34 Bulletin 827, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Where some improved pasture is available, the native pasture may 

 be grazed closely in the early part of the season, gradually removing 

 the cattle to the improved pasture. This method allows the im- 

 proved pasture to get a good start while the native pasture is being 

 used to the fullest advantage. 



Improved pasture on cultivated land should be established gradu- 

 ally for permanent pasture whenever possible, especially by the small 

 farmers who have limited pasture. Bermuda is recommended on 

 rich ground or ground to which manure has been applied, but should 

 always have lespedeza and bur or white clover added. Carpet grass 

 is much better adapted for the foundation of pastures on sandy lands 

 and should be sown with Bermuda whenever the seed can be ob- 

 tained. Lespedeza should be sown with carpet grass. 



Abruzzi rye, especially if vetch or bur clover is sown on the same 

 field, is recommended above any other crop for winter grazing. 



WINTER FEEDS. 



The saving of the dry roughage, such as corn stover, and the 

 making of hay are rendered somewhat difficult in the Piney Woods 

 section because of the frequent rains at seasons when the crops ma- 

 ture and the moist atmosphere, which is favorable to the growth of 

 molds on forage when left in the field, especially corn stover in 

 shocks. 



Corn stover may be cured and fed from the field in favorable sea- 

 sons, but it is usually necessary to rick it with some protection from 

 the weather or store it under cover. The common method of utilizing 

 corn stover is to pasture the stalk fields in the fall after the corn has 

 been snapped, especially since velvet beans are now commonly planted 

 in all corn, and the vine growth makes the cutting of stover very 

 difficult. When properly saved, corn stover is a very valuable rough- 

 age for winter feed, but if left in the field a considerable portion of 

 the forage is trampled down, damaged by rains, or blown away, and 

 much of the feeding value is lost. 



Lespedeza is gaining favor rapidly as a hay crop. It has been 

 very successfully grown for hay on the heavier soils, especially when 

 supplied with some phosphate fertilizer. It contains little water 

 and is the easiest of all legumes to cure into hay. When grown in 

 dense stands it is very heavy in weight because of the fine, solid 

 stems, and even when only 6 to 8 inches high and apparently hardly 

 worth cutting for hay it will yield a ton or more per acre. The hay 

 is of excellent quality, is relished by cattle, and is equal in feeding 

 value to alfalfa hay. When the seed is sown in February or March 

 on oat land it will make a crop of hay the first season after the 

 oats are harvested. The plants, if allowed to mature, will reseed 

 the land indefinite^. After the lespedeza is removed the land may 



