SECRETARY'S REPORT. gg 



iarly adapted to our climate and to the wants of every description of 

 farm stock, it has no superior for hay. It is a grass of easy culti- 

 vation, and particularly well adapted for growth upon moist, peaty 

 and loamy soils, upon which when in good condition, from three to 

 four tons per acre are sometimes cut ; upon lighter and drier soils, 

 tolerable crops are obtained with care, but it is never so much at 

 home upon them, or so profitable as upon those first named. It seeds 

 freely and abundantly, as much as thirty bushels of seed, it is said, 

 having sometimes been obtained from an acre. 



It has been a general practice with farmers to sow this grass with 

 clover ; but in many sections, this mode is falling into disuse, owing 

 to the dificrent periods at which they are severally fit for the scythe. 

 If both be grown together, the crop cannot be cut so as to secure 

 the best properties of each. The discussions which have prevailed 

 so widely with regard to the proper time to cut grass, as also those 

 regarding the proper height at which to cut, have had reference, in 

 a great measure, to this grass. If cut when coming into bloom, it 

 doubtless makes more palatable .hay, but gives less weight per acre. 

 and increases the liability of the plant to be killed out by drouth, 

 and of subsequent crops, when not so killed, being weakened, owing 

 to the peculiar formation and requirements of the plant. It is a 

 grass of peculiar structure, in that it has a bulb or tuber above 

 the roots, in which seems to be centered much of the vitality of the 

 plant, and which it is important should at all times be kept in 

 healthy condition. 



The following, from the pen of Prof. J. P. Kirtland of Ohio, is 

 commended to the careful study of all who cultivate this grass. 

 "The proper time for cutting Timothy meadows, (Herdsgrass of N. 

 England,) with reference to securing the best quality of hay, has 

 been a fruitful subject of observation and remark. Little or no at- 

 tention has been paid to the influence of the time and manner of 

 cutting, over the health, permanency and productiveness of such 

 meadows. A vague idea prevails among farmers, that if the mow- 

 ing be performed before the seed of this species of grass be ripe, it 

 will run out, from a fiiilure to re-seed the ground. Every observ- 

 ing farmer has noticed that in some instances, extensive tracts of 

 Timothy sward have suddenly died soon after the removal of the 

 crop of hay, while in others, the sward continued healthy, and for a 



