THE GENESEE FARMER. 



1S1 



>e second in September— and accurately weighed, 

 ielding as follows." 



Mr. R. gives, in his report, well arranged tables 

 f figures, showing tbe weight of dried hay of 1st 

 nd 2d crops on each plot for the two years, 1860 

 nd 1861. But for want of space we omit his fig- 

 res, and give some of the more important facts 

 licited. 



The weight of hay on each plot for two years, 

 p-as as follows, viz., compost, 3,260 lbs. ; leached 

 ,shes, 2,520 lbs.; green cow manure, 3,350 lbs.; 

 Iry ashes, 3,*?40 lbs. ; guano, 2,240 lbs. The com- 

 >ost giving the least yield ; green cow manure the 

 greatest, but only 10 lbs. more than the dry ashes. 

 Che guano dressed lot in 1861, on its first cutting, 

 ;ave only 730 lbs., against 1,300 lbs. in 1860. The 

 Iry ashes very much increased the crop, the second 

 ^ear giving 1,350 lbs. at the first cutting, against 

 )00 lbs. the first year. u The green cow manure 

 lid well both seasons. The leached ashes likewise 

 lid well." 



" The Peruvian guano is a great stimulant, and 

 ;an be used for some purposes to great advantage, 

 >ut as a durable or permanent top-dressing ,for 

 jrass, excepting for one crop, I should doubt its 

 ifficiency." 



Mr. R. says : " Having turned my attention very 

 )articularly to top-dressing my grass lands for sev- 

 eral years past, I may be permitted to speak very 

 (onfidently of the great advantage to be derived 

 rom practicing it, and perhaps have realized as 

 nuch benefit as any one from pursuing it." 



We think if Mr. Rogers had left a plot of ground 

 idjoining, of the same size, without manure, con- 

 rasting the yield with the manured plots, the 

 k profit or loss " of the several different applications 

 :>f manure would have been more accurately deter- 

 nined. We should also have been glad to have 

 earned whether the growth of clover was greater 

 an the plots receiving tbe ashes than on those that 

 were top-dressed with the guano and green cow 

 manure. 



That the green cow manure should cause a yield 

 of hay so much greater than the same quantity of 

 well rotted manure, no doubt may surprise some 

 persons — a fact widely at variance with the general 

 practice and theory of farmers, but facts are what 

 are wanted. Of the correctness of Mr. R.'s state- 

 ments and figures, there can not be a shadow of 

 doubt. 



In O. L. Flint's Agrioulture of Massachusetts 

 for 1857 and 1858, we find the statements of H. J. 

 Hodges on the use of different fertilizers on grass 

 lands. " In April, 1857, staked off seven half acre 

 lots on the Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Ag. 

 Society's grounds at Northampton. Each lot was 

 of precisely the 'same quality of [soil and in the 

 same condition, and in grass, timothy, red and 

 white clover ; six of the seven lots received a top- 

 dressing, each with a different fertilizer, having 

 one lot without any. Each lot was mowed at the 

 same time, and managed alike, and the hay upon 

 each weighed separately. The soil is a loam with 

 sand and clay so well mixed that good judges dis- 

 agree whether to call it sandy loam or clay loam — 

 it is a cold land, and retains moisture late in the 

 spring. The treatment of the lots was as follows : 

 Lot No. 1, no manure ; No. 2, poudrette, 2 bar- 

 rels; No.; 3, plaster, 500 lbs.; No. 4, superphos- 



phate, 150 lbs. ; No. 5, horse and cow manure, 4 

 loads; No. 6, ashes, 10 bushels; No. 7, guano, 15S 

 lbs. Mr. Hodges gives a table of figures, showing 

 the cost of the fertilizers; quantity of hay first 

 and second mowing of ootli years, total value of 

 hay at $6 per ton, increase of hay from fertilizers 

 first year, with the loss or gain first year from fer- 

 tilizers. 



The tables show that ashes is the only profitable 

 fertilizer to be used as a top-dressing here. For 

 the two years the increase of hay is much the 

 greatest, and the oidy lot on which the increase of 

 hay paic for the fertiltzar the first year, and the 

 increase of hay did not pay for fertilizer on any 

 other lot for the two years. The lot where guano 

 was used, gave greatest increase of hay for first 

 year, but ashes did for second. Mr. H. very sensi- 

 bly remarks, " it is not to be supposed that the same 

 result would follow from all soils." 



By his figures, there appears to be a loss on all 

 the fertilizers, ranging all the way from 74 cents to 

 $6.44 for the first year, except on ashes; here 

 there was a gain of $2.19. Why there should be 

 such a similarity of action by the ashes in Mr. 

 Rogers' and Mr. Hodges' experiments, and such a 

 wide difference in that of the cow manure in the 

 two experiments, is to us inexplicable. It is true 

 we do not know how much a plot of Mr. R.'s 

 ground unmanured would have yielded. The plot 

 the first year with the compost gave 1,170 lbs. of 

 hay; that with cow manure gave 1,600 lbs. The 

 same plot second year gave 1,750 lb?., while the 

 guanoed plot same year yielded but 870 lbs. 



In some places hay is worth, as put down by 

 Mr. Hodges, but $6 per ton ; in others $12 per ton; 

 in others $18, or more per ton. At the last named 

 price, the figures would have presented quite a dif- 

 ferent face from that exhibited by Mr. Hodges in 

 his tables. 



To the importance of the hay crop in regions 

 where farm stock must be fed from the barn from 

 five to seven months each year, we have already 

 alluded. Census statistics show that there has 

 been a very great reduction in the number of 

 horses, cattle and sheep in some of the rortliern 

 States within the past twenty years. This decrease 

 of farm stock probably is mostly due to a corres- 

 ponding decrease of hay ; if so, then it is a matter 

 of high importance that means should be taken to 

 increase it. This can be largely effected by top- 

 dressing and irrigating grass lands. The state- 

 ments quoted in regard to the first method we ad- 

 mit do not establish any general rule that will 

 economically apply in all cases, seasons and soils. 

 We have experimented to some extent in the use 

 of both composted and green manure, both in 

 spring and autumn, and always with satisfactory 

 results. After spreading the manure we have usu- 

 ally sown grass seed — from one-third to one-half as 

 much as if newly stocking down to grass — and 

 then have thoroughly harrowed the ground, and 

 sometimes have followed the harrowing with han ' 

 rakes, clearing off any obstructions that might in- 

 terfere with the subsequent mowing and raking. 



On many farms there are patches and plots of 

 grass lands, yielding light crops of hay, that can 

 not well and profitably be plowed and cultivated, 

 arising from the rocky nature of the land, or wet- 

 ness of the soil, or from the distance of the field 



