358 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



in our whole list. It starts early in spring, and keeps green 

 and succulent even after the seed is ripe. We think it very 

 valuable as a pasture grass. Mr. Gould mentions that it 

 did not form a close turf with him ; but, with us, no grass 

 forms a closer and tougher sod. It seems to be less affected 

 by drouth or wet than many other grasses, and cows yield 

 well when supplied with it in pasture or stall. It is so 

 nutritious, when cut in season and properly cured as. hay, 

 that cows will yield more milk upon it than any other hay 

 we have tried ; and horses will work upon it as well as upon 

 timothy, with a moderate feed of oats. It should have a 

 place in all pastures where the natural grasses flourish. 



Sweetrscented vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) 

 should not be forgotten in the list of pasture grasses for 

 milch cows. It starts very early in spring and flowers in 

 May. Its odor in blossom seems to be too strong for the 

 taste of cattle when grown alone ; but, if mixed with other 

 grasses in pasture or in hay, it is eaten with a relish, and is 

 thought to give a fine flavor to milk. It does not produce 

 a large weight of hay ; but its odor and flavor and early 

 growth in spring will warrant the use of about two pounds 

 of seed to the acre. 



American dairy farmers have given quite too little atten- 

 tion to keeping up the condition of their pastures. Since 

 the system of pasturing is almost universally followed, and 

 the principal income from their dairy herds depends upon 

 the supply and condition of food there furnished, the most 

 imperative necessity demands that they study the means of 

 improving them. Meadows are often considered worthy of 

 attention and fertilization ; but pastures are not thought to 

 need such attention, because cattle leave their droppings 

 upon them ; yet it must be remembered that the milch cow 

 carries off from the pasture never to return the fertiliz- 

 ing matter in her milk. The cow that yields 6,000 pounds 

 of milk will carry off about 40 pounds of ammonia and 40 



