192 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



After it is sown to grass, the sod will appear as though the grass 

 roots had collected together for mutual protcctiou, and had left little 

 bare spots which never heal over ; and the result is that frost and 

 dr}- weather affect it very badl}'. The custom of planting a piece of 

 land two or more 3-ears in succession, is caused parti}' by the neces- 

 sity which deep plowing requires, and parti}' b}' the habit which has 

 prevailed from the time when this section of the State was settled 

 to the present day. This section of the State was heavily wooded, 

 and much of it rough and rock}', which made it slow and laborious 

 clearing the land ; therefore, Avhen the settlers got the stumps and 

 rocks from a piece, the}- planted it a number of 3'ears in succession, 

 and we have continued the practice without having the difficulties 

 which caused it. 



With the exception of farm implements, we have made but very 

 little progress generalh', which should convince us that advancement 

 will not attend our present practice. If farms are not so productive 

 as formerly, it should prompt us to discover the cause, and appl}' 

 the remedy. Fields, instead of decreasing, will increase in fertility 

 if the hay product with the usual grain feed be fed upon the farm, 

 and the manure carefully saved and judiciousl}' applied to the soil. 



It is poor econom}' to plant a piece of laud more than one year. 

 Even for special crops it is better to prepare land the first year, as 

 we cannot afford to spend a life time on a few acres to the exclusion 

 of the rest. 



How many farmers have cultivated their whole fields during their 

 forty years of active life? We are not advancing with the rest of 

 the world, but are being left behind — chained to these few acres by 

 the force of habit. We are influenced by custom to a greater extent 

 than we realize sometimes. 



Notice the varied customs, and the manner of doing all kinds of 

 work in different countries, and in different sections of the same 

 country, and see with what tenacit}' local customs are adhered to in 

 the face and eyes of improvement. 



It is a standing prediction, each year in early summer, that the 

 grass crop on old fields will be light, and the prediction is generallj* 

 correct. How much hay old fields average to the acre is hard to 

 estimate, as the division between old and new is difficult to make, 

 but there are man}' acres which yield no more than five hundred 

 pounds of a very poor quality of hay, and the only comforting 

 reflection is, there is no danger of having much hay out in a storm. 



