416 TSenats 



Mr. Dey made some inquiries about sainfoin, lucerne and florin, 

 &c,, to which Mr. Howard briefly replied. 



Dr. Lee thought timothy exhausted the soil much more than clov- 

 er. From scientific investigations, it had been well ascertained that 

 timothy exhausted the soil three tihaes as much as clover. He thought 

 grasses should be cut before, the seed is filled. It was correct, as 

 had been stated, that the nutriment of the stems was exhausted in 

 forming seed. He thought some of the plans which had been men- 

 tioned for making hay, required too much labor. Mr. Sotham, for 

 instance, could hardly make his hay at two dollars a ton. He thought 

 it the best way to mow grass after the dew was off — spread it, dry it 

 as much as possible, and rake it into winrow. If it was dried enough, 

 and it W'Ould frequently be so, he would load it from the winrow, 

 and save the labor of cocking it up. He had had some experience 

 in irrigation, and thought its advantages were considerable. As to 

 top-dressing for grass-lands, he w^as much in favor of ashes. Char- 

 coal dust, or charcoal pulverized, had proved very excellent for this 

 purpose. The coal might be crushed in a bark-mill. He would ap- 

 ply the ashes or coal in the spring. 



Subject for discussion — " The best means of advancing the Agri- 

 cultural Interests." 



Mr. Howard, one of the editors of the Cultivator, being called on 

 to open the discussion, observed, that as the subject before the meet- 

 ing was a very broad one, he should not attempt, in the remarks he 

 might make at this time, to cover the whole ground, but would only 

 speak of some of the most essential means of improvement w^hich 

 had been presented to his mind. 



Before we can properly direct our efforts at improvement, (said 

 Mr. H.,) we must consider the present condition of agriculture, and 

 the causes of its depression ; and in this view of the case it may 

 perhaps be said in the first place, that low prices of products, and an 

 inadequate return for labor, are the evils for which a remedy should 

 first be sought. He would not go into detail in remarks on this state of 

 things, but would simply state that, in his opinion, the most proper 

 and effectual remedy w^ould be found in keeping the control of our 

 own markets — in raising up among ourselves, as fast as can safely be 

 done, a class of consumers of agricultural products — and in lessening 

 the cost of those products^ by the introduction of better systems of 

 husbandry. 



Mr. H. said there were other causes of the depression of agricul- 

 tvre. He would speak of a particularly prominent one, which in his 

 opinion, constituted a very great obstacle to improvement, viz. the 

 prevalence of an inveterate habit of carelessness and negligence 

 among farmers. Pass through the country, and w^e too plainly see 



