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Show S&XW : : i Los Angeles, California, April 4, 1938 I lhavte toleeln . im'pijessled by the general satisfaction that permanent pasture is. giving those who have tried it in western states. It is common- knowledge that the famous Oakdale section in California that now turns out thousands of fat lambs each year was used to produce, occasional grain crops only until the introduction intro-duction of Ladino clover several years ag'o. Throughout California, as well as in other western states, swine, beef, sheep and dairy operators op-erators are turning to permanent pasture as a means of cutting their costs of production, as well as utilizing hard pan land of limited lim-ited value for other crops. While occasional outbreaks oi bloating have been reported in connection with Ladino pasture, few cases of bloat have been heard" of where the pasture contained a mixture of legumes and grasses. The general conception ot American stcckmen has been that land was suitable for pasture only when it was not good enough to produce crops. I believe that this idea is changing as our farmers ajid stockmen are learning that under certain conditions pasture is more profitable .on the finest, lands we have that is a system of cropping. Our American representatives repre-sentatives that attend the world's dairy congress in Berlin tell u that European stockmen raise crops on lands only when it is not good enough for pasture. It has been found that permanent perma-nent pastures, composed of several varieties that reach their most luxuriant stage at. different times of the year, will replace more hay and grain than could be raised on corresponding acreage. Lalbor unrest un-rest encourages extensive use of pasture, which saves cutting, hauling, haul-ing, feeding and manure spreading. spread-ing. Perhaps the chief objection to permanent pasture is the frequency fre-quency of irrigation: once every .week or ten days during the hottest hot-test part of the year. However, shallow penetration is all that is needed, so that the total water is estimated to be about equal to that used for alfalfa. Permanent pasture has not been successfully established in the hot irrigated valleys of the southwest, such as the Imperial, Palo Verde and Salt. River, as some of the varieties, including Ladino clover, do not flourish in extreme heat. For moderate temperatures, a mixture of Ladino clover, bur clover, Dallis grass and perennial rye grass has been found to furnish fur-nish year-around green feed. |