100 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The question comes up here in relation to the kind of grass 

 which it is desirable to cultivate in pastures. Whitetop is not 

 a profitable grass to grow in pastures. It does very well up to 

 the fifteenth day of July, it then goes to seed, and from that 

 time, or from the first of August, when it has dropped its seed, 

 it will not keep any kind of stock any better than rye or oat 

 straw after the seed has been thrashed out. Herdsgrass is not 

 a desirable grass to be put into a permanent pasture ; it runs 

 out there. Redtop is the most desirable of the grasses to cultivate 

 in pastures ; it holds its vitality through the better part of the 

 season, so that the stock keep in good condition until the time 

 of snow-fall. White clover is a very desirable pasture plant, 

 and in a clay soil, it is very likely to predominate. Lime, ashes, 

 and plaster all have a tendency to increase the growth of clover. 

 Now, I wish to advance the idea that white clover is the best 

 quality of feed for anything that gives milk. I believe you can 

 produce a better quality of butter and cheese from white clover 

 than from any other grass. 



Prof. Agassiz. — I would make a remark which I believe bears 

 upon a point which is not fully taken into consideration. I am 

 struck with the different views presented by Mr. Perkins, on so 

 many points, from those of other gentlemen. I have no doubt 

 it arises from the fact, that his land is over a thousand feet 

 above tide water. A difference of eleven hundred feet, in a 

 country like this, must make a very marked difference in the 

 general character of the vegetation, and I think that difference 

 ought to be kept in view. I know positively, that in Switzer- 

 land, where Alpine pasturage is very extensively carried on, 

 there is a complete difference in the vegetation upon which the 

 cattle are sustained at different heights. In fact, cattle which 

 are raised in the Alps are raised upon plants which they never 

 get as food in the lower part of the same country ; and there is 

 on that account a very marked difference both in the size of the 

 cattle and in their character as producers. I would like, there- 

 fore, to have the lay of the land given, with reference to its 

 height above the level of the sea, when any observations are 

 made concerning its fertility or the character of its vegetation, 

 because, no doubt, there must be a marked difference. 



Wm. Elliot, of Greenfield. — I would like to inquire if sheep 

 will eat Canada thistles ? I Ijave heard that they would eat 

 them in preference to good hay. 



