Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1876 — Renovating Meadows. [ARTICLE]

Renovating Meadows.

fyben the grass appears to be partially run out it is sometimes the better way to plow the ground and reseed it in September. But when the surface is smooth and there arc no bare places, that is no places which are not occupied with grass, the most, economical way to renovate such ground is to apply a generons dressing Of fine barnyard manure. If this cannot be procured conveniently, gh'e the land a top-dressing off fine muck. In lieu of any other fertilizing substances procure some bonedust and sow 600 to 1,000 pounds per acre. A great many farmers fall into the grave error of plowing deep their meadows and other grass land. The thin layer of humus that is on the surface should be kept there. When an old established sod is first plowed there is a large amount of vegetable substance in a more or lc9B advanced state of decay, comprising a dark layer on milch of the surface, and formed by the annual deposits of dead grass blades, and more or less matter of dead roots distributed through the original surface moldWhere the surface is well sodded over the ground receives an annual addition of vegetable mutter as long as it is not close f razed in the fall. Suppose a pasture, owever, that has been close grazed in the fall and not manured for many years, having yielded from twelve to sixteen tons of green feed per annum, begins to fail, should the sod therefore be plowed under? Should the goose that fays the golden egg be killed after having been annually close plucked ? I can perceive neither reason nor object for each a backward step; for, as far as I have had time to ascertain, the practice is to manure a failing upland pasture —lowland or meadow pastures being seldom disturbed with the pl6W—either before or after plowing, heavily, and after sowing the seed to pulverize thoroughly. These processes and the m&Bure together involve quitch full

item in labor, manure, time, etc., and to what end except changing better for poorer surface rnoldt By plowing, the surface mold is virtually buried or laid by, for it is highly E notable that sufficient heat to decompose minis does not pcnetiate the surface mold of pasture soils more than two or three inches, If so deep. Hence, if the sod be plowed six incites deep—not an excessive estimate—a layer of three inches of tile soil is covered to a depth that C laces it beyond the reach of sufficient eat to promote, more or less, its decomposition. Thus removed from its natural position it becomes inert, remaining chiefly In an unavailable condition till the new sod, in its turn, be treated to the same process and position, and Its consequences. We have seen that a large proportion of the best part of upland soils is buried when a pasture is for tbe first time plowed, the humus and other organic matter thus C lowed under being replaced by soil that i much inferior, both as to quantity and availability of its nutritive ingredients. This first error of breaking up established pastures leads to the seeming, but unreal, necessity of repeating the mistake nine times in every ten. The npper four inches of the surface of upland soils that have not been plowed probably contains seventy per cent, of the organic matter—with a sufficient portion of mineral elements besides—of all the organic in tbe first seven or eight inches. In this case—which appears sufficiently correct as to proportion—those who plow their upland pastures and meadows the flrstf time turn under more than double the amount of organic or fertile matter brought to the surface by their plowing. Before the young gross on the poor soli brought up by the first plowing will cany an average growth of stock it must have time to root and establish itself by the usual ramification of fibrous rootlets in the soil—that is, a large root growth already formed is put down to where it becomes almost inert, decaying very slowly in consequence of tne soil being too cool to promote rapid’decay, and which would be chiefly unavailable if it did decay. The new grass then has fifty per cent, less organic matter in its upper soil than the old sward had to feed upon in the original surface mold! Hence the necessity for heavy manuring is seen when reseeding after plowing under the very cream of the soil. It is also evident that new crops of grass sown in such conditions arc sustained chiefly by the manure and only to a lesser extent by the mold of the land. That the process should therefore have to be repeated can hardly be surprising, for we all know that the effects of manuring as ordinarily conducted are far from being permanent, that, in fact, they are usually of short duration. Add to this tbe loss of ten or twelve tons of green and dead or dying roots plowed under—a great weight of substance and quantity of organic matter already formed into root growth—and we have, as the result of plowing up established pasture sods— First—As much, and in most instances probably more, fertile substances plowed under than are added in the manure. Secondr— The destruction of sufficient root growth already made. Third —The cost of feeding stock while waiting for tbe young grass to establish its roots in the poorer soil. Fourth—The loss of time, labor and cost of grass seed involved in reseeding. Instead of which, draining if necessary, a little reseeding in places and a moderate manuring once a year for two or three years, as soon after mowing as practicable, would have saved much labor and produced more permanent and profitable results.—if. Y. Herald.