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THE GENESEE FARMEK. 145 '^^^ 



B. I thought, perhaps, yoa might ha-ve picked up something ia your travels in Europe that 

 would be better for permanent meadows than our own grasses. 



A. The English sow a vast varrety of grasses on land they intend laying down for gra2dng 

 purposes, and it is possible that some of these might prove of advantage here, but there is none 

 that, without trial, I would recommend to you. The climate and the natm-e of farm operations are 

 60 different in England to what ihcj are or ever can be with us, that any grass that is of great value 

 to the British farmer woiild probably be useless here. Thus, vetches ;ire the best crop a British 

 fai'mer can grow for succulent summer food for "soiling" his horses, milch cows, <fcc. Imnaense 

 crops of them can be grown, and they are very nutritious; horses and cattle are exceeding fond of 

 them, and, best of all, they are a good substitute for a summer fallow on heavy land — smothering 

 all weeds, exhausting the soil but little, and leaving the land in first rate condition for the following 

 wheat crop : yet Scotch and English farm«-s have repeatedly attempted to grow vetches here, but 

 viithout succesa. Italian rye grass is worthy a trial, especially in the Southern States. I think it 

 would succeed well there, but I doubt if it would be of much service here. It is principally prized 

 in England as an early food for ewes and lambs in sp-iing, affording good feed three weeks or a 

 mauth earlier than clover. It is a good substitute for rye, which formely was extensively grown 

 for this purpose. When Italian rye grass is once in the ground, it will last for many years. It is 

 destroyed only with great ditticidty, and hence should not be sown except for permanent meadow 

 or grazing land. 



B. I think hay, when it sells as it has for the past year or two in Eochester for $12 to $15 per 

 ton, is about as profitable a crop as wheat, and is attended with less labor and expense. I heard 

 you say some time since, that you were going to sow guano on your b:-g meadow this spring ; do 

 you think it will pay ? If it will, I would like to get a ton aad sow on my ten acre naeadow. 



A. I cannot tell, but intend trying it. I think it Avill pay better on grass than on either wheat 

 or corn — inasmuch as hay sells for a proportionally higher price. In England they use large 

 quantities on their permanent me-adows, and when I was there hay was only worth §15 per ton 

 gross ; so that if pays them at that price, I think it must pay us. 



B. What is guano worth now, and how would you sow it? 



A. It is in great demand at present, but I believe they have not raised the price which is $45 to 

 $50 per ton for the genuine Peruvian, and I should have no other. Saldana Bay and other cheap 

 kinds are generally as dear as they are cheap. The best way of using it, I should thin'k, would be 

 to make it into a compost with peat or some good loam, and let it lie all winter, spreading it on 

 the meadow early in the spring. This year, however, I cannot do this, and shall sow it broadcast 

 250 lbs. per acre, in as showery weather as we may chance to have. I have seen where part of a 

 grass field had been sown with guano, and a part not, the cattle would eat the grass an the part 

 guanoed quite close, while there was a good bite untouched on the unguanoed portion. This was 

 probably owing — not as has been supposed, from the guanoed grass being more nutritious, but 

 because it was younger, more succulent and tender, growing with greater fresnness and rapidity 

 than the otlier grass. 



B. I once observed the same thing on some grass on which I had spread quite a quantity of old 

 leached ashes; the moss disappeared, the grass assumed a rich, dark color, and the cows eat it 

 closer than on the part not so dressed. 



A. From the Gardener's Chronicle I should judge that the Rev. Mr. Smith was the great agricul- 

 tiu'al lion in England just now. Ho has revived the old Tullian system of planting and hoeing 

 wheat, &e., and grows immense crops of wheat on the same land each year without manure, 

 simply by forking the land eighteen inches deep, and frequently hoeing it during spring and 

 summer. He is said to have raised eighty bushels of wheat per acre in this way. He finds this 

 method of fertilizing the soil, by forking and hoeing, far more economical than purchasing guano, &c. 



B. I saw some accounts of it in the December number of the Genesee Farmer. The editor 

 embraced the opportunity to give us a good lecture on the advantages of clean culture and thorough 

 pidverizati>on of the soil, but he did not endorse the statement that these large crops could be grown 

 for any length of time without manure, simply by forking and hoeing the soil. 



A. No ; Dr. Lee has too long contested the abused idea that we can annually remove from a 

 soil the elements of crops without impoverishing it to endorse such opinions. He has always said 

 of the soil, as poor Richard said cf the meal tub, " always taking out, and never j^utting in, soon 

 comes to the bottom." It appears to me there must be some exaggeration iri these statements. 



