312 



FARMERS' REGISTER— LIME— GAMA GRASS. 



limed at the rate of sixty or one hundred bushel? 

 per acre, and cultivated in the same manner,^ ^ I 

 now come to the place of beginning, when fifty 

 bushels more of lime is added— the rule the same 

 as above, respecting manure and grass seeds. I 

 proceed on in this way untd two hundred bushels ol' 

 lime per acre, are on. This trat^t oi' land which I 

 have just described to you, i graze — and cultivate 

 only as much as will pay the laboring expenses. 

 It has led for five years past thirty head of cattle, 

 of SIX hundred pounds weight, which has given 

 twenty-two dollars per head. All the corn and 

 oats that are raised on it are fed away to the cat- 

 tle, and thus the manure is made very valuable. 

 This method of feeding my oflal grain isthe same 

 on the farm I live on. I sell my wheat g.nd barley, 

 and dispose of the other with my cattle, which in 

 common I think the best market I can get. 



I will now pass on to my experiment of improv- 

 ing land with lime alone, without the assistance 

 of manure. I purchased a lot of land containing 

 thirty acres, twenty of which was cleared, and 

 had been thrown open as a common for some 

 years, not Avorth making one hundred and fifty 

 rails to enclose it, which with the rails on it made 

 a reasonable fence. To test the quality of this 

 land I had five acres ploughed and planted with 

 corn. It did not produce me five buslicls of good 

 corn per acre. It being one mile and a half from 

 my farm, no manure was drawn to it except about 

 four bushels, to put in a galley to stop its washing. 

 I sowed these five acres in oats and clover seed, but 

 they were like the corn, not worth half the labor 

 bestowed on them. I now commenced and put 

 on the twenty acres one thousand bushels of lime, 

 suffering it to lie on the surface four years. I put 

 on it occasionally sheep, calves, &c. The fifth 

 year I layed on one thousand bushels more lime, 

 making one hundred to the acre, all lymg on the top 

 oftheground. Thiswasnot fair play: it should have 

 been ploughed each lime, and well mixed. The 

 seventh year I was applied to by a farmer conve- 

 nient, to cultivate it on shares; he voluntarily of- 

 fered me one-half the produce, delivered on my 

 home farm. The produce was thirty-three bush- 

 els per acre, in corn. It was now sowed in oats, 

 and produced forty bushels. With the oats, clo- 

 ver seed and timothy Avere sown, as usual. It was 

 now pastured four or five summers, and one thou- 

 sand bushels more lime was added, making one 

 hundred and fifty bushels per acre. I now culti- 

 vated it myselfj and the produce was forty-^five 

 bushels per acre in corn — oats and clover seed fol- 

 lowing: four years after this plouging I laid on one 

 thousand bushels more lime, making two hundred 

 bushels per aci'e. 



First cost per acre, - - - $14 



Two hundred bushels lime at 16^ cents, 33 



And two tons plaster at S'lO per ton, 20 



This land has given me for the last five years 

 good six per cent, interest on the whole cost per 

 acre. 



In this experiment I have varied from my home 

 method of farming, in resp,oct to feeding niy grain 

 on the land. Not one bushel of grain was fetl on 

 it. One crop of corn was husked on the stalks, 

 and cattle turned in to eat the remainder; the 

 stalks were all drawn ofi" as was all oat straw 

 made. Thus the oats and com now taken ofi' 



amount to more than one hundred bushels per 

 acre. 



I saw your account of marling expenses — you 

 can improve your land nuich cheaper than 1 can if 

 your marl is as desirable as that specimen I gave 

 you.* It nmst be fif:een years sitsce I had some 

 of that drawn out, and ils good eficcts now are as 

 plain as they were the first year. 



GAMA GRASS. 



To the Editor of llie Farmers' Register. 



Scailsburg, Halifax, j^ug. 10, 1834. 



The following observations upon the gama 

 grass, are necessarily unsa!isfi.ictory and impedi^ct; 

 but they may possibly throw some additional 

 light upon a subject which has excited considera- 

 rable interest. I am fully sensible that years of 

 careful observation and extended experiment can 

 alone satisfy the public mind about a mtitter of 

 this sort. My object is simply to show the );ro- 

 ductive capacity of this grass, and to point out a 

 few facts with regard to its habits and character, 

 which may be of use in facilitating proposed ex- 

 periments. 



It is alread)' known that gama grass is found 

 upon the alluvial lands of the Rounoke, and it.s 

 tributaries. The description given of it in the 

 fourth number of the Farmers' Register, enabled 

 me to recognize it upon the Dan. I have knawn 

 it for many years, and have frequently been at- 

 tracted by its luxuriance, but have hitherto looked 

 upon it as one of the numerous species of flag in 

 which 01 u' lands abound. Upon further investi- 

 gation, I have been enabled to correct this opinion, 

 and to record the following facts. 



It vegetates readily upon every variety of soil, 

 but with very different degrees of luxuriance. 

 Upon lean stifi' lands, for instance, the blades never 

 exceed twelve inches in length; and I have seen 

 spots of it upon very steril land where its greatest 

 altitude was only a ft;w inches. On the other 

 hand, upon light sandy loams the blades will ge- 

 nerally measure five feet in full groA\^h, and the 

 flower stems will occasionally reach an altitude of 

 nine feet. It is evidently a species of maize, and 

 to this circumstance it probably owes its name of 

 "corn grass," and its value as provender. The 

 grain possesses a pleasant farinaceous flavor, un- 

 distinguishable from that of Indian corn. When 

 extracted from the horny substance in which it is 

 imbedded, it is found protected by several thin 1am- 

 inse, similar to those in which a grain of wheat is 

 encased. Ii i^ a little smaller than the latter 

 grain, and of a conical shape. There is a soft 

 pulpy substance running fi-om the apex to the base, 

 corresponding in taste and color to the heart of a 

 grain of corn. 



Twenty bunches of this grass cut about the 

 last of June, were found to weigh 107 lbs. green, 

 making an average of five pounds to the bunch. 

 The diameters of these bunches were generally 

 about eighteen inches. Very few of thein reached 

 two feet. The flower stems were numerous and 

 constituted three-quarters of the weight. The 

 stems and blades however were consumed by ani- 

 mals with equal avidity. 



It does not flourish upon "water sobbed," or 

 marsh lands, however fertile. Or where it is in- 



*This specimen contained 60 per cent, of carbonate 

 of lime. 



