Crowd at field day in Will county watchas how quickly weed* ore sprayed by using large tank truck and power 

 used was new weed killer, 2-4D, particularly efFective against Canadian thistles. 



Chemical 



AC. GUETHER took a lot of 

 good natured ribbing when 

 1200 farmers from 10 near-by 

 counties gathered on his 160 

 # acre Will county farm during 

 one of the regional pasture 

 improvement field days held through- 

 out the state recently. 



Along about noon when the demon- 

 stration was about half completed 

 Geuther's blue grass pasture began to 

 look pretty sick. Five tractor outfits, 



EuUing an assortment of tillage tools, 

 ad torn the field to shreds. 



One onlooker who had been viewing 

 the spectacle with a critical eye, ad- 

 dressed the crowd at random. "My 

 hawgs," he said cryptically, "do about 

 as good a job of rooting up my pas- 

 ture every spring." 



And that's how the pasture looked 

 during the first part of the field day — 

 pretty well rooted up. But the farm 

 advisers, particularly Wayne Churchill 

 of Will county, the soil conservation 

 technicians, and the experts from the 

 University of Illinois, all of whom 

 helped sponsor the event, didn't seem 

 much worried. 



These were the men who had to an- 

 swer to Geuther for the sad plight of 

 his pasture, but they were sure of suc- 

 cess. They were experienced in the 

 science of making two blades of grass 

 grow where only one weed grew be- 

 fore. 



The sod was torn up, they explained, 

 to provide a seed bed for the grasses. 

 It also holds back the blue grass 

 enough to give the legumes a chance 

 to grow when they're planted next 

 spring. 



Their formula for giving old pas- 

 tures new life which they put to test 

 on a large scale on the Geuther farm 

 falls logically into five major steps. 



1. Test and treat the soil. Don't 

 guess, they said, but test and put on 

 the fertilizer the soil needs. 



2. Tear up the old sod. Prepare a 

 good seed bed and mix in needed min- 

 erals with the soil to give the new 

 seeding a chance. 



add ACRES to 



YOUR FARM 



By LEW REISNER 



lAA RECORD Field Editor 



3. Reseed. Use a good mixture, 

 seeding brome and timothy in the fall 

 and legumes in the spring. 



4. Control grazing. Make sure the 

 new seeding gets established, especially 

 the first year. Electric fences make 

 good barriers for cattle. 



5. Clip weeds. Follow good man- 

 agement after the seeding is reestab- 

 lished. Don't let weeds rob new seed- 

 ing of plant food. 



Cherell Overson, who manages a 

 1200 acre farm near Crete, said he'd 

 had experience with renovated pastures 

 in Wisconsin before he came to Illi- 

 nois. 



"Pastures treated like they're treat- 

 ing them here today will yield as well 

 as the best hay field," he said. "The 

 cows will be up to their bellies in 

 grass." 



"They'll get three or four times the 

 feed. It's just a waste of time to pas- 



ture worn out blue grass." 



Returning to the five steps in reno- 

 vating old pasture ground, the soil on 

 the Geuther pasture was tested at the 

 Will county soil laboratory several 

 weeks prior to the field day and was 



Will County Farm Adviser Wayne Churchill 



introduces A. C. Geuther en whose farm 



field day was held. 



This disk, with two 

 moveable winged sec- 

 tions, was used to 

 level off field and 

 prepare good seed 

 bed. Field previously 

 had been torn up by 

 field cultivator. 



L A. A. RECORD 



found lacki 

 During t 

 dump truck 

 a rare of i 

 tests showe 

 1300 pounc 

 and this wa 

 The min< 

 sod had bee 

 ent farm t 

 mold boarc 

 and a whe: 



f)ressed the 

 armers wh( 

 field cultiva 

 harrow moi 

 tear the sod 



"It gets d 

 four inches, 

 on top," he 

 erosion like 



After the 

 fertilized th 

 dragged, an 



The pasti 

 pounds of b 

 timothy. N 

 fore the fros 

 pound of la< 

 and six of a 

 each acre. 



W. O. Sc 

 partment, ex 

 this mixture 

 fast starter 

 next year, 

 to develop b 

 after one or 



"Sweet clo 

 ture and per; 

 kind of mixt 

 other plants, 



"You kno\ 

 It's a wond 

 green all sui 

 new clover I 

 nishes a lot 



Farmers wl 

 and seeding t 

 ceilent pastu 

 least six yean 

 cost of renovi 

 an acre per ] 



To many i 

 the field day, 

 vation was n( 

 a wait and se 

 the progress 

 summer with 



In the mea 

 the statement 

 M. L. Moshc 

 agement spe< 

 them. "Reir 

 when you doi 

 you can keep 

 like this, yo 

 your farm." 



OCTOBER, 1 



