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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FIFTH AGRICULTURAL MEETING 



At tub State House, Feb. 11, 1851. 



Lieut. Governor Cushman in the Chair, — Subject, 

 "3Ieadow and Grass Lands." 



The chairman made a few appropriate remarks 

 on the first start of these agricuhural meetings, and 

 on their utility. He also made some general re- 

 marks on agricultural improvements. He said that 

 in his part of the State, ploughing was done better, 

 in consequence of having superior ploughs; crops 

 were better and more abundant, and housewives 

 made better batter and cheese. He alluded to ag- 

 ricultural papers and the great influence they had 

 in enlightening and elevating the farming commu- 

 nity. There was a time when the farmer was not 

 respected like the lawyer, the doctor or merchant, 

 but now he ranks with them, or is at the head. 

 This results from the education of farmers as well 

 as other classes. The motto now is, "improve the 

 soil and the minds." The chairman then announced 

 the subject, and made some remarks on its import- 

 ance, and suggested various topics for considera- 

 tion. 



Hon. Mr. Gray, of Boston, as one of the trustees 

 of the State Agricultural Society, proposed that 

 Dr. Brooks, who had studied the veterinary sci- 

 ence in Europe, would deliver two or three lectures 

 on the anatomy of the horse before these meetings, 

 if agreeable. The subject was referred to the com- 

 mittee of arrangements. 



Hon. Mr. Brooks, of Princeton, said that his ex- 

 perience was confined to common grasses. He had 

 tried lucerne, but it failed, as the frost threw it out of 

 the ground. We have herds grass, red top, and red 

 and white clover, and we cannot probably make any 

 improvement by the use of other grasses. It is said 

 that we can get two crops of orchard grass, and we 

 can get two crops of herds grass or southern clover, 

 but there is no advantage in it. One good crop is 

 sufficient. The second crop is not valuable. We 

 hear of large crops of three or four tons of hay to 

 the acre, but they are not profitable, as the hay is 

 not so good. Two tons to the acre is sufficient, 

 and as much as is profitable. More money can be 

 made by raising two tons of hay to the acre than 

 by larger crops. Grasses grow naturally in our pas- 

 tures, and they are of good quality. In Worces- 

 ter county, plaster will generally produce a good 

 crop of clover. Nothing is better for a pasture than 

 white clover. It fattens well, and makes rich milk. 

 Herds grass is better than clover for hay. 



Rev. Mr. Sanger, of Dover, said that the value 

 of grass was not in proportion to the quantity. In 

 large crops the quality was not good. He was 

 pleased that farmers' wivesmade better butter than 

 formerly, and he would enquire whether this was 

 the case with farmers' daughters, as there had been 

 some complaint in this respect. 



Mr. Brooks said that you might feed crops, as 

 well as animals, to a certain extent with profit, but 

 beyond that there was a loss. A pig will grow 

 faster than he eats up to eight or nine months old, 

 then he will eat faster than he grows. A calf forced 

 to a great growth is not a valuable animal. Trees 

 are less valuable for a very rapid growth in the 

 nursery. 



Mr. Parker, of Framingham, said that he pur- 

 chased a farm in that town, on which there was a 

 pasture, which had been ploughed, manured, tilled, 

 and laid down to grass without being cropped. 

 His neighbors said that it would fail, but by the 

 use of plaster he had kept it in excellent condition; 

 yielding abundant crops of white clover. He agreed 

 with the gentleman from Worcester county, that 

 two tons of hay should be the maximum crop, and 

 one and a half-ton the minium crop. No farmer 

 should cultivate more land than will yield one and 

 a half to two tons to the acre. He said that his 

 land was an elevation, and a moist, deep, rocky 

 soil. He supposed that he sowed 300 lbs. plaster 

 to the acre. 



Hon. Mr. French, of Braintree, remarked that 

 near the sea, where cattle do not need salt, plaster 

 will not generally do any good, but fifteen or twen- 

 ty miles back, where cattle need nore salt, plaster 

 is generally useful. He thought our whole system 

 as to grasses was wrong; we ought to plough more, 

 manure less, and let our lands lie to grass only one 

 or two years, and then repeat a rotation of crops. 

 He recommended half a bushel of herds grass, a 

 bushel of red top and 6 lbs. of clover to the acre. 



Mr. Andrews, of Montague, proposed for con- 

 sideration, that in his section, plaster was not good 

 for a series of years, without the application of other 

 fertilizers. 



Hon. Dr. Gardner, from Bristol county, said that 

 the gentleman from Worcester county cautioned 

 farmers against raising too large crops of grass, 

 but in his section of light soils the great difficul- 

 ty was to get two tons of hay to the acre. The 

 best modes to obtain good crops, are to apply com- 

 post manure, and plough deep. He did not subsoil, 

 but he regarded deep ploughing highly important to 

 the production of good crops. He could not per- 

 ceive how a large farm could be managed, if the 

 land was in grass only one or two years, as it 

 would be mostly in tillage. He would recommend 

 taking up no more land than can be managed well. 

 He recommended more grass seed to the acre than 

 had been named. He would sow one and a half 

 bushels of red top, 16 lbs. of clover, and more than 

 half a bushel of herds grass. In his section ashes 

 were the most profitable manure for grass lands, 

 and the leached was equally as good. 



Hon. Mr. Sprague, of Duxbury, said that his 

 land was dry, and he was troubled for good pas- 

 turage. He cut his hay on a meadow. In the fall 

 he turns over the sod, manures well, and sows down 



