1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



401 



twelve inches deep or more, and so thick on the 

 top thaf. no soil can be seen. I consider one such 

 turf, when turned under, equal to IGO tons of first 

 class barnyard manure per acre. 



The above statement suggests to our mind 

 some reflections. We have no doubt that with 

 a good soil and such treatment the results 

 stated by jMr. Plate may be reached. "We 

 Lave heard of a case in which a man kept fif- 

 teen horses, and put all the manure made by 

 them on three acres and a half of good land, 

 year after year, until he cut seven tons per 

 acre, annually, cutting it three times a year. 



But if we, small farmers, with ordinary soil, 

 return to the grass land all the manure made 

 from the hay which it yields, where are we to 

 find the means of making crops of wheat, 

 corn and potatoes ? If a man raises nothing 

 but grass, and depends wholly for his income 

 upon stock, this will do. But then he must 

 purchase his grain and other farm products 

 from those who apply manure to the produc- 

 tion of such crops. 



Now we take it that one of the chief advan- 

 tages of grass crops is that they furnish the 

 means cf cultivating other fields in the various 

 crops of the farm by the manure they yield. 

 If we must return all the manure made from 

 the meadow to the meadow itself, our farming 

 in New England would soon come to a stand 

 still. 



The bushel of plaster per acre is very well, 

 and if we can make any compost for top dress- 

 ing to the grass land so much the better, but 

 the manure made from the hay must go to the 

 corn and wheat and oats and potatoes and gar- 

 den. -We do not doubt that such a sod as that 

 above described, when tur/ied in, would pro- 

 duce a splendid crop of corn and wheat in 

 succession. Then it must be resecded to grass, 

 and the manure made from it be returned to 

 the meadow. Now what are we to do for 

 corn and wheat during the following sixteen 

 years? Shall we be able to lay up grain 

 enough during the two years of plenty, as Jo- 

 seph did in Egypt, to supply us during the 

 long period when We raise no grain? We 

 have strong doubts about the economy of such 

 farming, to say no'hing about its possibility 

 under ordinary circumstances. 



Grass derives a large portion of its sub- 

 stance from the atmosphere. The aftermath 

 decays on the surface and becomes a manure, 

 and the roots accumulate in the soil. Hence 



grass exhausts the soil but little compared with 

 other crops, and we are able to apftropriate 

 the m mure made from the hay to other crops. 

 We believe it would be better economy to take 

 oflf three or four or five crops of hay, and then 

 plough, manure and reseed, thus manuring the 

 meadow once in three, four or five years, and 

 giving it one. or still better, two bushels of 

 plaster each j ear, and use the manure from 

 the hay, in the intervening years, for other 

 crops, 



Mr. P, considers one such turf when turned 

 under, equal to IGO tons of first class manure, 

 and we have no doubt he is right, large as the 

 quantity may seem. One square rod contains 

 272i feet. Multiply this by 160, the number 

 of rods in an acre, and we have 43,560 feet In 

 an acre. This would be equal to 340 cords, 

 and we think that one cord of solid turf 

 would weigh two tons. This would make 680 

 tons. This will give four tons and a quarter 

 of turf to one ton of barn manure, and sucli 

 tuif — turf that has had a top-dressing of barn 

 manure every year for sixteen years. Well 

 rolled down, we think it would fully equal his 

 estimate. This would be heavy manuring and 

 ought to give several large crops in succession. 



Now where did this accumulation of vege- 

 table matter come from ? The aftermath may 

 be safely set down at one ton, and the hay at 

 two tons per year. Dana says that a cow eat- 

 ing twenty-four pounds of hay and a peck of po- 

 tatoes daily will m:tke 31,025 lbs. of dung in 

 a year. But 24 lbs. of hay a day would be 

 8760 lbs. or four tons and a third. Two tons 

 will give less than half of this, say 15,000 Ibi. 

 But of this eighty-three per cent, is water, so 

 that there will be less than a ton and a quarter 

 of solid matter from two tons of hay, to be 

 returned to the soil. This gives but about 

 two and a quarter tons of solid matter returned 

 to the soil annually. Where did the other 

 seven and three-quarters come from? Un- 

 doubtedly from the atmosphere. "Grass 

 groweth everywhere." It is the universal fer- 

 tilizer provided by Nature. It derives from 

 the atmosphere the means of fertilizing the 

 earth and enabling it to produce all the crops 

 required by man ; and It is because of this 

 wonderful power that It Is so profitably culti- 

 vated, as by Its means we are enabled to cul- 

 tivate the almost unlimited variety of vegeta- 

 bles found In our gardens and fields. If all 



