Show FORAGE WESTERN FAHM mERS by L A MERRILL director extension division with utah agricultural college oregon short line nail railroad 0 ad demonstration on train lecture k in discussing the subject of forage crops I 1 propose doing it in the widest sense including any food suitable tor for horses cattle sheep or swine the subject will include particularly pasture grasses soiling selling and fodder crops and it Is my purpose to particularly emphasize the importance of some of the crops with which our western farmers are not familiar we shall necessarily have to limit ourselves to a discussion of those crops thai tha have been tested at our experiment 6 stations ta and by successful farmers and found to bo be of practical value since in the grass family alone there are arc more micro than sp As I 1 read the history of agriculture of this and other nations I 1 arn am impressed with the fact that the permanent prosperity of any country Is dependent very largely upon tho the emphasis placed upon pastures and hay crops pastures feed mankind they are the bedrock bed rock of civilization there Is always something alluring in an agriculture based spec specially lally on permanent things like meadow and pastures that do not let holds wash and erode that maintain and build fertility that make possible the higher types of agriculture based on keeping animals or making milk for babes wool for soft garments or horses for the use usa of man although we live in a comparatively new section of country our agriculture in these mountain valleys la Is already advanced far enough to give a number ot of examples showing the difference between a system ot of farming that includes pastures and grasses and a system that involves the production ot of sugar beets potatoes grain or fruit crops only in the growing ot of those these crops wo we are continually taking from the 0 soil o 11 those I 1 elements of fertility that are abao I 1 essential tor for the growth ot of plants and without which tho the soil boll is worth worthless lq in the growing of grasses for pasturage or for hay when fed upon tho the farm wo we return to the soil those elements of fertility and the supply is at least maintained and by a wise system of bus husbandry bandu even increased year by year in th this western country where our farmers havo have turned their attention to the production of grasses and forage crops crop s they have haive been scarcely able to place a limit on the number ot of live stock they are ablo able to maintain and amount of live stock products thoy they are able to produce our irrigated lands are particularly adapted to grass for forage crop production duct lon because of the abundance of those plant foods necessary for their growth particularly lime potash and phosphates and because ot of tho the assur anco of 0 supplying moisture just at the time needed it la is encouraging to the western farmer fanner to lo realize that with the adoption of 0 a proper system of cropping one acre here can be made to do the work of three or four acres in the middle west or even fifteen or twenty acres in the southwest I 1 have seen three cows pasture on a single acre of upland an ture in utah from may until november and in the east have observed that it Is necessary to have from three to four acres to pasture one cow for the same length of time our pastures nee need I 1 never become dry or parched but under a proper system can ile bo kept constantly green and succulent land for the pasture it la Is a mistaken notion to cup suppose pose that the poorest part of the farm should he be given over to pastures often times the rocky bell side ls Is used tor for this purpose pur noie nose and we too frequently fall to take into account the fact that the pasture can be made th the most important part ot of the farm for this reason tho the best and most convenient part of the farm will in a good farm practice be selected for this thin purpose the land should be well dral tied if not wo we must see blutt th it it la Is tiled or open ditches provided so that stagnant water may be drawn away we should appreciate the fact that in preparing the land for the pasture grasses we are preparing it for a number of 0 years it Is important therefore that c considerable attention be paid to proper leveling so that there may b e no diffy difficulties cu 0 s in the way of irrigation then tco the land should be prepared some time before we expect to ilo do the seeding the soil must settle together so that the proper functions ot of the soil sell can be carried on the seed sed bed must be extremely fine when one examines tho the seed of any ot of our grasses brasses or clovers it must bo be readily understood that there Is very little nouri nourishment stored away and the young toting and tender plant must soon boon begin to draw upon the soil tor for its nourishment time of seeding in the east long experience has shown that tho fall Is the best time for seeding repeated experiments hera bera however wever have demonstrated that on irrigated Irrl grated land we secure best eseta by spring I 1 tc lani lan i la Is prepared the previous fall all the seed bead can be sown very early in the spring the plants will bec blooma lorne well esta esteb band before the hot dry weather bekins begins it should be remembered that ono JUB can hardly sow BOW grass seed too early in tile the spring opting the mixture to select mapy many of the grass graft mixtures given out by the seed houses are silly conglomerations rations borne of which are made up of a few good varieties and then poor ones one thrown la in simply to throw chaff into thy the eye p f the customer ax however there are many ad vantages in i rather rat her than single seed some grasses start very early in the tha earing while others do not begin until late in the summer anti and there are scarcely cwg grasses that have the same lime ot of growth dy co combining rubt n ing them we have there fore a constant succession eucce aalon ot of fresh succulent grasses tho the ovll evil in a mixture la Is that sometimes there Is in it a grass of 0 interior inferior quality and that one will be neglected and tho the othera grazed so that alter after a time thein tho inferior grass la is loft left in cwi t ascendancy 1 I 1 havo have tested a number of different mixtures on oil various soils ami have hava found the following mixtures ol 01 0 grasses an excellent ono one for the in ini ter mountain sections kentucky blue grass crass sown at tho the rate of 6 pounds per aero acre perennial rye grass sown at thee the rato rate of 7 pounds per aero acre meadow rescue fescue sown at tho the rate of 3 pounds per acre red clover sown at the rate of 2 22 pounds per acre rep top tcp sown it at the rato rate of 6 pounds per acre orchard grass sown at tho the rate of 3 pounds pound a per acre white clover sown at the rate of 2 pounds per acre alfalfa sown at tho the rate of 0 2 pounds per acre acle this mixture I 1 la adapted to well drained soils and has been tested uy oy a great many farmers in these thase sections alth excellent results for light sindy sandy soils the following mixture Is ie recommended commended kentucky blue grats grass sown at the rate of 8 pounds per acre meadow fescue sown at the rate ot of 6 pounds per acre tall meadow oats sown at tho the rate ot 0 f 5 pounds per acre drome brome grass sown at tho the rats rate of I 1 5 pounds per acre white clover sown at the rate of 0 2 pounds per acre whore where lands landa are low and moist and where drainage Is not possible the following mixture of grasses has given good results perennial rye nye grass sown at the rato rate ol of 8 pounds per acre rod red top sown at the rate of 10 16 pounds per acre rhode island dent bent sown at the tha rato rate or 4 pounds per acre meadow fescue sown at tho the r rate ta of 2 pounds per acre timothy sown at the rato rate if f 3 pounds per acre akaike alov sown at tho the rati rat i 0 of f 2 pounds per acre white clover sown at the rati rat ofa of 2 pounds per acre it may bo be thought that we have hava u used sed hero here a very large amount 0 of f seed in practice howe however er I 1 lj 1 la nearly impossible to td get a perfect distribution trib ution of seeds and equally impossible to get them covered uniformly r so ci that one can count only on a very small percentage of germination in seeding grasses it la is extremely important to get tha ilie seed evenly distributed ordinarily one gets the best results with the use 09 0 those seeders with wing discs that throw the machine on either side tho j men walking and turning the seed by 1 hand band the wheelbarrow seeder also gives good results drills ot of course are most efficient but care must be taken to prevent getting the seed too I 1 deep blue grass especially required the very lightest covering I 1 iano know W too anan many farmers who advise seeding these grasses always with a nursa nurs 3 crop it lie he will sow one bushel to the acre of spying spring barley selecting a short strong that will not lodge and then cut early he will be providing shade for tho the young youn grasses and can almost absolutely depend upon success it will ve be observed after a year of 0 two that sonic somo of the gras grasses ss fire are in creasing and some are becoming extinct it will be found therefore a w wise ise practice early in the spring as the snow is disappearing to plant tho the I 1 seed ot of those grasses that are and then to loosen the he grasa sod od by the use ot of a sharp tooth barg harrow it la Is a i mIs mistake talce to feet feel that the tha j pasture does not need fertilization I 1 pasture should be covered at least every other year with a coating of well totted barnyard manure and this thor hughly harrowed so as aa to give eve evea distribution early in the As a rule we have a few days in february ar y when this work can be done to advant neo another mistake in handling p pastures a thures la Is to give the animals the f free re 0 use or of the entire pasture tile the best practice demands that there shall be at least two or three fields to avoid close grazing tho rho cattle should bo be kept out ot of oni on flold field while it la is being irrigated anti anil the glass all allowed owed to obtain a good start bj changing cattle around in different fields there la is less waste with the grasses anil and there la Is a decided ad gained by way of permitting the tha grasses to get a good start I 1 am very strongly ot of the opinion that pastures seeded along the lines suggested hero here will bo be the most profitable part of tho the farm next hect |