The Question Bos. 433 



How can hill lands be made remunerative to the farmer? 



Mr. Cook. — What is the matter with allowing them to grow up 

 with timber? Sheep and cows might be pastured on them. 



A Farmer. — Some of them would not keep a woodchuck alive. 



Mr. Cook. — Then allow the timber to grow if the land is as 

 barren as that. But there are a great many acres of land in this 

 State that are reported as barren, which analysis show to be full 

 of fertility. The only trouble is^ the fertility in them is not avail- 

 able. Cultivation and humus, when the land can be cultivated, 

 will make this plant food available. When the lands cannot be 

 plowed, the keeping of live-stock, with perhaps the addition of 

 some potash, to give the grasses a start, will render the land pro- 

 ductive. 



Will clover and timothy " do well " if the seed bed is well prepared and 

 the seed sown after harvesting wheat? 



Mr. Cook. — Such a practice is being followed in some localities, 

 and I have heard it recommended, but, to succeed, the ground 

 must be well fitted and the seed sown as early as the first of 

 August. If so done, it will have all the benefit of the land, as 

 well as of the late summer and fall rains to give it a good start, 

 and will establish it to withstand the winter and the spring varia- 

 tion of temperature. 



Which will pay best, to cut hemlocli into lumber or shingles? 



Mr. Moulton. — Cut it into lumber. Hemlock makes a poor 

 shingle; besides, they do not bring a big enough price as com- 

 pared with hemlock lumber. It is much more economical to buy 

 cedar shingles at the prices they are sold for now. 



Will it pay the average farmer to talje and read the experiment station 

 bulletins? 



Mr. Cook. — There are 350,000 farmers in the State of New York, 

 but there are less than 40,000 of them who take the bulletins from 

 Cornell and Geneva. One would think that the Grangers would 

 take and read these bulletins, but it seems that they do not. There 



