Alfalfa in New York. 403 



cultivation and commerce. Nor will they ever he eradicated in 

 an improved country till some agricultural millenium shall ad- 

 vance cultivation to the highest possible point of perfection. All 

 these considerations form decided arguments in favor of the 

 cultivation of lucern (whose greatest enemy is said to be weeds) 

 in this country, rather than in England. Upon the whole, then, I 

 would recommend, as the result of my experiments, as far as they 

 have yet gone : 



1. Never to sow on ground that is not perfectly pulverized. 



2. Not to sow until the earth has acquired a degree of warmth 

 friendly to rapid vegetation; that is, not earlier than the month 

 of May. 



3. To sow with no crop that will probably lodge. 



4. If sown with buckwheat, to apply no gypsum or other 

 manure till the buckwheat is off. 



" 5. Where the quantity to be sown is small and the farmer can 

 afford to lose a crop, to give the ground one turn in autumn, an- 

 other in April, harrowing it fine, and a third the beginning of 

 May, and then if the weather is mild and warm, sow, if the ground 

 is in perfect tilth, otherwise give it another plowing; 18 or 20 

 pounds of seed are not too much — were it not for the expense I 

 would prefer 25 pounds if an early crop is the object. 



" I fear that I have, in the opinion of many, dwelt too long on 

 this subject. If I have, my apology will be found in my anxiety 

 to impress upon my countrymen the importance of cultivating 

 this plant, which I am satisfied is better adapted to our climate 

 than clover, which exacts more labor; which leaves (I speak 

 upon the authority of Young's travels) the soil much better than 

 it found it; which will even bear pasturing; having myself re- 

 marked two plants in a common pasture which had defied the 

 bite of cattle for upwards of 20 years, one of which is still alive. 



"These considerations have induced a conviction in my mind 

 that the man who introduces a plant which promises to be so im- 

 portant to agriculture will have a better claim to the gratitude of 

 his country than any other, that one only excepted, whose civil 

 and military virtues have afforded us the means of pursuing, in 

 peace, our rustic labors. I confess that I am not ambitions of 

 that honor. To the rich I have facilitated the means of procur- 

 ing the seed, which has hitherto been very rare here; small parcels 

 I have distributed to common farmers, whose exertions I have 

 stimulated by showing the flourishing state of my little field; nor 

 can I conclude without addressing myself (in the words of the 



