DISCOUNTING THE MARKET 167 



they were ploughed and crossed with the disk 

 harrow. From then until September 1, these 

 fields were harrowed each week in half lap, so 

 that by the time we were ready to seed them 

 they were in excellent condition and free from 

 weeds. About September 1 they were sown to 

 timothy and red top, fifteen pounds each to the 

 acre, top-dressed with five hundred pounds of 

 fertilizer, harrowed once more, rolled, and left 

 until spring, when another dose of fertilizer was 

 used. 



I wished to establish twenty acres of timothy 

 and as much alfalfa, to furnish the hay supply 

 for the farm. With one hundred tons of alfalfa 

 and sixty of timothy, which I could reasonably 

 expect, I could get on splendidly. 



From the first I have practised feeding my hay 

 crop for immediate returns. The land receives 

 five hundred pounds of fertilizer per acre when 

 it is sown, a like amount again in the spring, 

 and, as soon as a crop is cut, three hundred 

 pounds an acre more. This usually gives a 

 second crop of timothy about September 1, 

 if the season is at all favorable. The alfalfa is 

 cut at least three times, and for each cutting it 

 receives three hundred pounds of plant food per 

 acre. In the course of a year I spend from $10 

 to 112 an acre for my grass land. In return I get 

 from each acre of timothy, in two cuttings, 

 about three and a half tons ; worth, at an aver- 

 age selling price, $12 a ton. The alfalfa yields 



