268 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



pounds of clover and Timothy. Another half acre was dressed with 

 100 pounds of guano, and the crop d9ubled. Two lots of an acre 

 each were dressed with 200 pounds of guano each, and one yielded 

 an increase of 120 per cent, over the preceding year ; and on the other 

 the crop was doubled. The guano was mixed with loam and sown in 

 wet weather. 



Three-fourths of an acre were dressed with two barrels of Gould's 

 muriate of lime — $1 per barrel. The land was turf-bound, produced 

 light crops of June grass the two preceding seasons. It produced a 

 ton and a half of hay, well mixed with clover and Timothy. The 

 muriate was sown broadcast from the barrels. 



Twelve acres of clover were dressed with plaster, 100 pounds per 

 acre, and produced a fine crop. 



Willard's bromus, or chess, [Iromus secalinus,') stood until July, 

 then cut and cured, instead of being used green as last year. If the 

 land is in good condition it will produce three crops a year, being 

 much more valuable than Avhen allowed to mature and cured as 

 hay. It is not then more than half the value of English hay. 



An acre and a half Avere sown With millet, a part cut and fed 

 green, part reserved for seed, and the rest cut and cured as hay. It 

 was a good crop. 



About an acre of meadow that received the wash from the reser- 

 voir was cut early in June. It consisted chiefly of reed canary grass, 

 {plialaris ariindinacea,) and though cut just as it was heading, it was 

 badly lodged. It yielded about two and half tons per acre ; and 

 early in August it was mowed again and produced another ton of 

 good hay. It produced a third crop in October, thus indicating that 

 it suffered nothing from early cutting. Some of this grass that was 

 left to mature grew to the height of about eight feet and was full of 

 ergot, demonstrating the necessity of early cutting for making hay. 



Note. — It will be perceived by these statements that the effect of 

 guano on grass is favorable. These experiments confirm the opinions 

 heretofore expressed, especially so of old fields that have been cropped 

 a long time without ploughing, and tend to establish the economy of 

 its use on grass land. This fertilizer, especially in moist seasons, pro- 

 duces a luxuriant growth, and thus by the decay of the after crop, 

 increases the quantity of humus in the soil. This is particularly 

 beneficial in attracting from the atmosphere and holding in store the 

 nutritive materials required for vegetation, and it is upon this princi- 

 ple that we account for the enduring influence of guano on grass 

 lands, on those which are rich in humus. 



