252 TwBNTY-FiKST Biennial Report 



manner of growth., rather unmanageable for forage, but 

 can be handled by growing j.t with some grass or grain. 

 It is to be looked upon as a soil improver chiefly, and as 

 a cover crop for orchards and hillsides. 



Japan clover (Lespedesa striata) is a rather small 

 plant with very fine leafage, which has for a number of 

 years past gradually extended its range in Kentucky, 

 taking care of itself on the most inhospitable of soils 

 along roadsides and in abandoned fields, where it fur- 

 nishes such abundant and nutritious grazing as to bave 

 worked a genuine transformation in the appearance of 

 roaming stock in some sections of the State. The plant 

 is an annual nitrogen gatherer, so that while it is helping 

 the stock of the poor it is also improving some of our 

 poor clayey soils. It is a little tender, and on this ac- 

 count may always be more or less completely restricted 

 to the southern three-fourths of the State. The seeds 

 are hard to collect because of the fact that they are rather 

 few in number, and are scattered along the stems. 

 Bought seeds have not always germinated with me. One 

 can well afford to make an effort to get Japan clover 

 started in his neighborhood. Like white clover and sweet 

 clover, it is adapted to soils that other forage plants 

 do not thrive in, and will in time put them in a condi- 

 tion to grow other things. 



The Establishment of Permanent Pastures. 



In making .a choice of these different plants for 

 pasture much must be left to the judgment of the farmer. 

 If his land is inclined to be wet he will use one of sev- 

 eral plants adapted to wet lands. If it is high and dry 

 certain others must be employed. The old saying, 

 ' ' The higher the hill the lower the grass, ' ' is true largely 

 because the hilltops have had the good soil washed down 

 into the valleys. If hills can be kept clothed, especially 

 in winter, with a cover crop such as rye, vetch, or some 

 grass, they will produce as good grass as grows any- 

 where. But certain species such as sheep's fescue and 

 trefoil thrive on hills better than red top and blue grass, 

 and should be employed for these situations. Low 

 ground, again, must have the species adapted to a damp 



