126 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



his experience on what he called good grassland ; but he 

 has not told us what kind of land it is. I have noticed that 

 grassland sometimes varies very much in subsoil, and I 

 would like to know what his subsoil is. 



Capt. Moore. I thought I explained very clearly what I 

 thought good grassland was. I simply said that I regard 

 any land on which the grass-roots will not dry up in a light 

 drought — and of reasonably good soil that has been drained 

 if it has been at all wet, and is not so wet as to produce 

 sour grasses and rushes — as good grassland. I took a piece 

 of land last year that was never ploughed : some of it was a 

 black soil, underlaid with whitish sand in some spots ; some 

 of it ran down into peat ; and some of it was covered with 

 great tussocks, so that the only way it could be mown was 

 by hand. It had to be raked by hand ; and it was so soft, 

 that a horse could not walk on it, Avhen I attempted to 

 plough it. I ploughed that piece of land with a swivel- 

 plough, with one of the shares on for meadow-work. I cut 

 off the tussocks in the first place. I have an invention that 

 cuts tussocks better than a hoe : I simply take an old broad 

 axe, put in a long handle, and strike about level with it.. 

 You would be surprised to see how quick a bunch of 

 tussocks will come off. Then I filled up some old ditches,, 

 and ploughed it. I put on the ordinary quantity of manure,, 

 as I have told you I do. Last year I sowed the grass-seed 

 just before winter. The first crop was heavy enough to 

 lodge all over the piece ; and the second crop was the heavi- 

 est rowen that I grew this year, and perhaps the heaviest 

 rowen that grew in Concord. The rowen was cut about the 

 first of September, had one good day to dry, and was cocked 

 up. Then we had a rain that night, and a drizzle for a week ; 

 and it blackened it very badly. I do not like that sort of hay 

 to feed to my stock ; and, as we were short of room, I said to 

 my son, '•' Go out to some of those milkmen, they want to 

 buy rowen, and see if you cannot sell this hay." He got 

 two or three up there, and they tried the rowen to their satis- 

 faction ; and we sold it to them for eighteen dollars a ton out 

 on that field. On less than two and a half acres we got 

 5,840 pounds (I know that, because I got the pay for it by 

 weight): that was good deal heavier than most of the rowen,. 

 that I had. 



