52 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Now, I think that is a law which every farmer can follow 

 with a great deal of benefit to himself. He need not go into 

 any chemical analysis ; that he cannot do ; it is impossible ; but 

 he can tell when it is just going out of blossom, and if he cuts 

 it then, he will hit the exact point of time when he will get the 

 most nutriment for his animals out of any given piece of grass, 

 standing upon any given piece of land. That is the rule for 

 all grasses. You cut, for instance, a large crop of rowen, which 

 is entirely immature. You dry it, put it into your mow, and the 

 process of drying and packing creates in it just what nature 

 would have created if it had been allowed to grow long enough , 

 and the season had been long enough. But every farmer knows 

 that it is the most unprofitable thing he can put into his animal. 

 An animal fed on rowen will make an abundance of everything 

 else but milk or meat. It does seem to me that a good short- 

 horn cow could eat about half a ton in two days. You know 

 perfectly well that she can keep at it all the time. There is no 

 let up to it. The reason is, that the actual amount of nutrition 

 in that grass is small, and the non-nutritious substances are so 

 arranged that they pass right through her, and keep her mill 

 going all the time. That is of no earthly advantage to the 

 farmer, and it seems to me that is a thing we must avoid, 

 and avoid entirely. 



With regard to curing grass, I will not undertake to con- 

 trovert what Mr. Johnson has said, because I don't know any- 

 thing about it. I am afraid to cut my grass in the morning, 

 after the dew is gone, and put it in in the afternoon. I had 

 one curious experience, which I will relate. Black grass re- 

 quires a great deal of drying. One year, I had over forty acres, 

 and I cut it as fast as I could. It was when I was young and 

 enthusiastic, and pitched in myself, and did a good deal of 

 work in a day, — for me. Well, the grass was down, the 

 weather was fine, and I thought it was dry, but the knowing 

 ones said it wasn't. However, I said, " This hay looks well, it 

 is in as good order as it can be, and I am going to fill my barn 

 with this black grass," — and I did. In about four days, I put 

 my hand into that mow, and I had to take it out again pretty 

 quick. I took it for granted that that black grass and the barn 

 too would go if I did not work smart ; so I had all that hay 

 pitched on the floor, turned over, and put back again. I am 



