GRASS CROP. 115 



point which will assist you toward increasing the value of your 

 hay crop, either in quantity or quality, my end is gained. I am 

 perfectly well aware that not in one, two or three lectures can this 

 matter be discussed fully in all its bearings ; and my principal ob- 

 ject has been to impress upon you the importance of the subject, 

 and lead you to examination, investigation, discussion and experi- 

 ment, which are the only sure guides in the pathway to success. 



H. G. Abbott of Vassalborough. Some years ago I bought a 

 mowing field of forty acres, which had been " run out," as we 

 term it, and not having dressing enough to bring it into good con- 

 dition, I tried pasturing sheep on it. I turned about ten acres of 

 this field into a pasture, and put fifty sheep on the ten acres. I 

 expected that in the course of three or four years they would 

 subdue it and bring it into such a condition that I could plow it 

 and get the benefit of the sheep pasture. After the expiration of 

 one year I found that the grass began to make its appearance. I 

 will state that the field was nothing but white weed and yellow 

 weed ; the grasses had been killed out. At the expiration of one 

 year, as I say, I noticed this greenness coming in. I let the sheep 

 run another year, and the next spring, on examining the field, I 

 found there was a great change in its appearance, and I called the 

 attention of one of my neighbors to it. He said he had been ob- 

 serving the same thing. I was induced from the appearance of 

 the field to let the grass grow, and when the time came for mow- 

 ing, I found the heaviest grass there that we have ever grown 

 with any amount of dressing. Herds-grass and red-top came in 

 thickly, and the clover was so heavy that the mowing machine 

 would not work in certain portions. This last year I mowed it 

 with as good results as other fields that have been under manure. 

 What future crops will be, remains of course to be determined ; 

 but I wish to bring to the attention of the audience the importance 

 of putting sheep on land which we intend to cultivate. A great 

 loss is sustained by every farmer who does not pasture sheep 

 upon his improved land. In one sense, it has cost me nothing to 

 bring these ten acres into the condition in which they have pro- 

 duced this amount of hay. I may say it has been an entire saving, 

 because we usually let our sheep run on unimproved land, which 

 we can never cultivate. I have great confidence in that manner 

 of managing land. 



In the matter of curing hay, as all persons know, it is impossi- 



