Te eee 
in the new settlements of the arid districts, all culture must be in the 
nature of experiment, and much judgment and large information are- ~— 
needed to guide the experimenter to the best results. - 
Relation of Stock to Pastures.—The farmer and grazier should always 
bear in mind that his pastures should be adapted to the kind as well 
as the quantity of stock which he keeps. Cattle and sheep are very 
different in their feeding habits, the sheep cropping the grass very 
close, and cattle requiring to have the grass longer in order to get a 
bite. Horses again do not bite as close as cattle. By judiciously 
proportioning the kind of stock kept on the pasture a much better 
result may be obtained by keeping both cattle and sheep than by 
keeping either alone. The field will thus be kept cleaner and in better 
condition. 
Management of the Pasture——Care must be observed that cattle or 
sheep be not put upon grass too early in the spring, before the grass has 
fairly commenced to grow. This rule applies particularly to sheep, who~ 
will in such cases eat the heart out of the grass crown, to its entire 
destruction. When, however, the grasses have made a good start there 
will be much of the taller stalks and coarser culms which the sheep will 
reject, and which cattle will crop with avidity. As the season advances 
there are often bunches of grass neglected by both cattle and sheep, giv- 
ing to the pasture a rough and uneven appearance, when the mower 
should be run over the pasture, after which the old tufts will send-up 
another crop of tender blades. 
No precise date can be given for beginning to graze pastures in the spring. Cattle 
_ should not be warned in 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 grasges. 
On the other hand, if the grass gets too old, the animals refuse much of it, and the © 
fodder will be lost. Pastures consisting largely of early, strong-growing grasses, 
particularly cock’s foot (orchard grass), will need to be stocked before others which 
produce finer and later varieties.* 
It is Sometimes a nice question to determine when to take stock off 
the pastures in the fall. This will depend much on the length of the 
erowing season in any particular iocality. In northern latitudes the 
growth of vegetation will be arrested early, and when the grass has 
quite ceased to grow the stock should be removed that the ground may 
be in proper condition for an early start in the following spring. Usu- 
ally, however, in northern sections of the country the question is effect: 
ually settled by the early descent of the winter snows. In southern 
latitudes the climate is so mild that the growing season continues all 
winter, so that stock live mainly or entirely upon the growing grass, 
there being sorts there which naturally make their principal growth in 
the coolest portion of the year. | 
= —_———7 
. Sutton on Permanent and Temporary Pastures. 
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