CHAPTEE IV. 



PRACTICAL RESULTS OP THE NEW SYSTEM. 



Mr. Stewart in his practical work prints the following notes on 

 the growth of crops more especially those of grasses : 



" What are the ultimate possibilities of growth in any crop is 

 unknown, but it would seem as though they depended greatly upon 

 the supply of water absorbed, sufficient nutriment, of course, being 

 provided. Rye grass upon irrigated fields, richly fertilized, has 

 grown at the rate of one inch per day, and repeated cuttings have 

 been made at intervals of fourteen days, during a season of 

 months. Crops of grass on irrigated fields of a total weight of 

 more than eighty tons per acre have been reported by trustworthy 

 English farmers. Irrigated grass fields in Italy support easily 

 two head of fattening cattle per acre, every year, and have long 

 done so. In hundreds of localities in European countries are irri- 

 gated meadows, which have borne grass without any sign of 

 deterioration within the memory of the inhabitants, or the knowl- 

 edge of readers of local histories, although the crop has been cut 

 and removed every year during this indefinite period. "Whether 

 or not these immense crops could be further increased by more 

 skillful management is not neccessary to inquire. These products 

 are so far beyond the dreams of an American farmer, that they 



