SECRETARY'S REPORT. 137 



3. In what month do you prefer to seed down land designed for 

 mowing, and what is the reason of your preference ? 



4. What varieties of grass seed do you usually sow for mowing, 

 and what for permanent pasturage, and in what quantities and pro- 

 portions, per acre ? 



5. Do you prefer to sow grass seed alone in either case, or with 

 some variety of grain ? If the latter, why, and with what grain ? 



6. Have you cultivated or raised orchard, fowl meadow, or blue 

 joint grasses, and with what result as compared with the yield and 

 value of other grasses ? 



7. At what stage of growth do you prefer to cut grass to make 

 into English and into swale hay, and what is the reason for your 

 preference ? 



8. What is the best mode of making hay from Timothy, from red- 

 top, and from wet meadow grass, and at what state of dryness do you 

 consider it made, or fit to get into the barn? 



[This question embraces, to some extent, tlje time taken to malie it under ordinary circum- 

 Btances of good weather, &c. This, of course, varies greatly, but some farmers would dry grass 

 cut iu the blossom two good hay days, while others would prefer to cure it less, and get it in on the 

 day it was cut.] 



9. Will you state in detail how you make or cure clover, and how, 

 when so cured, it compares in value with other kinds of hay to feed 

 out to farm stock ? 



10. Have you used hay caps, and if so, with what result, in point 

 of economy ? How were they made and at what cost ? 



11. Have jou used a mowing machine, and if so, what patent, 

 with what power, and with what advantage ? 



12. At what height from the ground do you prefer to have your 

 grass cut, and why? 



13. Have you used a horse-rake, and if so, what patent, and with 

 what advantage ? 



14. Do you feed off the after growth of your mowing lands in the 

 fall ? Do you think it an injury or a benefit to the field to feed it off? 



15. Do you top-dress your mowing or pasture lands, and if so, 

 what manure do you prefer to use, at what time, and in what quantities 

 do you apply it ? 



16. What is the best mode of renovating old worn out pasture 

 lands ? 



17. If you have any experience in ditching and draining wet 

 meadow, or ditching or diking salt marsh, will you state the result, 

 and the comparative value of the grass before and after the operation ? 



18. What are the most valuable varieties of salt marsh grasses, 

 and how does the hay made from them compare in value with good 

 English hay ? 



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