1S37] 



F A R M E R S ' REGIS T E R , 



215 



love thoir country or themselves, to inqnire after 

 the |iraclii-;il modes of a system, wliii-h experi- 

 nuMi(allv eiiriclies us l)oth,au(l solicits an attention 

 to the (iistuK-i items of proliis, hy \viiit-li these de- 

 siralile eiuis nre prod need. 



1. The phrase "artificial <rrasses" implies a se- 

 lection from the irramineous liinuly, and a culture 

 by himian art, of tlie kinds best adapted to the 

 soil and climate of a country, in prelerence to a 

 reliance upon the orrasses produced naturally. 

 The (jreat value of this selection, is illuslrated hy 

 the contrast between the crab of the wilderness. 

 and the cultivated [lippin of the orchard : or hy a 

 comparison, between the esculents of a garden, 

 and those of spontaneous production. 



2. An improvement of the soil, by the culture 

 of arlilicial trrasses, arise from the veiretable mat- 

 ter of both root and top, when unijrazed ; from 

 the t()rmer when crazed; from proteciinf; the 

 ground asrainst heat in summer and cold in win- 

 ter; I'rom producinif food to raise animal manure ; 

 from rendering the ground fit to bear deeper 

 plouixhin;;, by reason of the mass of vegetable 

 matter mingled with it, than it can bear in a na- 

 ked state ; by which its soil is deepened ; and 

 from saving four-fifths of the hirm from the lioof 

 and the tooth, by aiakins: one-filth far more ade- 

 quate to su|)ply the demand for grass, than the 

 whole without such culture. The profit, arising 

 from this improvement of land by the use of 

 artificial grasses, is exhausiless and incomputa- 

 ble. 



3. Artificial grasses enable the farmer to raise 

 meats of all kinds, tor his own use or lor market, 

 of the best quality, in the cheapest modes ; and to 

 increase the size oi" all animals destined to slaugh- 

 ter or labor. The latter, by being raised in the 

 climate where they are to work, are har- 

 dier, healthier, and better adapted for their em- 

 ployments. And, whilst the farmer saves the ex- 

 pense of purchasing sorr}' meat and teams, he 

 gets good without expense, because by a skilful 

 management of artificial grasses, the manure they 

 cause domestic animals to produce, will more than 

 repay in the improvement of soil and increase of 

 crops, the expense of their maintenance. This 

 item of profit is too important to be hastily passeti 

 over. Men chiefly subsist upon grain antl meat ; 

 brutes, upon grass green or dry. The difference 

 between the expense of cultivatinij an acre of 

 grain and one of grass is considerable, and yet the 

 latter will raise far more meat, bulter, tallow, 

 leather and avooI. Let any farmer calculate the 

 expense of supplyng himself with these articles, 

 in the present mode, even excluding its heaviest 



litem, (that of in)iiry to the land,) and he would 

 probable disvover that most or all of them he 

 raises, cost him three times their market value. 

 The loss however upon what he sells is triflng, 

 compared with the loss upon what he uses; be- 

 I cause he consumes much and sills little. When 

 the temporary supplies from the western country 

 diminish orfiil, the evils attending upon our pres- 

 ent mode of raisinir stocks, will acquire no proof. 

 The arts of agriculture are as necessary to im- 

 prove and increase the sustenance of beasts as 

 that of men. Grass beincr the basis of food in 

 the case of stocks, as t)r(. ad-stuff is in the case of 

 of man, that mode Oi oh'aining it which produce, 

 the most and best, with the least injury to the lands 

 and firom the smallest space, is entitled to a pre- 



ference. Without, the cidlivation of the artificia 

 •ii-asses, our domestic stocks occupy the precise 

 ground occupied by rnandkiiul, when excluded 

 from the artificial moiles of raising bread-stuff, 

 and experience the fiue of a stale of agriculture, 

 as to them uncivilized. 



4. The artificial irrasses produced a considera- 

 ble profit by saving labor. If the labor applied to 

 an acre enriched by artificial grass, was equal to 

 that exf)ended upon an impoverished acre, a vast 

 saving would still result li-(jin the difference of the 

 crop; i!s the expense oflabor mnsi be com|)nted in 

 relation to its |)roduce. J?ut (he fiict is, that the 

 poor land requires the most labor, whilst it produ- 

 ces the worst crop, because being filled with seeds 

 of worthless or pernicious annual-grasses or 

 weeds, and being incapable of liearing a (iluugh- 

 ing sufficiently dee[> to deposit these seeds bej ond 

 the reach of vegetation, it re(|uires double the 

 work to destroy them as they sprout and grow 

 after every rain, which would suffice if they were 

 extirpated. This cannot be effected on poor land 

 without killing it. On such, the wheat which 

 follows corn, though the corn required and re- 

 ceived six or seven workings, is always more in- 

 fested with annual grasses" and weeds, than that 

 sown upon only a smgle furrow turning under 

 good perennial grasses, because they smother all 

 annuals, and any seeds of the latter remaining, 

 are buried bj' one deej) ploughiiiff, which the earth 

 is able to bear, below the reach of vegetation. 

 Hence in the culture of corn upon a perennial 

 grass lay, as in a fiillow for wheat, half the labor 

 required by poor land may be saved, because as 

 but few of the annuals appear after one deep 

 ploughing, and as the perennials hardly appear at 

 all in the summer, very little culture is required ; 

 and the the crop is not only increased by the artifi- 

 cial grasses turned in, but by beinu' fiee from the. 

 fVecjuent laceration of its surface caused by the li-e- 

 quent ploughings designed to keep under i he quick 

 growing annuals infesting thin land. The wheat 

 also following corn planted on a perennial grass 

 ley is cleaner; lor although the perennial grass 

 seeds will often sprout in the sjjring, and althouiih 

 they ought universally to be sown with or upon 

 the wheat, yet a providential aptitude for the bene- 

 fits they bestow, is discernible Ln their slow growth 

 uniil the wheat crop is perfected ; whereas the an- 

 nuals often grow as rapidly as the wheat itself. 

 There are many weighty items of profit belong- 

 ing to the labor-saving article, by the culture of 

 perennial grasses. By diminishing arable space, 

 whilst the crop is increased, the diminished space 

 consumes less labor. From the division of the 

 objects of labor, a succession of eniployments en- 

 sues, enabling a farmer to prevent either from suf- 

 fering by the want of cultivation in due season. 

 For instance — a fiill crop of corn and wheat, or a 

 crop equal to the whole labor on a farm, is the 

 consequence of comparing labor wilh space ; and 

 a great demand of both crops for labor at the same 

 period, especially if aggravated by unpropitious 

 weather, generally produces some neglect, and 

 often a considerable loss. By diminishing space, 

 not only without diminishini?, but actually increas- 

 ing produce, these crops will be more manageable 

 by the labor, and receive a better cultivation. And 

 the time saved by this diminution of space is 

 moreover profitably employed early in the spring, 

 in applying manure and sowing grass seeds ; pre- 



