12 i G3 : :: . . wi tes ety 
But these places suffer from protracted droughts in summer and fall, 
which parch the pastures so that cattle and sheep are not then able to 
find a sufficiency of feed. The pasture and meadow grasses of the North 
have not been generally cultivated with success in the States which 
border on the Gulf of Mexico, and the greatest want of agriculture in 
that region is the introduction of grasses that will maintain growth and 
vigor during protracted droughts. 
The same remarks may be made with respect to the grasses needed 
for cultivation in the arid districts of the West, and there is every rea- 
son to expect that grasses adapted to such conditions of climate and 
soil will be*found. 
Permanence of Pastures and Meadows.—It has long been a question as 
to how long land should be allowed to continue in pasture or meadow. 
The answer to this question will depend very much on circumstances. 
Unquestionably the best plan for farming is the practice of mixed 
husbandry, or a mixture of raising grain crops and the fattening of do- 
mestic animals; for with a diversity of products there is an alleviation ~ 
of the evils of frequent crop failures, which are usually limited to one 
or two kinds, and also an alleviation of the fluctuations in the prices of 
crops, so that where some grain crops fail from any cause, the farmer 
has a resource in those of another kind and in his live stock. Besides, 
the rotation of crops, including the periodical laying down of cultivated 
ground to grass, and the change of grass land to the growth of field 
crops, results in the best condition of the soil. 
In the practice of most farmers, meadow lands are seldom continued 
more than three or four years without a change to the plow. But — 
‘pasture lands are more frequently kept undisturbed for a longer 
time, and so long as they continue in a healthy, clean, and productive 
state there can be no objection to their permanence; but whenever a _ 
pasture becomes overgrown with weeds, or filled with worthless or 
unproductive grasses, it is time for it to take its place in a system 
of rotation and renovation, at the same time regarding the needs of 
the soil in respect to fertilizing and cleaning from pase briers, and 
other shrubs. 
Drainage of Grass Lands.—Generally speaking, there is the same benefit 
to be derived from the proper drainage of grass lands, that is so con- 
‘spicuously shown in lands devoted to other crops. All lands with an 
impervious subsoil of stiff clay, or soils that are water-clogged, may be 
greatly benefited by proper draining, both in the quality and quan- 
tity of the grass product. On such land, properly drained, the grass will 
start earlier in the spring and .will continue to grow later in the fall 
than without drainage. All soils which rest upon a porous subsoil do 
not need it, and land ‘may have so strong a slope that the water is dis- 
charged from it with sufficient rapidity without the aid of a drain. 
Wet, water-soaked pastures generally abound in rushes and sedges, © 
which may grow luxuriantly, but are coarse and innutritious. The valu- — 
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