MEADOWS AND PASTURES 371 



Many meadows and pastures can, by improvement in the 

 methods of culture, and the application of fertilizers 

 and manure, be made to yield twofold. Pastures that 

 furnish but a scanty growth of forage can be made to 

 furnish an abundance of grazing for twice the number of 

 animals they now support. Many fields that are now 

 devoted to the cereals, especially in sections of poorer 

 types of soils, could be made to produce grass more 

 profitably. 



398. The rotation. Whether or not meadows or 

 pastures can be grown as regular crops in rotation will 

 depend largely upon the topography of the country and 

 the systems of farming followed. Where very extensive 

 systems of farming are practiced, hay and pasture crops 

 are usually grown in continuous culture, being the last 

 crops to take a place in the rotation. In rolling or hilly 

 sections of the country, the land that is too steep or rough 

 to put under the plow is devoted to grass. When land is 

 so steep that serious loss is likely to occur by washing if it 

 is plowed, continuous culture is to be recommended. But 

 where land can be cultivated without loss from washing, 

 the grass lands should form a part of the regular rotation. 

 In the corn belt states, meadows regularly form a part of 

 the rotation. Where hay is the principal money crop, 

 frequently continuous culture is practiced. Hay is kept 

 in the meadow as long as a fair crop can be secured, and 

 then the field is put under cultivation for a year or two, 

 after which it is seeded down to meadow again. This 

 method of hay production, when followed for a number of 

 years, is not profitable, as the yields usually become less 

 each year until finally a profitable crop is no longer ob- 

 tained. Where continuous hay farming is practiced, 

 usually little live stock is kept on the farm, so that little 



