Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


0-10-10 fertilizer produced 3,845 pounds of dry herbage per
acre, while established clover-carpet pastures produced 7,797
pounds. The pasture legumes also improve the quality of pas-
ture herbage, as indicated by the protein content of pure grass
and grass-legume herbage in Table 7. Fertilized carpet grass
herbage averaged 10.6 percent protein as compared with 14
percent for lespedeza-carpet grass herbage and 21.1 percent for
clover-carpet grass herbage.
 Annual fertilization is necessary for maintaining high pro-
ducing legume-grass pastures. The effects of such fertilization
on established clover pastures on 3 soil types are given in
Table 8. At Gainesville on established clover pastures which

TABLE 7.-YIELD AND PROTEIN CONTENT OF CARPET GRASS WHEN FER-
TILIZED AND UNFERTILIZED AS COMPARED WITH CARPET GRASS AND LEGUMES.
 Dry Crude
 Pastures Fertilizer Herbage Protein
 per Acre %

Carpet grass ........................ None 1,621 lbs. 9.4
Carpet grass ....................... 500 lbs. 6-6-6 3,280 lbs. 10.6
 annually

Carpet-lespedeza ................. 300 lbs. 0-10-10 3,845 lbs. 14.0
 spring annually

 Carpet-clover ........................ 400 lbs. 0-10-10 7,797 lbs. 21.1
 fall annually _
 1Dry herbage as totals for the 1943 season; protein analyses from vegetation taken
 in June and July 1944.

 TABLE 8.-EARLY YIELD OF CLOVER AS AFFECTED BY ANNUAL
 FERTILIZATION.

 Yield of Forage in
 Location and November Early Season Percent
 Soill Fertilizer Fertilized Increase
 Treatment Not in
 Fertilized November


Gainesville ........
(Portsmouth
fine sand)
Callahan ............
(Leon fine
sand)
Webster
(Bushnell loamy
fine sand)


400 lbs. 0-10-10


300 Ibs. 0-14-10


300 lbs. 0-14-10


762 lbs.


976 lbs.


2.5 1


1 Yield indices-average height with perfect stand.


2,021 lbs.


1,917 lbs.


6.8 1