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heavily. He may not do it quickly, and he may do it to only the best plants in his pasture mixture. Or he may allow enough growth each year to maintain all plants, but in a greatly reduced state of productivity.
There are many positive values in this half of the forage left on the ground each year. These advantages accrue to the three important parts of a good pasture — the living ground cover, the dead vegetative residue, and the root system.
The root system will be deep and extensive when there is enough green growth above the ground to maintain it and keep it from drawing on its reserves. With an adequate root system, the plant is not restricted in its search for food and will go deep for moisture. When dry seasons come and available moisture is deep, the strong plant will continue to produce pasturage since it can tap this supply.
The dead vegetative residue or ' mulch which forms on the ground beneath the living plants is just as valuable to the grassland as the root system or the topgrowth. This mulch helps to protect the soil from erosion and catches the falling raindrops and holds them to increase the “insoak,” letting the surplus water trickle off slowly without causing erosion. The mulch also keeps soil temperatures more normal. Under burning summer sun, bare soil temperatures may reach 135 degrees; under a good pasture mulch, 80 degrees. The more favorable soil temperature results in greatly improved grass growth. In the winter the mulch insulation keeps soil temperatures higher and reduces damage from frost. Of course, a good mulch protects soil moisture against evaporation by drying winds and the sun.
Another significant value of the mulch is that temperature and moisture control improve the activity of microorganisms, such as bacteria, and the larger forms of soil life, such as earthworms, which aid plant growth in many ways.
The topgrowth of the plants that is not removed is also useful to catch snow and rain and add to the total moisture trapped in a field. It serves as an anchor for the residue lying on the surface of the soil, it prevents the wind from sweeping the ground surface and drying or damaging the soil, and, finally, it may be used in an emergency when the farmer is short of feed.
All of these factors should begin to lead farmers in the right direction to reduce the long-range damage from last season’s drought. Grassland that is overused one season should receive compensation the next season by reduced use to allow for the recovery of the root system, the topgrowth and the ground litter.
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