Effect on permanent pastures of treatments with limestone and acid phosphate as measured by the quantity and quality of the vegetation produced

The data of this investigation of the effects of treatments of acid phosphate and limestone on pasture land were secured by ascertaining the yield and chemical analysis of the total vegetation on small areas (3/4000 acre each) of both treated and untreated parts of the same pasture field. Four fields, each located in a different county, were included in the investigation. Three of the four received some tillage and seed in addition to acid phosphate and limestone. One field received no tillage or seed. This field, owing to injury to the sod by moles during the winter previous to the summer when the records were taken, did not show as much improvement as the other three, but this cannot be taken as being due to the absence of tillage and seed. Two cuttings were made on each field during the season. The material harvested was dried and weighed and the percentages of legumes in each cutting was determined. It was then mixed together again and prepared for analysis. Another phase of the investigation was the determination of the effect of treatments of acid phosphate and limestone on the analyses of an individual species of legume. White clover was the legume selected for this purpose. The total vegetation produced per acre on the treated portions of these pasture fields, was from three to five times as much as was produced on the untreated portions of these fields except in one case where the sod had been injured by moles during the previous winter. The amount of crude protein produced per acre was from five to seven times as much on the treated as on the untreated portions of these fields. The vegetation on the demonstration fields (Guernsey County) which had a large amount of Japan clover in the turf, showed a greater percentage gain in both calcium and phosphorus content, as a result of the treatment, than did the vegetation on the demonstration field (Perry County) of the same number of years standing, but containing no Japan clover in the turf. The vegetation on the demonstration field (Hocking County) which had a large amount of sweet clover in it, was found to contain, as a result of the treatment, much larger percentages of both calcium and phosphorus than did that on the untreated area. Where the principal legumes were red clover and white clover, the treatment did not materially influence the percentage content of phosphorus in the herbage, but did greatly augment the amount of vegetation produced.