STUDIES IN SOUTH INDIAN PASTURES 83
farmer in the locality to start hay-making, hoping for no rain till his
stacks are up. The Livestock Research Station has, however, been
attempting to mow early and when the usual curing process has not
been possible to follow, artificial means have been adopted with some
measure of success. The other means of getting in the hay before the
dead ripe stage is to manure with ammonium sulphate and rush up
growth earlier than usual, this is being tried with some measure of
success with other species of grasses and may be a practical proposi-
tion if it means hay of higher nutritive value.
Making of silage from immature grass has been tried and is now the usual
practice at the Livestock Station, the resulting silage is of high
nutritive value and has none of the defects of that made from dead
ripe grass.
(ii) The feeding of a mineral supplement to young stock and cows while on
grazing is also indicated by the shortage or deficiency of calcium and
phosphoric acid. A supplement has already been recommended and is
in use for some time now.
(iii) Livestock improvement in this Presidency should have two main lines of
effort, one being the breeding side where better stock are bred by
careful selection or grading up existing herds, the other side of the
question and one of equal importance being to feed well for better
stock. The best animal may deteriorate by insufficient nutrition, and
malnutrition can undo the best efforts of the breeder. The results
reported on above point to a shortage of mineral nutrients and one
possible method of livestock improvement is that of feeding minerals
to keep up the quality of the cattle and thus ensure a healthy progeny.
SUMMARY.
(i) The problem of an adequate supply of fodder derived from the herbage
of natural grasses is acute in South India. The causes that have led to this
lack of natural pastures are two, namely, economic and climatic. The investigation
reported on is an attempt to solve the problem along the lines of a study of the
mineral content with a view to conserve the available supplies of herbage to the
best advantage.
(ii) At the Livestock Research Station, Hosur, where the study was carried out,
the pasture was one of almost pure culture Spear grass (Andropogon contorlus) and
the results show that the minerals and nitrogen of the grass have variations depend-
ing on the season and period of growth. The variations are very similar to those
recorded in other countries. The main factor involved seems to be one of the
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