£9G State Boakd of Agriculturk, &c. 



From careful observation in my owm experience I am 

 satisfied that a ton of liaj, secured on the first day of July, 

 fed to dairy cows in milk, lias a value of several dollar* 

 over an equal amount secured two weeks later, or on tlio 

 fifteenth of July. With the exception of wheat, of which 

 comparatively little is raised, a very small amount of all other 

 grain is used for food in the family ; with the exception of 

 what is consumed by pigs and poultry, it is fed in connec- 

 tion with hay. After careful consideration, knowing the 

 unsurpassed excellence of early cut hay, I make this state- 

 ment without hesitation : If the entire hay crop of tho 

 State could be secured at the best possible time, its value, 

 when fed, would exceed the worth of the hay now obtained 

 together with all the irrain raised in the State which is fed 

 in connection with the hay. 



Again, objection is made to giving up some portion of 

 grain raising for grass culture on the ground that grain 

 raiding is largely profitable. It is claimed that the corn 

 crop is the best crop raised. Statements are frequently 

 made, and occasionally find their way into the public prints, 

 that corn hereabouts is produced at a total cost of tliii'ty, 

 forty and fifty cents a bushel. Such statements may 1)0 

 matched by the assertion, equally reliable and worthy of 

 confidence, that the best of English hay may be grown and 

 secured in the barn at a cost not exc^eeding five dollars a 

 ton. These figures, if they prove anything, prove too much, 

 and arc admirably calculated to mislead, for, when tho 

 leading field crops can be produced at a cost of less than 

 half their market value, the question, " Does farming 

 pay ? " will be satisfactorily jmtwercd for :dl time. In 



