Inckeasing TiiK Grass Ckop. 303 



"When the feed <j;ro\vs short in the pasture cut and feed 

 rowen to supply the deficiency, so as not to injure the pas- 

 ture by feeding too close. I usually feed my cows nine 

 months in the year with hay or rowen, and a little meal 

 every day that they give milli. Never fail to top-dress after 

 taking oiF rowen, and do not cut the second crop beyond 

 where you have sufiicient manure to cover, except in a small 

 part of the field that is very rich. Taking two crops a year 

 from a field without any return, I consider dishonest, and 

 should expect soon to meet with failure. However sharp 

 we may be in our dealings with each other, it is absolutely 

 certain that we cannot cheat nature. 



I have assumed in these premises that to increase the grass 

 crop more manure must be saved and applied ; that there 

 are abundant resources on every farm where a dairy is kept, 

 if rightly economized, to suj^ply fertilizers that will, when 

 properly applied, increase the grass crop to an indefinite 

 extent. 



There is sometimes a great failure in the manner of apply- 

 ing top-dressing. Some do not think of that dignified term 

 cultivate, as being applicable to grass roots and blades, but 

 say, let it grow. And yet it is as necessary to cultivate grass 

 in the true sense of that term, as it is to cultivate any other 

 crop. We are very careful to place well pulverized fertil- 

 izing matter over the roots and around the blades of our 

 eo-called cultivated crops. We do not allow large lumps of 

 any kind to lie upon their struggling blades, but we pulver- 

 ize and grind it into food which the plant can assimilate. 

 We should do the same by grass. Spread top-dressing from 

 the cart as evenly as possible ; draw a heavy bush over it, 



