100 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Hall of Brcwor, another member of the club, says his fields 

 that cost him S3G.00 per acre when new, will produce an average 

 of one ton of ha}' per acre for fifteen 3'ears, without any dressing 

 except the application of three bushels of plaster once in five years, 

 but says they will require dressing hereafter to keep them up to that 

 point of fertility that will produce on an average one ton of ha}' per 

 acre. He usuall}- sells some hay at the barn for $12.00 per ton, 

 and considers he gets SG.OO from the bu3-er, and I'obs his farm of 

 $G.OO for every ton of hay he sells. We think if we should take the 

 ha}' crop of the State for the last ten years the price will not aver- 

 age over S8.00 per ton at the barn. This being the fact it gives us 

 the actual market value of the crop, or what it should be reckoned 

 at if fed to stock on the farm. 



According to diflTerent analyses it is ascertained that a ton of ha}' 

 contains thirt3"-one pounds of nitrogen, 8.2 pounds of phosphoric 

 acid, and 20.4 pounds of potash. In feeding our hay to stock, if 

 we could save all the dressing made from a ton of hay it -would give 

 an amount of plant food to put back on the farm that is worth in 

 the market S0.8G. Now we can really know to what extent we are 

 reducing the fertility of our farms b}' the amount of hay sold, for 

 every farmer that sells twent^'-five tons of hay has taken from his 

 farm Sl4G.oO worth of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, and if 

 there is not a large proportion of these put back on the laud again, 

 we shall soon have run out farms on our hands. 



It is a serious fact, but one that must be admitted and met by 

 many farmers, that on most of the farms where the selling of ha}" is 

 practised, they are becoming more or less run out, though the 

 owners apply liberal quantities of stable manures, ashes and com- 

 mercial fertilizers. Now the question that must bo met and 

 answered I\y the farmers of the State who are in the pi'actice of 

 selling hay, is how they can continue this practice in as reckless a 

 manner as they for a few years past, and keep up the fertility of 

 their farms. 



We find manv farmers that are becoming convinced that to make 

 farming a profitable business they must adopt some other system of 

 farming than selling hay ; and many have come to the conclusion 

 that the most profitable way of selling hay is to feed it to good stock. 



In the vicinity of our cities and large villages, there arc many 

 farms, where large numbers of cows are kept, and the daily product 

 of milk is sold to regular customers ; and judging from the improve- 



