58 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



be well to sow upon that land, early in March, upon the snow, 

 clover seed. Now that clover, sown in March, will not blos- 

 som until after the fourth of July ; it will not start and grow 

 and get into blossom by the fourth of July. Why not apply 

 just the same rule to clover that you do to herdsgrass ? There 

 is a time when that plant is just in the condition that I have 

 described the herdsgrass to be in when it arrives at the point 

 to which Prof. Chadbourne has alluded. Why not take the 

 clover at the same time, and cut that just when it is in rich 

 blossom ? I think that is the proper time to cut it ; and I think, 

 from the statement of Mr. Goodman himself, when you con- 

 sider that the time when clover matures in different sections of 

 the country is different, that that is all he meant by what he 

 said. I think the rule I have laid down in regard to other 

 grasses will apply to clover, — that the time to cut it is when it is 

 in blossom, and not on any specified day. If we are going to 

 have any particular day, don't let us have Christmas or fourth 

 of July ; let us have Thanksgiving, for the governor can appoint 

 Thanksgiving whenever he pleases. 



Mr. Goodman. The doctor takes exception to the general 

 rule. The general rule is, that all clover is ready to be cut by 

 the fourth of July. Of course, clover that is sown in the 

 spring is an exception to that rule. I think it is a great deal 

 better to cut clover before it begins to turn brown at all. 

 What I am most particular about is, that we get our haying 

 started before this great national holiday, because the effects of 

 it very frequently last four or five days, and before our work- 

 men recover from them, it is too late in the season to cut our 

 hay to the best advantage. 



Mr. Allis, of Conway. I think the recommendation to seed 

 down land in the fall is a good one ; but I would like to inquire 

 whether dry weather would not have a peculiar effect upon it, 

 so that it would not prove in the end any better or so good as 

 if sowed in the spring. A year ago last August, my neighbors, 

 on the lands on which they raised tobacco, sowed wheat, and 

 seeded down in the month of August. I left three acres, on 

 which I raised tobacco that same year, until spring, when I 

 ploughed that land, harrowed it over once, then sowed my 

 oats, harrowed them in, sowed herdsgrass seed, — nothing but 

 herdsgrass, — and rolled it in. Last haying time, those neigh- 



