PRODUCTION OF CATTLE-FOODS. 43 



turned to its production here. Now, what are the facilities 

 for doing it ? The cow must have good food and a plenty 

 of it: can she have it from the products of our own soil? 

 The principal food for the cow, and the food to be relied 

 upon more than all other, is grass and hay. Can this be 

 produced here so that we can compete with the West in this 

 product ? I answer, Yes. Our soil is even better adapted to 

 the growth of grass than the lighter and more porous soils of 

 the Western prairies ; so that we have the grass for the 

 summer, and the hay for the winter food. And in no section 

 -is there made a finer quality of butter and cheese than in our 

 own. If we add to these the product of milk for the market, 

 we find it a good source of revenue for the dairy community. 



And this leads me to consider this important New-England 

 crop a little further. Pasture-lands, for the production of 

 summer food, are not improved so much by cultivation, or the 

 application of top-dressing, as the mowing-lands ; still they 

 may be very much improved in their productiveness by 

 keeping down the brush, and the application of plaster or 

 ashes, which will greatl}^ improve the quality as well as the 

 quantity. But there is sometimes a deficiency in the supply 

 of grass for the summer food, which must be supplied with 

 sometliing else, such as fodder-corn, Hungarian grass, cab- 

 bages, or grain. 



When we leave the pastures, we turn our attention to the 

 winter food or its production, and the mode of using. The 

 chief dependence is hay. Statistics show that the average 

 yield of hay in Massachusetts is about a ton per acre ; while 

 in some cases it is reported that seven or eight tons have 

 been produced upon an acre in one year. There were cases 

 where laud was in the highest possible state of cultivation 

 by giving it a bountiful supply of top-dressing. The common 

 practice is to crop too much and return too little. All sub- 

 tracting and no adding is as sure to diminish the productive- 

 ness of the soil as in the diminution of dollars and cents. 

 The sacred page tells us, " Give, and it shall be given you." 

 Give to the soil, and the soil will give to you. This is the 

 great law of compensation. The soil cannot be cheated \Ji 

 its supply of plant-food, and make good returns, any more 

 than animals can be cheated of their supply of food, and still 

 thrive well. But how shall this plant-food be supplied in 



