FARM EXPERIENCE. 247 



Mr. Day. — A great many people complain about their cattle 

 lying upon certain portions of the field, particularly around 

 the barn, and leaving their droppings, making those portions 

 of the field very rich, while other parts are comparatively bar- 

 ren. We have an old gentleman here who has had a long ex- 

 perience in farming, and who is one of the most successful 

 farmers in the state of Connecticut. He is rich hi experience, 

 and although he is old, he has a great deal of vigor left. He 

 can tell you how to make cattle lie in any part of a lot, and 

 can give you an experience that is richer, perhaps, than that 

 of any farmer in the state of Connecticut. I mean Colonel 

 Mead, of Greenwich. 



Colonel Mead. — Mr. Chairman, I have often been told that 

 I am a great deal better in action than I am in talking. I am 

 well aware that my thoughts are apt to flow a little too con- 

 fusedly to be well understood. 



I commenced, at the age of seventeen years, to manage a 

 farm. The first consideration with me was to make manure, 

 and I started with the idea of never letting an animal lie down 

 in the stable or in the field without a good bed. I cut my 

 swamp lands over, and stacked up the bulrushes, brakes, and 

 every such thing, for bedding. I commenced draining at the 

 same time. The first piece that I drained cost me about $125, 

 and my first crop paid me some -1180. I have found, in drain- 

 ing, that the first crop paid for the work. I have land to-day 

 that was drained twenty-five years ago, that yields as much 

 grass as it did when it was first drained, without any manure 

 being put upon it. Now, all I have to say is, give your cattle 

 bedding. Save all the juices; they are worth full as much as 

 the solids. 



You must not be afraid to carry a load of manure, in winter 

 time, half a mile. Your team can do it just as well as not; 

 it does them no injury. In the spring of the year it is an in- 

 jury, and costs, perhaps, too much ; but it can be done in win- 

 ter time, and if you dump it, a cart-full in a place, it will re- 

 ceive no damage. 



My uniform practice is to spread the manure as soon as the 

 frost is out of the ground, and let the rains wash the soluble 



