8fi ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW- YORK 



to clover or peas, and when they have become troublesome I seed 

 down with clover and the worms uniformly disappear. There are 

 several other kinds of flies, grubs and worms that affect the crops, 

 but these are the most troublesome and destructive in this section. 



The grasses that I cultivate are clover and herds grass. I sow 

 sixteen pound of clover seed when used alone, and when mixed 

 I sow four pounds of clover with eight quarts of timothy seed 

 per acre. It may be sowed either in the fall or spring, according 

 to the crop, but should be sowed early in order to attain a strong 

 root before the summer droutlis come on. For dairy purposes 

 white clover is the best, and is natural to our soil and flourishes 

 without care or culture. 



For two years past I have mowed only six acres, producing an 

 average yield of about two and a half tons per acre. My time 

 for cutting clover is when the heads begin to change color. It is 

 wilted and put into small cocks, where it is allowed to stand and 

 make in the air. When it is thoroughly cured it is opened and 

 aired previous to being mowed in the barn. 



I do not salt my hay, as observation has convinced me that it 

 retains moisture which blackens and molds the hay, and makes it 

 lesss nutritious and acceptable to the animals. I keep salt whero 

 my cattle can have free access to it, and observe that in the spring 

 and summer when the grasses are juicy and the weather warm, 

 they resort to it frequently, while in cold weather it is rarely 

 touched. This dictate of instinct is in conformity to human 

 observation. In high latitudes salted provisions have been found 

 subversive of the laws of human health and life, while in tropical 

 regions, and during the hot seasons in temperate latitudes, salt is 

 a valuable addition to the food of men and animals. 



The w^eeds most troublesome are Canada thistles, kale, white 

 daisy, yellow dock, burdock, and a variety of other weeds, that 

 require the constant attention of the farmer. The most trouble- 

 some of all is the Canada thistle, which grows with wings that 

 are ready to raise the seeds in the air and waft them on every 

 breeze. The only mode of eradicating thistles and other weeds is 

 by thorough cultivation. No plant grows vigorously without a 

 root in the soil, and leaves and branches in the air, to carry on 

 the great process of decomposition and absorption of the elements 

 essential to nutrition and growth. If the roots of plants are 



