A Pi.KA FOii (tkass Ci:i,Tuni:. 297 



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ascortaiiiing tlie exact cost of our farm products there aro 

 questions involved lool<ing before aiul after, and tlic math- 

 cmatician, or pliilosoplicr, oi* clieniist, or scientist lias not 

 yet madij his appearancj who is able to calcuhi,te a rule that 

 will measure the exact cost of any production of the farm. 

 It is clearly evident, however, that, at present prices, tho 

 greatest possible amount of grass that can be grown upon 

 an acre will exceed in value the greatest possible amoimt 

 of corn that can be grown on an equal area of land. 



But I a:n told that the farmer, if he does not cultivate 

 grain for the market, should at least raise all the grain his 

 own use requires ; and I am asked, " Is not the practice 

 wliich is coming more and more upon the farmer, in incur- 

 ring large expenditure for Western meal, ruinous ? " Quite 

 the contrary — the feeding of AVestern meal is the redemp- 

 tion of Eastern soil. Take a practical illustration directly 

 to the point. The owners of tlie farms lying in the valley 

 commencing at this place and stretching northward some 

 two and a half miles for several years have fed large quan- 

 tities of Western meal. Meal and bran liave been pur- 

 <jliased by the ton and by the car load and have been fed 

 freely and liberally, without regard to cost. The appraisal 

 of the farms in this valley l)y the assessors in 1874 shows 

 an increase of nearly one-third over the appraisal made in 

 1870. To one who is accustomed to turn his philosophy 

 to practical account it is clearly e^'ident that Western meal 

 is largely chargeable with this unprecedented increase of 

 appraisal of real estate. 



It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the means 

 to be employed in grass culture. I wish, however, to call 



