Grass, More Grass’ Urged in Holt i
By C. R. HILL
Unit Conservationist
Holt County SCD
It is apparent that there will
be more grass seedings made
this spring in Holt county than
toi several years, especially if
H eather conditions are favorable.
There are two main re as oils why
this may be true. The first of
course is the acreage allotments
• that will be imposed on com and
those that, were set up for wheat
last fall. The second is the fact
that payments, especially those
for converting cropland to grass
. land are more liberal than they
have been in the past. There has
been considerable talk about di
verted acres, and that is an im
. portant subject.
However, that is not the ob
ject of this article. We will deal
here with the conversion of crop
land to grass to be used per
manently for hay or pasture.
According to estimates made
last year, there are some 97,000
icres that should be converted
from cropland to permanent
grassland for hay or pasture in
Holt county.
As a result of 10 years of trials
?nd observations and by a few
examples we hope to point out
■some of the most essential prin
ciples that need to be followed.
Usually the first question to be
decided is whether to seed a mix
ture of our native grasses or a
so-called cool season mixture
such as bromegrass, crested
wheatgrass, etc. The soil survey
made by the Soil Scientist for
ihe U. S. Soil Conservation Ser
vice will aid in assisting the co
operator to make this determina
tion. However, roughly speaking,
if the land to be seeded was not
fairly productive as crop land the
native grasses will probably be
the better of the two choices.
Cool Season Grasses
If on the other hand it is de
termined that it will support
cool season grasses there may
still be sound reasons for choos
ing one over the other. If it
would be to an advantage to be
able to have a pasture that could
be used earlier in the spring and
again late in the fall and cut
down on the season of use on the
native grass available then of
course the decision will rest with
the cool season grasses.
However, if the area to be
seeded is or will bcome a part
of a native grass pasture then by
a'l means it will be essential
that the seedings be native grass.
It also may be desirable to in
crease the acrer.ge of native
grass so that the season of use
of the various pastures may be
rotated from year to year.
While this article will deal
primarily with native grasses it
is well to point out that if cool
seasons grasses are chosen their
treatment will be somewhat
different than for native. Under
favorable conditions the cool
season grasses will be expected
to produce more than native
grass. If they do so and continue
to maintain a high yield they
will take more fertility from the
soil and therefore commercial
fertilizers may be needed to
maintain these high yields. If
this is not done weeds and weedy
grasses will quite often invade
the field and it will need to be
cropped a year or so and reseed
ed. This should not be considered
as a reason for seeding native
grasses in all cases for often the
higher yield of the cool season
grasses will be sufficient to off
set these added expenses.
Maintain Selves
However, native grasses es
tablished and given proper use
will continue to maintain them
selves year after year. Native
grass is what nature grew in this
area through countless centuries
and unless it is disturbed by over
use or cultivation is what will
maintain itself on the land in
definitely. Nearly any area if
completely abandoned would
eventually revert to native
grass, however the time required
to do this can be greatly reduced
by seeding.
One of the principles is that a
good seed bed must be pre
pared to have any assurance of
a good stand. Any method of
ground preparation that will
leave as much of the residue on
the surface as possible to pre
vent blowing is preferable. Fol
lowing this the seedbed should
be firmly packed. The importance
of these two operations cannot
be stressed too much and should
be done just prior to seeding.
Native grasses, sometimes
called warm season grass, should
be seeded in late spring. Being a
grass that grows during the
“warm” season they have much
in common with corn as to habit
of growth, and the best seeding
date compares with corn plant
ing time Ground preparation
just prior to seeding will re
duce the competition of annual
weeds and weedy grasses. If the
residue cannot be left on or near
the surface with the equipment
available seedlings should be made
in strips with alternate untilled,
unseeded strips to prevent ser
ious wind erosion A firm seed
bed is important because it will
help prevent the seed from be
ing placed in the ground too
deep. It will also prevent the
young seedling root from grow
ing though an air space in the
soil and becoming dried out and
dying.
Failures Traceable
During the 10 years the dis
trict has operated nearly every
grass seeding failure can be
traced to poor ground prepara
tion. In one instance a field was
seeded at least four times in the
past 10 years with no ground
preparation with the result that
every attempt was a failure.
The use of commercial fertili
zer at the time of seeding has
resulted, in general, in better
stands and more vigorous growth
especially where the fertility of
the field was low at the time of
seeding. Madison vetch has also
been used in combination wiin
grass seeding with encouraging
results. Not only does it add to
the fertility of the soil but it ap
pears to reduce the competition
of weeds At the same time its
habit of growth does not seem
to offer severe competition to
the grass seedlings. Vetch also
offers a cash crop in the form of
seed, or may be pastured mod
erately in the late fall. Normally
it takes native grasses two or
three years to become well e
nough established to be used for
hay or pasture.
Fred Carey seeded a small
acreage to native grass in 1946.
After the stand was well estab
lished he made the statement
that he wished his native
meadows would produce as well
as his new seeding. Joe Wagman,
rorthwest of Emmet, has made
several seedings of native grass
es. His first was in 1945, when
he seeded an area that contained
several active blowouts. Part of
his mixtures included gramma
grass in the mixture while others
had only the taller i growing
bluestems, Indian grass and
Switchgrass. Complete ground
cover was obtained earlier where
the gramma was included but
forage yield appears to be some
what more where it was omitted
from the mixture. Joe has taken
some good seed crops off these
fields in the past, and last year
used it for pasture. He is mighty
happy to have that blowout
permanently controlled.
Caster Shows Success
Arlen Caster is having good
success with a mixture of sand
lovegrass and alfalfa. Cal and
Jim Allyn of the Cleveland com- ■
munity, Bruce Johnson near Star,
Louis Siebert of Atkinson, H. J.
Harte of Inman, Ed Gallagher
on his ranch near Page, Walter
Sojka of Page have all had near
ly pure stands of sand lovegrass
that have made good yields of
seed
Skrdla Bros, have made con
Lsiaeiaoie seeaings and have even
made some seedings with their
airplane. These are only a few
of the successful seedings in the
county. Following are some oth
ers who have made native grass
seedings and will be glad to dis
cuss their methods with friends
and neighbors:
Glen Grimes of Chambers,
Clarence Ernst of O’Neill, Law
rence Chipps of Chambers, J F.
A'derson of Chambers Albert
Cason of Dorsey, E. W. Reed of
Spencer, R. E. Tunender of At
kinson, H. H. Miles of Dorsey,
M. G. French of Page, Wm. J.
Froelich of O’Neill. O. J. Drueke
of O’Neill, Mrs. Alice Matthews
of O’Neill, Harold Melcher of
Page.
Sergeant Keyes Goes
to Ft. Monmouth, N.J.
INMAN—M/Sgt. Cecil Keyes,
who has been stationed at Ft.
Knox, Ky., spent a few days
last week visiting in the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Han
sen and family here and with
relatives in Valentine. Sergeant
Keyes left Sunday for Ft. Mon
mouth, N.J., where he will go
to school for four months. He is
the son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd
Keyes of Valentine.
Ralph McElvain and his sis
ter, Mrs. Ted Platt of Chambers,
visited their sister, Mrs. Zada
Russ, Sunday at Our Lady of
Lourdes hospital in Norfolk.
Mr. and Mrs. J. L. McCarville,
sr., visited Mrs. McCarville’s fa
ther, Joseph Keller, in Hum
phrey Sunday. He has been ill
for several months.
Letter to Editor
Dear Editor:
We are very happy to again
contribute material to The Fron
tier for this, the fifth annual
Soil Conservation issue. We feel
very fortunate in having your
interest ana cooperation in mak
ing this editorial matter possible
in this form.
Our 1954 joint annual meeting
with the extension service fea
tures an appearance by Everett
Mitchell, the agriculturist of
NBC radio fame. The meeting
will also include a panel dis
cussion on local conservation
highlights and problems.
The material for publication is
somewhat along this line: It
will include the Holt district’s
activities, accomplishments and
services. Among other things the
report will draw attention to the
first year’s results of a surprising
ly successful research project on
grass and legume seeding on de
pleted soils.
We hope and believe that the
editorial may include informa
tion that should arouse the read
er’s concern for our natural re
sources, and should further ac
quaint him with the help he has
available in carrying out conser
vation practices, be it on a back
yard garden plot or a multi-sec
tion ranch.
We submit this material and
again thank you for your coop
eration.
Sincerely,
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Holt Soil Conservation
District
'Backwards' Party
Planned by Club—
The Eagle Creek 4-H club met
at the home of Brenda and Bonna
Margritz Sunday, February 21.
All except four of the members
were present.
The club books were distribut
ed by the leader, Mrs. Dan Rakes.
Candy hearts were exchanged
by the members.
The next meeting will be at
the home of Rita Vequist. It will
be a “backwards” party on
March 21. — By Betty Curran,
news reporter.
Attend Sale—
Saturday Mr. and Mrs. W. G.
Kraft attended a sale south of
Orchard.
Don Burzloff, extension agronomist and C. R. Hill inspect
results of grass seeding on Clarence Ernst place west of O'NeilL
IFOR SALE I
AND IMMEDIATE DELIVERY I
FROM OUR WAREHOUSE I
— ALL SIZES — I
BLACK & GALVANIZED PIPE I
Threaded & Coupled I
NEW 8”x8” H BEAMS, 24 FT. LONG I
(Usable for hay sleds) B
SEE US FIRST FOR YOUR NEEDS I
Also stocking all other types of new steel such as bars. fi
angles, channels and *T* beams 8
WHOLESALE and RETAIL PRICES I
NORFOLK HIDE & METAL CO. I
300 BRAASCH AVENUE Bj
NORFOLK. NEBRASKA. PHONE 806 B
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For Dependable CAS Service
ELKHORN VALLEY
Hereford and Polled
Hereford
AUCTION
to b# Kild tt
NORFOLK LIVESTOCK
SALES PAVILION
NORFOLK. NEBR.
Monday, Mar. 15
Sale to begin at 12 noon
Practical Breeding Cattle
from 35 Herds, including:
50 COMING X YEAR OLD
BULLS
25 POLLED HEREFORD
BULLS
25 SENIOR AND JUNIOR
BULL CALVES
10 YOUNG TRIED SIRES
25 HEREFORD AND POLLED
HEREFORD COWS AND
HEIFERS
An opportunity for Farmers,
Ranchmen and Breeders to se
lect high quality seed stock.
For catalog address:
Charles Corkle
Sale Manager
Norfolk, Nebraska
A Word to
Butterfat Producers
• Avail yourself of the many services that can be yours
by patronising the Ewing Co-Op Creamery.
• Now that the hot weather is coming up and through the
hot months cream must be delivered twice a week, let
the creamery worry about it for you—so you won't have any
rejected cream. Also, sell your cream to a creamery that has }
consumer demand for all its butter and does not rely on the
government for its market.
• We pay as high as any and more than many. Also at no
cost you can have your feed delivered to your door.
• So if you are interested, call or write the Ewing Co-Op
Creamery and give us a chance to prove to you we can
make you more money by marketing your cream here.
• We handle a complete line of Purina Chows for Poultry,
Hogs, and Cattle. Let us prove to you that Purina can do
it better and cheaper.
EWNG CO-OP CREAMERY
EWING, NEBRASKA
DANCE
— AT —
Chambers
Legion Hall
Friday, March 5th
Music by —
NIGHTINGALE'S
■=Jl
% V • ■ ^ ■-=3—3 —:-v——
Everett G. Mitchell
. . . in Person . . .
AT
ANNUAL MEETING
OF
Extension Service
AND
Holt Soil Conservation District
Tuesday, March 9
Amercian Legion Club
O’Neill, Nebr.
Program Starts 10 A.M.
Noon Lunch Available in Building
Note: M. B. Marcellus. local Allis-Chalmers dealer assisted in
securing Mr. Mitchell for this program
Gfetooat- Mai packs a a/aMopf
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Waiting and ready to thrill you ia a Hudson
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GONDERINGER MOTOR GO.
ATKINSON, NEBR.