SECRETARY'S REPORT. 197 



our prevailing natural grasses, varies exceedingly, some making 

 it of equal value, others estimating it at one-half and from that 

 to two-thirds and three-fourths. 



Corn Fodder. — The practice of raising Indian corn to 

 cut and feed out green by way of partial soiling, is very 

 common in New England, as already intimated, in speaking of 

 the natural history of the grasses. This culture has been 

 carried still farther by many farmers, and many acres are raised 

 in various parts of the State for the purpose of cutting and 

 curing for winter use. And now that great hopes are enter- 

 tained by many of the utility of the culture and use of the 

 Chinese sugar cane, Avhich, it is thought may be raised, cut and 

 cured in the same w^ay and for the same purpose, it is impor- 

 tant to allude to the most approved methods of curing, though 

 they may already be familiar to most practical farmers. 



The common practice with regard to this crop, and which has 

 been already partially stated, is to sow in drills from two and a 

 half to three feet apart, on land well tilled and thoroughly 

 manured, making the drills from six to ten inches wide, with 

 the plougli, manuring in the furrow, dropping the corn about 

 two inches apart and covering with the hoe. In this mode of 

 culture the cultivator may be used between the rows when the 

 corn is from six to twelve inches high, and unless the ground is 

 very weedy no other after culture is generally needed. The 

 first sowing usually takes place about the 20th of May, and this 

 is succeeded by other sowings at intervals of a week or ten 

 days, till July, in order to have a succession of green fodder. 

 But if it is designed to cut it up to cure for winter use, an 

 early sowing is generally preferred, in order to be able to cure 

 it in warm weather, in August or early in September. Sown 

 in this way, about three or four bushels of corn are required for 

 an acre, since if sown thickly, the fodder is better, the stalks 

 smaller, and the waste less. 



The chief difficulty in curing corn cultivated for this pur- 

 pose and after the methods spoken of, arises mainly from the 

 fact that it comes at a season when the weather is often colder, 

 the days shorter, and the dews heavier than when the curing of 

 hay takes place. Nor is the curing of corn cut up green, so easy 

 and simple as that of drying the stalks of Indian corn cut above 

 the ear, as in our common practice of topping, since then the 



