MANAGEMENT OF MEADOWS. 



251 



AVERAGE NUMBER OF PLANTS AND SPECIES TO THE SQUARE 

 FOOT OF SWARD. 



CHARACTER OF THE TTJKF. 



2iu 

 £°g 



1* 



_g o 

 6 



12 



1. A square foot taken from the richest nat- 

 ural pasture capable of fattening one large ox or 

 three sheep to the acre was found to contain 



2. Bich old pasture capable of fattening one 

 large ox and three sheep per acre 



8. Another old pasture contained .' 



4. An old pasture of a damp, moist and mossy 

 surface 



5. A good pasture, two years old, laid down 

 to rye grass and white clover j 



6. A sod of narrow leaved meadow grass (Poa 

 angustifolia) 6 years old 



7. A sod of meadow foxtail by itself 6 years 

 old 



8. Rye grass by itself 6 years old 



9. Meadow irrigated and carefully managed ■ ■ 



It will be seen by this table that numbers 1, 2 and 9 

 have more varieties of grasses than any others, and accord- 

 ing to the table, are more thickly covered with plants. 



A custom prevails among the grass farmers of the North 

 and East to mix a great number together — some having 

 as many as a dozen different kinds on one meadow. In 

 this way those vacant spots we have spoken of will be filled 

 up with selected seeds, instead of seeds of an inferior or 

 noxious sort. The ground will be covered, and it is better 

 to select the best varieties. The more especially is this the 

 case, when it is expected, as most farmers will do, to pas- 

 ture, to some extent the meadow, or when it is wished to 

 train it as a meadow a few years, and ultimately let it pass 

 into a grazing lot. It is quite a common custom in this 

 State to mix clover and orchard grass, or clover and herds 

 grass, or clover and timothy, and sometimes timothy and 

 herds grass are mixed, and this is about the extent of mix- 

 ing done. 



