196 BOAED OF AGRICULTUEE. 



from which he derives the greatest income, greater than any- 

 other in the State of Massachusetts. We have one with us 

 who is not only a theoretical but a practical man, and has 

 been so all his life ; one " who will speak what he knows, and 

 testify to what he has seen." I introduce to you Professor 

 Stockbridge, of the Agricultural College, who will now address 

 you. 



LECTURE BY PROFESSOR STOCKBRIDGE. 



Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Board of Agriculture, 

 Ladies and Gentlemen : — The subject of mowing and pasture 

 lands, of the grass and hay crop, is one which has often received 

 the consideration of the Board of Agriculture ; it is one which 

 has been discussed time and time again upon our farms, in 

 our farmers' clubs, and by the agricultural public everywhere. 

 And with you, gentlemen of the Board of Agriculture, it has 

 ^not been merely a question of casual, random discussion, but 

 it has received from you the most careful consideration, and 

 has been with you a subject of practical experiment ; and 

 althouo^h it was said this forenoon that we knew nothino- com- 

 paratively, yet all that we know upon this subject we have 

 given freely to the world. We have published our proceed- 

 ings, and they have been scattered abroad throughout our 

 own Commonwealth, have gone to all the States of the Union, 

 and to foreign lands ; so that what we have said upon this 

 subject is public property. In the first place, Mr. Flint, our 

 Secretary, made a most exhaustive and thorough examination 

 and study of this subject, and he published to the world a 

 book under the title of " Grasses and Forage Plants," in which 

 the whole subject is ably and fully treated. He was followed 

 by Mr. Hyde, of Lee, who gave us a treatise on this subject, 

 full of practical experience and good common-sense. He was 

 followed by Mr. Johnson, of Framingham, who gave us the 

 results of his experiments M'ith pasture and mowing lauds. 

 Then we have had, from time to time, the opinions, theory 

 and practice of such men as Loring, Lathrop, Anderson, Tidd, 

 Stedman, and many others. Now, I say, all this experience, all 

 this information, which has been gathered by the members of the 

 Board of Agriculture, which has been thoroughly thought and 

 studied out, we have been publishing to the world, and that has 

 been going on through a long series of years, so that to-day it 



