160 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



ing events of the energetic and prosperous career 

 of the first President of the U. S. Agricultural 

 Society. 



For the Nezo England Farmer. 

 "WITCH GRASS, (TKITICUM BEPENS.) 



Messiis. Editors : — Much has been said and 

 written Avithin the last few years upon the subject 

 of witch, couch, quitch, or phin grass, as it is va- 

 riously termed. Our most eminent writers upon 

 grasses condemn it. Dr. Darlington says, "It is 

 important to keep our farms as clear of it as pos- 

 sible." IMr. Flint, in his work on grasses, saj's, 

 "It is important to destroy it if possible." And 

 Mr. Lapham, in his treatise upon the grasses of 

 Wisconsin, calls it "a mere pest, of no use for 

 food of cattle." 



Although reluctant to dissent from an opinion 

 so strongly supported, I yet hesitate a little in 

 adopting it. I have known something of this 

 grass for a good while, and have come to regard 

 it with less aversion than the writers above quot- 

 ed express for it. While I do not consider it a 

 desirable acquisition to a farm of a stony soil, 

 yet upon one free of rocks, it is not very much to 

 be dreaded, to say the least. Like very many 

 other things, it has some good and some undesi- 

 rable qualities. Let us look for a moment at 

 some of the latter. 



It is objected to it, that, where it grows alone 

 upon very rich soil, it frequently turns yellow at 

 the bottom, and falls down before it is ripe, but 

 I have never known this to occur when it was 

 mixed to a considerable degree Avith other grasses. 

 It is also objected that when suffered to stand a 

 little too long before cutting, it grows light col- 

 ored near the ground, and the stalk becomes hol- 

 low, woody and brittle. This grass flowers usual- 

 ly during the first half of July, and if cut when 

 in blossom, or quite soon after, this evil is not 

 experienced. It is furthermore urged, that when 

 •witch grass is upon the land, there will be hard 

 hoeing. Upon land free of rocks, deep plowing 

 with a complete inversion of the sod in breaking 

 up the ground, and a sharp cultivator run both 

 lengthwise and across through the rows and fol- 

 lowed by a sharp hoe, obviate this objection. 

 Thus much against it. 



Can anything be said in its favor ? I think so. 

 It will grow luxuriantly where no other grass half 

 as good will grow at all. Upon many of the low 

 intervals of the Merrimack, which are annually 

 flooded and oftentimes covered with sand to the 

 depth of one, two, three, and occasionally even 

 five and six inches in a single year, this grass 

 seems to enjoy life, and yields a good burden of 

 hay. If its roots are in the ground when it is laid 

 down to grass with a grain crop, there is certain 

 assurance of a tolerable crop of hay the following 

 year. If the herds grass, red top, clover, or what- 

 ever other seed is sown, fail to appear, the witch 

 grass will not. These grasses, too, will be fully 

 as likely to live as in its absence, for this attains 

 a considerable growth by the time the grain is 

 harvested, and affords shelter to the tender blades 

 of the other grasses left exposed to the fierce Au- 

 gust sun, by the removal of the grain in whose 

 shelter they have been hitherto nurtured. 



But as to the value and quality of the hay, hov/ 

 is it ? If cut early, and weU cured, it is good. It 



comes out of the barn in winter, heavy, green 

 in color and fragrant. Cattle and horses eat it 

 with a relish and grow fat upon it. Its price in 

 this market, when of good quality and mingled 

 to some extent with other grasses, is about the 

 same as herds grass. When free of any admix- 

 ture of herds grass and red-top, it is generally of 

 a somewhat coarser and inferior quality, and sells 

 at a less price. 



I have said thus much of this grass as a conso- 

 lation to any farmer Avho may find it appearing 

 upon his farm. If it has spread over any consid- 

 erable part of it, any fond hopes of its extermi- 

 nation are vain. For although physically possi- 

 ble, its destruction is practically impossible. 

 Neither will it avail anything to lie frightened at 

 it. An acquaintance with its habits, which may 

 be soon formed, will suggest the best mode of 

 treating it. It has frequently been a policy of 

 late to conciliate any strong opponent who could 

 not be otherwise silenced, and thereby gain his 

 support. This is the true Avay to deal with witch 

 grass, which, managed as it may be, will prove 

 not a curse or a pest, but a blessing and a source 

 of wealth. Penny-Cook. 



Concord, N. I[.,Jan. 12, 185S. 



THE FARMER. 



"WTiat a sovereign man is the intelligent, indus- 

 trious farmer ! Within his own realm of earth, he 

 wields a sceptre to which all must bend. The 

 balance of the world's life and comfort he holds 

 in his stalwait hand. Neither courts, nor camps, 

 nor armies, nor fleets, can exist without his aid. 

 He is the feeder — aye, and the garmenter, virtu- 

 ally — of the race. Cities spring from the traffic 

 in the products of his industry. Commerce is 

 born at his bequest. Of the State he is the "first 

 Estate." Lord of the land, no man has firmer 

 hold of the essential title of nobility. And he 

 need be no plodder because he is a farmer. The 

 day is past when the soil tiller was confounded 

 with the clod turned by his plow. The soil is 

 his servitor : he smites it, and lo ! the harvest 

 comes forth. The hoe and the sickle make him 

 music braver than dulcimers, and sound the march 

 of a triumph, grand as it is peaceful and blessed. 

 But he is not forever in the furrow. For him 

 are broadest fields of study — fairest fields of de- 

 light. For him are honors linked to beauties and 

 wisdoms ; for him, periods of communion and 

 rapture, of which the birds, the flowers, the streams, 

 the stars, and all wondrous things of the universe, 

 may bear witness. A brave man art thou, wield- 

 er of the mallet and plane ; and thou, skilful work- 

 er of webs ; and thou, deviser of all machines 

 whereby the labor of man's hand is speeded or 

 abridged. He is master of the needfulest of toils, 

 and the most serviceable products. He can live 

 without you. but you cannot exist for a day with- 

 out him. Honor to the farmer ; may his sphere 

 widen and his stature be exalted. And honor 

 to all honest toil, for of such are the fruits that 

 form the crowning glories of the world. — New 

 York Ledger. 



ly A bill has been introduced into the New 

 York Legislature for the incorporation of the Cen- 

 tral American Industrial Emigration Company, 

 with a capital of $300,000. 



