Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 October 1875 — Pasturing Meadows. [ARTICLE]

Pasturing Meadows.

The principal object in managing meadows is to keep down noxious weeds and increase or multiply the useful grasses. Whatever encourages the growth of useful plants tends to decrease the number of noxious ones, through a natural system of crow-ding out. The farmer usually commences operations for a meadow by destroying the wild plants by plowing and harrowing the land, after which seeds of choice kinds are sown, thereby giving them'(the advantage over the wild herbs formerly in possession of the soil. Up to this point the majority of our farmers proceed with some 6liow of system and forethought in their operations, but after reaching it, or getting their meadows well established, they depart from a judicious course of management very rapidly. The first mistake is in neglecting to apply tertilizers that would keep up a vigorous grow-tli of the tame grass and compensate tor the loss of fertility removed in each crop of hay. As the soil becomes too poor for the support of a high order of plants a lower takes their place, the inputritious crowding out the nutritious. But a great source of evil is the severe pasturing to which many farmers subject their meadows in the fall. Men who should know, if they do not, that continually depriving plants of foliage is certain death to the roots will keep their .paeadows cropped close even up to the time cold weather sets in, and then puzzle their brains to know why certain kinds of grasses “ run out.” On very rich soils, where a strong, luxuriant aftermath is produced in tlie latter part of summer, there can be no great objection to light pasturing, but even in such instances stock should be removed before the ground becomes soft enough to permit of injury to the sod by their feet breaking through. It is true that the droppings of animals will in part compensate for the injury which may be done in close cropping of meadows in fall, but it will bear no comparison to the damage which is done by breaking up the sod after it has become soft and spongy late in the season. The most luxuriant growth of grass during the latter part of summer is usually on low, moist ground, where the trampling of stock is likely to be the most injurious. The tame grasses are killed out in this way and their place occupied by the wild sedges, which are worthless as food for stock. A word to the wise should be sufficient on this subject of pasturing meadows.— N. Y. Sun.