NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published bv Jon;« B. RrssFLi.. at the corner of Congress and Lindall Street?. — Thomas G. PF.sFF.Nrif:>-. Ef'itor. 



VOL. IV 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1820. 



NO. 45. 



ORIGINAL PAPERS. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ON GRASSES .Vo. /. 



Sir — I have lately seen the third volume of the 

 Memoirs of ihe New York Board of Agriculture. 

 Casting my eye over the table of contents, I found 

 some papers on Grasses. The first was by Jessk 

 BuEL, Esq. of Albany, an ingenious and zealous 

 Agriculturist. Prefi.\ed to his essay is a table of 

 twenty-five grasses, " compiled from the Appendi.y 

 to Davy's Agricultural Chemistry ; embracing (he 

 says) all the grasses treated of in that work, which 

 arc known to be indigenous here [natives of our own 

 country] and such foreign kinds as seem to be most; 

 wortliy of cultivation anion" us." That Appendix | 

 consists of minutely detailed accounts of e.xperi- j 

 ments on ninety-seven grasses and plants, iustitut- j 

 ed by the Duke of Bedforu, and conducted by his I 

 gardener, George Sinclair. Unqnestion-ibly they 

 -were made with much skill and general accuracy ; | 

 and as such received the sanction and adoption of | 

 tliat illustrious chemist and philosopher, Sir Hum- ( 

 phry Davy. The object of the experiments — v \ 

 liiglily important one — was to ascertain the pro- 

 ductive powers and the nutritive qualities of the 

 grasses and plants subjected to the experiments. — 

 When, some few years since, I first saw Sir Hum- 

 phry Davy's book, and but slightly inspected that 

 appendix, the latter appeared to me of much less 

 \ j.lue than his marked approbation was calculated 

 to impart to it. Tiie results of the e.xperiments, as 

 stated by Sinclair, did not appear to nie to be su'C 

 guides to the practical farmer : but I thought no 

 more of them; nor shouldever have recurred to them 

 ■ had I not seen the select table above mentioned, 

 compiled by Mr Bcei-, for the information of Amer- 

 ican farmers. This has induced me to e.taniine 

 some of the experiments with more attention. My 

 statements I submit to his censure. Impressed 

 with Davy's high authority, he seems to me to have 

 adopted too implicitly his opinion. If in my observ- 

 ations I fall into any material errors, Mr Bl-el, I 

 trust, will have the goodness to correct them. 



Sir Humphry Davy thus states the minute accu- 

 racy with which the experiments were commerced 

 and ])rosecuted. — " Spots of ground, each contiin- 

 ing four square feet, in the garden at Woburn \\>- 

 bey, were inclosed by boards in such a manner 

 that there was no lateral communication between 

 tlie earth included by the boards, and that of the 

 garden. The soil was removed in these inclosures, 

 and new soils supplied ; or mixtures of soils were 

 made in them, to furnish as far as possible to the 

 ditferent grasses, those soils which seem most fa- 

 vourable to their grov.'th ; a few varieties being- 

 adopted for the purpose of ascertaining the effect 

 of different soils on the same plant." 



" The grasses were either planted or sown, and 

 their produce cut and collected and dried, at the 

 proper seasons, in summer and autumn, by Mr Sin- 

 clair, his Grace's gardener. For the purpose of 

 determining, as far as possible, the nutritive powers 

 of the different species, equal weights of the dry 

 grasses or vegetable substances were acted upon 

 by hot water, till all their soluble parts were dis- 

 solved ; the solution was then evaporated to dry- 



ness by a gentle heat in a proper stove, and the 

 matter obtained carefully weighed." These " dry 

 extracts were supposed to contain the nutritive 

 matter of the grasses;" and, Davy saya, "t!iis 

 mode of determining the nutritive ]iower of the 

 grasses, by the quantity of matter they contain .=ol- 

 iible in water, is sufficiently accurate for all the 

 purposes of agricultural investigation." 



All this has a very imposing appearance, and at 

 the first glance would seem to conduct us to cer- 

 tain results. Each experiment was confined to 

 four square feet of ground ; and from the product 

 of each four square feet, Sinclair calculated the 

 product of an acre, of each sort of grass. In an 

 acre there are 4:J,5ijO square feet : consequently, 

 10,8!)0 times four feet. Now what practical farm- 

 er v.'ould tliink of taking the product of any space 

 of four square feet, in an acre of his grass land, 

 and thence calculating the product of the whole 

 acre, containing 10,890 such spaces ? Could p 

 more uncertain rule of calculation be imagined ? — 

 See the results, in a few instances. , 



1. Phletim prattnse,or Sleadow Cat's-tail grass — 

 called in New England Herd's grass — and which 

 elsewhere, in America and. in England, is known 

 by the name of Tinwthy. The four square feet 

 of this grass, cut in the flower, produced GO ounc- 

 es ; and at that rate, he sets the product of an 

 acre at 40,837 lbs., and when dry, 17,3.53 lbs. equal 

 to 7 tons 15 cwt. — The same grass cut in the seed 

 — or in Sinclair's words, "when tiie seed is ripe'' 

 —is set by him at the same quantity, 40,837 lbs. 

 but when dried, at 19,307 lbs. equal to 8 tons 13 

 cv-'t. iJl lbs.; being 18 cwt. more of hay than the 

 same weight of grass, mown v.'hcn in Rower, pro 

 duced ; but the difference of nutritive matter in 

 these two quantities of hay, as stated by Sinclair, 

 is imtnense — and to me incredible. He says the 

 nutritive matter in the last (in the 8 tons 13 cwt. 

 •21 lbs. hay) amounted to 36ti8 lbs.* while the 7 

 tons 15 cwt. of hay made of the grass mown in the 

 flower, yielded of nutritive matter only 159.5 lbs. 

 that is, 478 lbs. less than one half of the former. 



2. Avenaelatior — Tall meadow Oat Grass. The 

 four square feet of this grass, cut when the seed 

 was ripe, produced 24 ounces, and at that rate, by 

 the acre, 10,333 lbs. which when dried, weighed 

 5,717 lbs. equal to 2 tons 11 cwt. in which the nu- 

 tritive matter weighed only 235 lbs. or a lbs. to 

 every hundred of hay. Whereas, he makes eacli 

 hundred of the Cats-tail, or Timotliy, yield 21 lbs. 

 of nutritive matter, or more tlian one fifth of the 

 weight of the hay : while the Tall Oat Grass 

 yielded but one twentieth. — I repeat, that I have 

 not confidence in these results. 



3. Dachjlis Gluincrata — Orchard Grass. The 

 four square feet of this grass, cut when in flower, 

 produced 41 ounces, and at that rate by the acre. 

 27,905 lbs. which when dried, weighed 11,859 lbs. 

 equal to 100 cwt. nearly, or 5 tons cwt. in whicii 

 the nutritive matter is set at l,0891bs. — The same 

 grass cut in the seed — " when the seed is ripe," 

 is set at 20,544 lbs. and when dried is set at 

 13,272 lbs. equal to 5 tons 18 cwt. .50 lbs. in which 

 the nutritive matter is set at 1451 lbs. 



* Mr BcEi.'s table sets it at only 3368 lbs. which is 

 erroneous by 300 lbs. Sinclair's calculations, on his 

 own data, are correct. 



4. Trifolium pralense — broad-leaved-red-ciover. 

 The experiment here was made only when the 

 seed was rip? ; and the produce by the acre in 

 grass is set at 49,f)05 lbs. the same when dry 

 [made into hay] is set at 12,251 lbs. (or just one 

 fourth) equal to 5 tons, 9 cwt. and 43 lbs. yielding 

 of nutritive matter 1914 lbs. ; or 17 lbs. to every 

 hundred of hay. — But of what prartical conse- 

 quence is it, to ascertain tlje quantity of nutritive 

 matter in clover cut when the seed is ripe ? Will 

 cattle eat it .•' or at least more than enough to ke •) 

 them alive .' Tlie flowers and the leaves will be 

 lost in the handling ; and tlie stems be rnucli like 

 stiff, dry straw. 



5. Lolium pertnne — Rye Grass. Mr Sinclair 

 calculates this grass, cut at the time of flowering, 

 to produce 7827 lbs. to the acre, and when dry to 

 weigh 3332 lbs., or 1 ton 9 cwt. 74 lbs., and yield- 

 ing of nutritive matter .305 lbs. — The same grass 

 cut when the seed is ripe, he sets at 1-1,973 lbs. 

 nnd wlien dry at 4492 lbs. equal to 2 tons : and its 

 nutritive matter i.5 then sot at 043 lbs. — more than 

 double of the former. But this statement presents 

 a very e:ctraordinary fact — according to Sinclair's 

 c;>lculation — that an acre of Rye Grass cut at the 

 time of flowering, that' is, when full of sap, will 

 weigli but a little more than iialf as much as the 

 same acre of grass cut when the seed is lipe ! — 

 Does not every sort of grass, known and cultivated 

 in the United States, becom.e lighter and lighter, 

 the longer it stands after it is in full bloom, until 

 the seed is ripe ? Such additional weight cannot 

 bo given by the ripened seed, — for this is an ex- 

 tremely light fod. 



Many yea»sa,go, I had a piece of well set Herd's 

 Grass, which, contrary to my intention, stood uncut 

 until the seed was ripe. It was tlien mown, made^i 

 i]ito hay, and carefully reserved for my oxen at 

 tiie time of their ne.xt spring-work. To ray great 

 disappointment, they ate it without any apparent 

 relish — enough to keep them from siiftering, but 

 not to give them vigour for labour. I have ever 

 been inclined to think the full bloom indicated the 

 proper time for mowing all sorts of grasses. They 

 are then of the highest degree of fragrance. Herd's 

 Grass may form an exception, when intended for 

 horses. Mr Bordley, in his Notes on Husbandry, 

 says "Horses prefer ripe, full-grown Timothy in 

 hay ;" and mentions the corresponding opinions of 

 some Maryland gentlemen. He also quotes from 

 a jiublication of 1788, a communication from New 

 Jersey, in which the writer says — " that horses 

 and cattle will eat ripe Timothy, when they will 

 not look at the other." 



From early life, I was accustomed to see the 

 grass of an experienced farmer cut in the bloom 

 or as soon after as possible. He considered the 

 later mowing of his neighbors as materially di- 

 minishing the value of the hay. — Marshall, in his 

 Rural Economy of Gloucestershire, remarks "In 

 the ordinary practice of this district, as in that of 

 every other I have observed in, grass is suffered 

 to stand much too long, before it be mown." — 

 " There are, however, in this district, men who 

 are well aware of the advantages of early cutting; 

 wlio know from experience in grazing, [meaning 

 by grazing the fattening of cattle] the value of the 

 aftergrass of early mown grounds : as xeell as the 



