436 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Thursday Morning, Jnno 4, 1{)()3. 



J)EFUTV SECKETARY MARTIN called the meeting to ordei',and 

 announced that the Chairman for the morning would be Dr. M. E. 

 Conard, of Westgrove, Pa. 



The CHAIRMAN: We will take up the questions to be answered. 



MR. BLYHOLDER: The first question is addressed to Professor 

 Cooke who is not present, I believe. Some one else will please 

 answer it. It is: 



"What causes the dark green, rank spots of grass from one to two 

 feet in diameter in our grass fields?" 



MR. SEXTON: It would be from the surroundings, I should judge. 

 It might be from the dropping of some old cow. 



MR. CAMPBELL: I think it is fungus. You will find in these 

 dark spots that mushrooms will grow there, and there is a fungus. 

 The spawn of them is under it and has some connection with the 

 feeding of the grass plant and 3'ou will always find that much fungus 

 will grow there, 



A Member: You will not find any mushrooms growing excepting 

 it is very rich soil. 



MR. CAMPBELL: I have raised mushrooms all my life. I have 

 raised them for sixty years, and in fact, if you had been in Scotland, 

 there we would go out sometimes and take ten bushels, and would 

 invariably get them on the dark green spots. I don't think the cat- 

 tle took the time to go here and there wherever the mushrooms 

 were. 



A Member: I suppose, Mr. Chairman, that that has reference to 

 the small green sx)ots you will see this time of the year in the 

 meadow. I do not think they are hard to account for. If you 

 mowed a field last year and let is grow up and did not pasture on 

 it you will not see any of those dark green spots this spring, but 

 if you had pastured it wherever there was a dropping you will see 

 a large green spot. It comes from the droppings of the cattle put 

 on the field while pasturing. 



MR. BLYHOLDER: The next question is: 



"Would it be policy and profitable in building a silo to put uncut 

 corn in where a cutter could not be produced to cut it at the proper 

 time in the case of a person keeping from three to five cows stabled 

 the year round for milk in town, having a small farm outside?" 



MR. LIGHTl^: I am a silo advocate. If anybody wants to feed 

 milk cows, and I will include beef cattle, I do not believe he can 

 begin to feed them profitably- unless he makes use of the silo. The 



