119 



Hints on Grazing. 



Most watchful care is needed to obtain the best results from 

 grazing land, and only those who are actually engaged in the 

 business have any adequate conception of the ceaseless anxiety it 

 involves. Two main objects must be kept steadily in view — the 

 constant progress of the stock, and the maintenance of fertihty 

 in the pasture. It may be necessary to change the cattle from 

 field to field, or to alter the relative proportions of sheep and 

 horned stock at very brief intervals. However arduous the 

 labour, the cattle must be kept growing ; and the grass be so fed 

 ofi" as to avoid waste and ensure continuous herbage. Allow- 

 ance has also to be made for differences in seasons. In dry 

 summers what little grass there may be is extremely valuable 

 for its high quahty and sustaining power ; but when vegetation is 

 rank and sodden with moisture a much larger quantity may fail 

 to put on flesh. Truly ' the farmer's eye makes the beast fat.' 



No precise date can be given for beginning to graze pastures 

 in spring. Cattle should not be turned out until there is enough 

 feed to keep them going without too much help from hay, nor 

 until the ground is firm enough to prevent their hoofs from 

 damaging the young shoots of the grasses. On the other hand, if 

 the grass gets too old the animals will refuse much of it, and the 

 fodder will be lost. Pastures consisting largely of early, strong- 

 growing grasses, particularly Cocksfoot, will need to be stocked 

 before others which produce finer and later varieties. Even after 

 cattle have made a start, late spring frosts or a persistent east 

 wind may upset the grazier's calculations, and the stock may 



