MODEL FARM AND AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL. 185 



portion of the plants, he would probably have an ample supply 

 left. He suffers them to get somewhat advanced before they are 

 thinned, and then is careful to select the healthiest and strongest 

 plants to remain. I must not be supposed ever to endorse the 

 opinions of another man, simply because I give them ; but 

 certainly success is the best test of judgment and skill. How 

 ever interesting and ingenious a man s speculations may be, his 

 practice is always worth vastly more than his theory. 



His crops of mangel-wurzel were magnificent ; and he gets a 

 great deal of green feed for his cows, by plucking the under 

 leaves ; though, if too severely stripped in the autumn, they are 

 liable to be injured by the frosts. 



He sows tares and oats together for green feed for his stock. 

 The oats serve to support the tares, and the mixture seems to be 

 greatly relished by the animals. His great dependence for green 

 feeding of his stock is upon the Italian rye-grass, a most valuable 

 grass, which is very much commended wherever it is cultivated, 

 and which, I hope, will be introduced into the United States. I 

 saw a field of this on the farm, which had already been cut twice 

 in the season, and was nearly ready for another cropping. In 

 Manchester, the last autumn, I saw specimens of three cuttings 

 of Italian rye-grass, all cut from the same field in the same 

 season, the combined length of which was thirteen feet. This 

 was a surprising growth, and indicated the remarkable luxuriance 

 of the plant. 



His oats give an average yield of eighty bushels to an English 

 acre ; and the oats chiefly preferred here are the Scotch potato 

 and the Hopetoun oat. The weight of the potato oat per 

 bushel is stated to be about forty-four pounds. I have known it 

 in the United States, the first year of its cultivation, to weigh as 

 much, but the second year not to weigh more than thirty-five 

 pounds per bushel. This must be owing to some error or defect 

 in the cultivation ; for I can conceive of no natural hinderance, in 

 many localities, to the most successful cultivation of this crop. 

 He sows rye-grass with his oat crop, and gets a good cutting, 

 after the oats are off, from the stubble. It might be thought that 

 this is riding the horse &quot; too hard ; &quot; but, as the rye-grass does 

 not ripen its seed in the case, the soil is not exhausted. The 

 next season it gives a full yield. I shall hereafter extend the 

 account of this admirable establishment, if any thing presents 

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