1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



>37 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



We have before us the Fourth Annual Report oj 

 the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, for the 

 year 1856. It is comprised in a handsome vohime 

 of between three and four hundred pages, and illus- 

 trated with specimens of several of the grasses and 

 farm implements. After recapitulating the gener- 

 al duties of the Board, speaking of the distribution 

 of seeds, the formation of an agricultural museum, 

 the collection of minerals, soils, models of fruits, 

 birds, fishes, plants and insects injurious to vegeta- 

 tion, the Secretary speaks of the operations of the 

 Board for the past year, and some of the difficul- 

 ties with which they have had to contend in the 

 want of a larger working capital. He says "the ap- 

 propriations made for the farm are not spent for 

 experiments, and it might almost be said that not a 

 dollar has ever been spent by the Board for exper- 

 iments on the farm ; the cost of the experiments 

 consisting mainly in the additional care and close- 

 ness of observation which they require, the amount 

 of which in direct expense to the State is compar- 

 atively insignificant." 



He next proceeds to a discussion of "the grasses, 

 a family of plants the most extensive and the most 

 beautiful, as well as the most important to man- 

 kind." This is a topic of great interest to our New 

 England people, and one which has never received 

 half the attention it merits. The varieties well 

 known to be nutritious and profitable for cultiva- 

 tion have been very few, scarcely exceeding a doz- 

 en, and the true manner of seeding and of preserv- 

 ing them for fodder, is veiled in as much mystery as 

 their botanic names. The number of beasts fed up- 

 on the grasses shows at once their importance; 

 these are given according to recent official returns, 

 as no less than 80,321 horses; 77,511 oxen and 

 steers, and 183,010 cows and heifers, valued in the 

 aggregate at $15,423,524 ; while we make annual- 

 ly 648,610 tons of hay, being less than a ton to 

 the acre, and valued at $8,702,917. The annual 

 value of the grass crop to the country, for pasturage 

 and hay together, is not less than $300,000,000. 



In the early part of the paper on grasses, the 

 Secretary has introduced a plate illustrating the 

 grasses, and giving the technical names in common 

 use by botanists, and the parts as highly magnified, 

 and made so plain as to be easily comprehended by 

 all who will give the explanations their careful at- 

 tention. Then follow tables, fruits, a list of grass- 

 es and forage plants, — second, a list of arrow 

 grasses, third, a list o? grass-like rushes, and fourth, 

 a list of cances or sedges ; these are then separated 

 into four or five distinct groups in order to facili- 

 tate the study of them. 



The first of these groups is the bush or jungle 

 grass, or such as are not inclined to grow with oth- 

 er species, and form a close, matted turf sward. 



The second gives the names of the aquatic or tea- 

 ter grasses ; the third the marsh or salt grasses ; 

 the fourth, the field or pasture grasses ; and the 

 fifth, annual tveeds. 



The next discussion is on the relative value of 

 the grasses; in this there are also subdivifiuns^ 

 showing in separate tables the natural and the ar- 

 tificial grasses, and giving an analysis of them, and 

 of the weeds. There is also a table giving the nu- 

 tritive equivalents of the grasses, but among these 

 are included what are generally known by other 

 names, such as wheat, corn, barley, oats, &c. Then 

 follows a paper on the influence of the seasons, with 

 replies to questions sent out by the Secretarj', and 

 the mean temperature and amount of rain at sev- 

 eral different places during the fast growing months. 



The time for mowing, selection and mixtures of 

 grass seed, weight and average depth of covering, 

 together with a table showing the average number 

 of plants and species to the square foot of sward, 

 each forms a paper at once interesting and useful. 

 Several tables are given, grouping the varieties of 

 grasses, for particular uses, such, for instance, as 

 for permanent pasture, lawn grasses, for mowing 

 in rotation, for lawn pastures, for hay and pasture 

 in orchards and shaded places, for mowing on light 

 soils, on peaty lands, on marshy lands, for rocky 

 hills and dry yards. The Secretary then gives ex- 

 amples of the general practice as reported to him. 



The subject of mowing, machines is then intro- 

 duced, and illustrations of Manny's, Ketchuni's, Al- 

 len's and Heath's are given. To the latter machine 

 was awarded the premium of one thousand dollars, 

 offered by the Massachusetts Society. The impor- 

 tant topic of cutting and curing grass for fodder is 

 considered in this connection. Illustrations of the 

 horse-rake and hay-caps are also introduced, and 

 their merits discussed ; the general treatment of 

 grass lands, such as drainage, top-dressing, &c., are 

 briefly noticed, which closes the paper on the sub- 

 ject of the grasses. 



So far as we are capable of judging, we think this 

 an able paper, one that required considerable tech- 

 nical learning, and great research, to prepare. In 

 this department, the labor has fallen into proper 

 hands, for the Secretary is abundantly qualified to 

 prepare any similar work with great accuracy and 

 minuteness of detail. His habits of life, as well as 

 his genius, fit him for such a labor, rather than the 

 general engineering and detail of the manipula- 

 tions of the farm. It is a work greatly needed, 

 and we hope it will be published in separate form, 

 so that the farmers generally of New England may 

 have access to it. 



Various highly interesting reports of committees 

 of the Board, and of delegates to the several coun- 

 ty societies, close the volume. 



Altogether, it is a work of value, and one to 

 which we shall have occasion frequently to refer. 



