1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
103 
•ordinary terms employed by breeders. In 
the first place, what is a breed ?—When any 
kind of domestic animal has, through a series 
of generations, acquired certain characteris¬ 
tics, as of speed, length of wool, milking qual- 
ties, etc., that are transmitted to their 
offspring with much certainty, such a 
group of animals is known as a breed. 
Of such are the Shorthorns, Jerseys, 
etc., among cattle; Southdown, Merino, 
etc., among sheep ; and Berkshire, Suf¬ 
folk, etc., in swine. Having defined 
the term breed, we see what ought to 
be understood by the term pure-blood, 
full-blood and thorough-bred. These all 
mean the same, and indicate “ animals 
of a distinct and well defined breed 
without the admixture of other blood.” 
A Grade is produced by breeding to¬ 
gether an animal that belongs to a dis¬ 
tinct breed, and one that does not, a 
“native,” as it is frequently termed. 
Thus a Jersey bull and a “ native ” cow* 
produce a grade offspring. The cow 
may be pure-blood, full-blood, or thor¬ 
ough-bred, and the bull a “ native,” and 
a grade is likewise the result. A cross¬ 
bred animal is one resulting from the 
breeding together of two distinct breeds. 
When closely related animals are bred 
it is termed e?ose-breeding; and when 
this relationship is of the closest kind, 
it is styled in-and-in-breeding. There are 
other less important terms used by breeders. 
Pastures and Pasture Grasses. 
In looking over any English catalogue of 
agricultural seeds, one is struck with the 
prominence given to seeds of pasture grasses. 
While our seedsmen content themselves with 
giving a list of their grass seeds, the British 
seedsman offers a number of mixtures for 
pastures upon different soils. The catalogue 
of Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, England, 
now before us, offers some 20 different mix¬ 
tures, in every case giving the grasses com¬ 
posing them and the proportions of each, for 
as many different situations and uses. Some 
of these contain from 20 to 25 different kinds 
of grasses, clovers, and other forage plants. 
A pasture properly laid down in England, 
lasts such an indefinite term of years, that it 
is called “permanent.” This is in marked 
contrast with our methods; Timothy, Red- 
top, and Clover are sown, mowed as long as 
seems profitable, and then the field is used 
as a pasture. In a term of years, longer or 
shorter, according to soil and situation, this 
gets foul, ceases to be profitable and is broken 
up and brought into cultivation. The cata¬ 
logue we have referred to, that of the Messrs. 
Sutton & Sons, gives two engravings which 
we reproduce, the one (fig. 1) showing the 
vegetation of a worn out and unprofitable 
pasture, and the other (fig. 2), of such a pas¬ 
ture renovated by proper re-seeding. It is 
doubtful if many of our pastures that are 
considered as fairly good, would show a much 
closer vegetation than that given in figure 1, 
while there is probably not a pasture 
in America so perfectly stocked as that 
represented in the other figure. We 
have no doubt that the generally poor 
condition of our pastures is largely due 
to following English precedents. The 
mixtures so useful in England for pas¬ 
tures, as well as for lawns, are an utter 
failure here ; they consist largely of 
grasses which, while of the greatest 
value in a moist climate, are with us en¬ 
tirely killed off by the first dry sum¬ 
mer. While it is tine that we have the 
wonderful Blue-grass pastures of Ken¬ 
tucky, and in parts of the adjoining 
States, still they are exceptional, though 
where possible nothing better can be 
desired. But take the country through, 
the one great want is a pasture that 
shall be permanently productive—one 
that the farmer, and especially the dai¬ 
ly man, can depend upon to carry a cer¬ 
tain number of cattle year after year. 
With the many grasses, native and for¬ 
eign, there must be more than two or 
three that will be useful as pasture 
grasses. In looking over the English 
“mixtures” for pastures, we find them to 
include grasses that are tall and those that 
will flourish when overshadowed ; those that 
start very early, and those that hold on late; 
those that grow best during a wet season, and 
those that will flourish in a dry one. It is 
just this variety that is needed for our pas- 
Fig. 1.—VEGETATION OF A WOKN-OUT FASTUBE. 
tures, and especially do we need to provide 
for the long seasons of drouth. There is no 
one thing in which our experimental farms 
can do so good service as to ascertain what 
mixture of grasses will provide in our cli¬ 
mate such pastures as one sees in England in 
the most unfavorable season. Let us have 
pastures that will be really “permanent." 
The Management of Liquid Fertilizers. 
v There is no doubt that, with proper ar¬ 
rangements, the application of liquid manure 
by a system of irrigation, may be highly prof¬ 
itable. But for the average farmer, or the 
owner of a truck patch, without proper ap¬ 
pliances, to transport liquid manure by 
means of a tank drawn by one horse, or a 
barrel upon a barrow, it is very doubtful if it 
is the best method. The liquid manure is 
largely water, and water is not only a very 
heavy article to carry about, but it is not, in 
the strict sense, a fertilizer. If one can make 
the water transport itself, and carry the 
fertilizer with it, one great item of the ex¬ 
pense is saved. If this cannot be done, it will 
be better—to use a contradiction of terms—to 
transport the liquid manure in the solid form, 
instead of collecting it in a cistern to receive 
it on an absorbent. Sun-dried peat; muck 
that has been frozen and dried; sods from the 
head-lands ; straw from thrasher ; sea-weed ; 
swale hay; marsh grass; leaves and sawdust; 
are all good absorbents. There is no difficulty 
in taking up with one or another of these 
—all the liquid made by farm stock kept in 
the barn. A mass two or three feet in thick¬ 
ness, in the barn cellar, will take up the 
liquid, and retain all its fertilizing qualities 
without much loss. This compost, made 
under cover, retains everything valuable in 
the solid and liquid excretions of the cattle, 
and the mass is in a fit condition to be spread 
as a top-dressing upon grass land at any sea¬ 
son of the year, or to be incorporated into the 
*>il for any cultivated crops, every particle of 
the compost becomes, so to speak, a cistern 
for holding what is valuable in the liquid 
manure. Thus there is no waste in carting a 
vast amount of water to the fields. The fer¬ 
tilizing material is distributed in the com¬ 
post, as it is mixed with the soil, and the 
process is completed by the rainfall. All the 
riches of the barn cellar are thus placed econ¬ 
omically within reach of the roots of plants* 
A “Small Gate” in a Picket Fence. 
Mr. T. B. McMains, Tippecanoe Co., Ind., 
sends a sketch showing how he makes an. 
A SMALL GATE IN A PICKET PENCE. 
opening in a picket-fence, which may often 
be very handy to allow a person to pass 
through. A light gate is made out of the- 
ordinary pickets, by nailing them to two thin 
cross-pieces, which serve as hinges, and a 
cross-brace running between them, as shown, 
in the engraving. The hinges are fastened to 
