208 GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS. 



wet, and inclined to grow bushes, I let it go and never try to 

 reclaim it, unless it is near the buildings or near the village 

 where the land is very high. In that case it may pay to ditch 

 and work it into good smooth land." 



Another practical farmer of great experience says : " We 

 have a variety of soil in this town ; some of the best of pasture 

 lands, stony soils, generally clay subsoil. Plaster of Paris is 

 our renovator for pasturage. It works most admirably on almost 

 all of our lands. Two hundred pounds to the acre, applied once 

 in two or three years in early spring, will keep our pastures 

 good." Another in Plymouth county says : " The best method 

 I have ever used is to fence in small pieces and then stock hard 

 with sheep. Feed it down till no green thing remains, then 

 turn the sheep off days and on nights till September, then har- 

 row the land with a sharp harrow and sow on grass seed, keep- 

 ingr the cattle off the remainder of the season." 



An experienced farmer of Middlesex says : " It will improve 

 an old pasture merely to plough and re-seed it without manure, 

 but this is a slow mode and not to be recommended where it 

 is possible to apply some sort of dressing. A better method is, 

 without doubt, to plant for a year or two, manuring well, before 

 sowing grass seed. The soil by being thus thoroughly stirred, 

 and exposed to atmospheric influences, will give a sweeter grass 

 and perhaps more of it. But it is not always convenient to 

 plant a part of a pasture. In such cases great benefit would 

 result from simply ploughing, manuring and seeding to grass 

 immediately." 



But perhaps the best disposition that can be made of many 

 of our poor, thin pasture lands, and one which has incidentally 

 been alluded to, is to take the cattle from them entirely and 

 cultivate them with forest trees. 'J'his is frequently recom- 

 mended in answer to the question proposed in the circular. A 

 farmer of Middlesex county speaks in ihe following words : 

 " Old worn out pasture lands that cannot be renovated by 

 gypsum or ashes, had better be sufibred to run up to wood. 

 Pine lands can be seeded in the fall with a crop of winter 

 rye, or without. Pine seed can be obtained by taking pains 

 to collect the burs before they are open and drying them in 

 some place where they can be threshed. This is white pine 

 seed year." 



