152 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



down our lands in good condition, they will produce a good 

 hay crop for four years ; then, when they are run out, turn 

 them over in the month of September and sow nothing but 

 grass, and you have a right to expect a good crop of grass 

 for four years. That has been my experience, and the ex- 

 perience of a good many successful farmers in my neighbor- 

 hood. 



I Avant to say this in regard to the valuation of our farms. 

 What drives the young men from their homes is this heavy 

 taxation, but if farmers have not the courage to stand up 

 for their rights, it is their own fault. The farmers of Massa- 

 chusetts ous^ht to make the welkin ring with their demands 

 for reduced taxation upon their farms. In a pecuniary point 

 of view, so far as I am concerned, it would be no benefit to 

 me or mine ; but when we say that farming does not pay, we 

 ought to remember that there are reasons why it does not 

 pay. 



Mr. Edson. In turning over exhausted sod in that vvay, 

 and sowing it down to grass, do you get clear of the wild 



orasses and weeds. 



o 



Mr. King. Yes, sir ; I have never had any trouble about 

 it. 



Mr. Edson. I have used commercial fertilizers with my 

 barnyard manure. I get a quantity of some fertilizer and 

 tell my man to sow it upon my grass land and not let me 

 know where ; if I cannot find out by the grass, I don't want 

 any more ; but if I can find out, I purchase more. I have 

 tried it every year, and I do not know of but two years that 

 I ever got my money back. There were two years that I 

 think I got my pay in the first year's crop for the commercial 

 fertilizers that I applied. It seems to me that appljang 

 commercial fertilizers is like giving a man a glass of whis- 

 key to get a good day's work out of him. The next year 

 I think the land is poorer than it was when you put it on. 

 I don't think it has any lasting eff*ect. It will force a crop. 

 You can get u good crop of turnips, for instance, without 

 any other fertilizer, but you do not improve your farm ; 

 your soil is no better after you get that crop ofi" than it was 

 before. That is my experience. Bat when you give your 

 land a good quantity of manure and plough under a good 



