494 DAVIS COUNTY, IOWA. 



eacli year (when oats are in a soft or milky condition) when 

 the grain is very soon ripened, consequently is too light to 

 be valuable. However, I have some seasons when oats do 

 admirably, and are a very profitable crop. Rye does well with 

 me, and when sown on land in good till (and by the way, it 

 should never be sown elsewhere), it is almost always a sure 

 crop. 



GRASS. 



When I speak of grass I feel that I am at the base of 

 all successful farming in this or any other country. I think 

 this section takes second rank with very few places in the 

 Mississippi Valley as a grass-producing region. Perhaps we 

 shall be compelled to yield the palm to the famed pasture 

 fields of Kentucky, as her more Southern latitude and milder 

 Winters give her opportunities to utilize her blue grass pas- 

 tures that we do not possess. As I said at the commencement, 

 I aim to keep half my land in grass, for therein is found my 

 richest treasures and easiest made money. Besides, it is the 

 only way fli which I can keep the farm up to anything near its 

 original fertility. 



SEEDING DOWN. 



My method of putting land down to grass is to plow it 

 over as soon after harvest as practicable, then harrow down to 

 as smooth a surface as I can, and sow the seed. If there is a 

 probability of rain in the near future, I do nothing more ; if 

 likely to remain dry, I harrow once with a light harrow or 

 brush. This is preferable to the plan usually adopted of sow- 

 ing the seed on stubble ground in Winter or Spring, and then 

 waiting two years for a very poor crop, whereas I get two- 

 thirds of a full crop the first year. While on the subject of 

 making hay, I must give you my method, also the time at 

 which, if possible, I always have it cut. My plan I know will 

 be found fault with by large numbers of our farmers. I 

 always want my grass cut, if it is clover, when about one- 

 third of the heads have turned brown, if in timothy when 

 the second bloom has fallen ; if both are combined I cut 

 as near those conditions as it is possible, to get both kinds at 



