File:Annual descriptive catalogue - seeds &c. (1897) (20358739108).jpg

Title: Annual descriptive catalogue : seeds &c.
Identifier: CAT31282554 (find matches)
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Joseph Breck & Sons; Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection
Subjects: Nursery stock Massachusetts Catalogs; Flowers Seeds Catalogs; Vegetables Seeds Catalogs; Gardening Equipment and supplies Catalogs
Publisher: Boston, Mass. : Joseph Breck & Sons
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

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CATALOGUE OF GRASS SEEDS. 45
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SHEEP'S FESCUE MEADOW FOXTAIL CRESTED DOGSTAIL (Festuca Ovina) (Alopecurus pratensis) (Cynosurus Cristatus) MIXTURES FOR PERMANENT PASTURES. " One thi?ig is certain: that good pasture land is the foundation of the riches of a farm "—Sinclair. The oft-repeated complaints of wornout and exhausted pastures, made to us by some of our best New England farmers, have long impressed us with the fact that there mu»t be something radically wrong with the manner in which our pastures are formed and cared for. Some remedy for this state of matters is imperatively necessary, and it seems to us that one most important line of improvement would be the sowing of a larger number of species of grasses in the laying out of these pastures. As we have already expressed as our opinion, farmers, as a rule, in preparing their mixtures of grasses to be used in the laying down of permanent pastures, confine themselves to too few varieties, thus failing to arrive at the most profitable results. The chief properties which give value to a grass are nutritive powers, produce, early growth, and reproductiveness (that is, the property of growing rapidly after being cropped). If one species of grass could be discovered that possessed all these qualities in a superior degree to every other, there would be no necessity beyond that of botanical science ior us to acquire the knowledge which enables us to distinguish the different species of grasses, the soils and subsoils best adapted to their growth, natural habits, and compara- tive value; but the results of all experiments have proven that a combination of all the merits and properties which giv-i value to a grass is not to be found in any single species, or in fact in any two or three. In sowing a mixture of a number of different varieties we are but following nature, who can be always depended upon as the best teacher. This can easilv be demonstrated by the careful examination of any old, rich, permanent pasture, on which will invariably be found fifteen or twenty species of grass or forage plants growing in great profusion. Where, however, it is left to nature to supply the necessary plants to make a ri< h and succulent pasturage, a great deal of valuable time is, of necessity, lost, as sevn or eight years will elapse before the field will naturally assume the character of a rich and profitable pasture, while by artificial means the same result can be brought about in one fourth the titne. In compiling any table ol grasses and clovers to be used for permanent pasture purposes there are several important features to be taken into consideration. First, the proportion of plants which would be produced from the amount of each kind of seed sown should be determined, so that the undue predominance of any parti- cular variety may be avoided. We have given this point special consideration in preparing our mixture-. A selection of grasses should be made that blossom at alternate months of the year, as it is a well-known fact that there is no month from April to September, inclusive, in which some of the valuable grasses do not attain their full perfection. EXPERIENCES. C. A. Dresser, Treasurer of the Central Mills Co., Southbridge, Mass., in speaking about our Permanent Pasture Mixtures, says:—"The cattle feed 7tpon it ravenously." S. C. Huntington, Henniker, X. IT., says:—"The Clover and Grass Seeds 'which I purchased of v#ur house two years ago proved far better than any P could procure in this vicinity.'1 See Special Oifers o.i third cage of cover.

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