SECRETARY'S REPORT. 279 



seed, wc know it is better to have the land dry, after the ]»h\nt 

 lias passed the period of blossoming. 



The land, as already intimated, to which irrigation, in Lom- 

 bardy, is applied, is light, free, much of it sandy, which, with- 

 out the application of water, would be comparatively unpro- 

 ductive. All such soils have free drainage. They would 

 hardly grow such a gross feeder as Italian rye grass without a 

 great abundance of water, especially as this is a shallow-rooted 

 plant, not striking down a deep tap root, and all such plants are 

 much more liable than those of an opposite character, to suffer 

 from drought. If the water applied could be charged with a 

 fertilizing substance, as it is upon Mr. ^Mechi's farm, no doubt 

 larger results would follow. The water, in that case, would be 

 a carrier of manure, and the best possible one for light soils. 

 We see, also, that the Italians are judicious in the selection of 

 crops with the facilities they have for using water. Turnips 

 and mangels are cultivated not merely for the sake of the food 

 they furnish to sheep and other stock, thus increasing the supply 

 of manure for other crops, but as fallow-crops, — that is, as a 

 means of cleansing the land from weeds by the frequent use of 

 the horse-hoe and the cultivation they get by other implements. 

 To apply the system of irrigation to such crops would prevent 

 these operations, and thus be fatal to these important uses of 

 the turnip as a fallow-crop. There would be a loss of the 

 advantages derived from the repeated weeding and stirring of 

 the soil, and the large yield of many tons per acre would not 

 compensate for this loss. 



Mr. Mechi saves his straw from the manure heap, cuts it up 

 by the use of steam, mixes it with other substances, and uses it 

 as food for stock. And for all those soils, crops, and climates, 

 where the application of liquid manure is adapted, this is a 

 great saving. 



No doubt the success of this system on grass land in well 

 drained or free, light soils, in a warm, dry climate, is greater 

 than it would be on any other crop, though one sees it often 

 applied also to Indian corn and other crops. The crops of 

 grass, under these circumstances, are often wonderful, and, if 

 they were not too well attested by innumerable witnesses of 

 the highest character, would be incredible. 



