay. After the first summer clover 

 stands pasturing well as long as it lasts. Alsike clover is a 

 t perennial plant, and is excellent for pasture. 



If the land is to remain in grass or clover only two years, 

 then timothy 10 Ibs. and medium clover 10 to 15 Ibs. will 

 be all the seed required, or if clover alone is to be sown, 

 then 20 to 24 pounds will be required. If the land is to 

 remain in grass five years, then 10 Ibs. of timothy, 12 Ibs. 



