No. 105.] 413 



In sowing grass seed, he sometimes sowed clover, red- top and timo- 

 thy in the fall. Clover did not generally succeed so well sown in 

 the fall. He had therefore sown part in the fall and part in the 

 spring. He iisuallysowed clover and timothy together, and advised 

 half to be sown in the fall and half in the spring. His rule was a ■ 

 half a bushel of timothy and 12 pounds of clover. He had tried rye 

 grass and orchard grass, but did not succeed very w^ell. He thought 

 them not very good for hay, but some thought them good forpasture. 

 Mr. Howard presumed it would be proper to include clover in the 

 discussion, although it was not, strictly speaking, a grass. He was 

 aware that there were different opinions as to the proper stage for 

 cutting grass ; but he thought the observance of certain principles 

 might affordi^ guide in the case. For example, the stems of grasses 

 were filled just before the formation of the seed, with a starchy or 

 saccharine substance. In perfecting the seed, the stems were ex- 

 hausted of this substance, it being consumed in forming seed. Now 

 if the herbage is the object, the plant should be cut before the nutri- 

 ment has passed from the stems. If seed is the object, the plant 

 must of course be allowed to attain a good degree of maturity. It is 

 obvious, for certain reasons, that grasses are valuable chiefly for their 

 stems and leaves. In the first place the seeds are so minute that do- 

 mestic animals do not masticate them, and they are enveloped in so 

 hard a covering that they are not dissolved by the juices of the sto- 

 mach — the heat and moisture they pass through, only swelling them 

 a little, so that they are known to vegetate, generally better from 

 having passed through the animal. Sheep partially destroy the veg- 

 etative power of grass seeds, but cattle and horses scarcely injure 

 them at all. Hay made from ripe grass may " go farther," or "spend 

 better," as the argument is ; and it is admitted that this may be true, 

 for animals are less inclined to eat it ; but this is no proof that it is 

 more nutritive. 



In regard to making hay, Mr. H. said he was brought up in the 

 belief that it could only be done when the sun shone ; but the pres- 

 ent generation had in one respect, perhaps, grown wiser than their 

 fathers, for we have found that hay can be made when the sun does 

 not shine. He spoke of the different modes of curing hay, with 

 nearly all which, he said, he had been acquainted. Clover hay was 

 altogether better when cured in cock, than by any other mode he 

 knew practised All hay was better for undergoing to some extent, 

 a sweating in the cock. Coarse timothy was thus rendered much 

 softer, and was less strawy and stiff, and every description of hay 

 was less likely to be " mow burned." 



As to seeding grass lands, Mr. H. preferred the latter part of the 

 season. If grass was sown in the spring, it was very likely to be 

 killed by the summer drouth. If sown the latter part of August or 

 the first of September, it generally got root enough to stand the win- 

 ter, and it would generally produce a good crop the next year, though 

 it woukl be later than other grass. When it became necessary to 

 plough grass lands, and it was not desired to devote the land to other 

 crops, it might be plowed after haying, and grass seed sown nt once 



