Show improvement JL nt of pastures Pa beun IP begu JL 1 forage specialists start work in many areas in east and south prepared by the united states department 0 of f abric agric iture the task of reviving old worn out pastures in the east and replacing the native grasses with improved varieties of the south is a job forage specialists of the united states department of agriculture have undertaken as a part of an extensive program of pasture improvement results already obtained show that application of fertilizer re seeding and getting rid of weeds are the first steps in reclaiming rundown run down pasi pastures pas turca ures start experiments during the past year operative cooperative co pasture experiments have been started in pennsylvania michigan and georgin georgia similar work will be started in louisiana and mississippi next spring pasture experiments in florida have been under way for the last few years other states are arc anxious to operate cooperate co with the department as soon as arrangements can can be made to begin the work in these experiments 9 various grasses are grazed under sli similar ninar conditions and their value compared then the same grasses are grazed under different conditions to determine which system of grazing Is best in many cases grasses and legumes new to the region are added and their growth Is carefully measured in terms of gains in the animals pastured numerous tests testa designed to ascertain the kind and amount of fertilizer to use are included in the experiments loss during winter records from new york show allow that cows on pasture during the summer months returned a profit of 24 cents a day on the milk sold 9 during the winter because of the high cost of feed there was au an actual loss offous of four cents a day this Is due in large measure to the small labor cost of maintaining pastures results in pennsylvania show that the labor cost of producing one ton of digestible nutrients in a hay bay grain rotation Is 20 times as much as the labor cost for the same amount of feed in the form of good pasture experiments in florida have shown a net return of per acre from improved pastures used for grazing by beef steers |