46 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



while the other, if sold at all, will be deficient in quality and 

 weight. 



Now the question is, how can pastures be improved with 

 such limited expense that the additional income will repay, or 

 more than repay the outlay ; for unless this can be done, it is 

 not considered profitable farming. This, I find, is the most 

 difficult part of the subject. There is so much difference in 

 soils, in locations, and in the circumstances of the owners of 

 the soils, that it is difficult forming a general rule ; but all these 

 things should be taken into consideration, for what is profitable 

 in one case, might not be in another. 



And first, I would say, that pastures should not be fed too 

 close, as close feeding tends to bind them out. Some pastures 

 may be profitably improved by the ordinary manner of cultiva- 

 tion and manuring, others by top-dressing with compost ma- 

 nure, and others by ploughing, sowing with rye and hay seed, 

 and feeding the rye instead of cutting it. But pastures cannot 

 be improved in this way but to a limited extent, for most 

 farmers want nearly all their manure for their mowing land, 

 and many pastures cannot be conveniently ploughed, in conse- 

 quence of hills, rocks, and other obstacles. Leached or dry 

 ashes do well on some lands, but these cannot be procured but 

 in limited quantities. 



The best and cheapest way of renovating pasture lands, is 

 by using gypsum on such land as is benefited by it. It can be 

 procured in any quantity, — will cost but about thirty cents per 

 bushel, and will require about one and a half or two bushels to 

 the acre, per year. Some land, however, receives but little or 

 no benefit from it. And some farmers object to its use, on the 

 ground that of itself it aff"ords the plant no nourishment, and 

 that, consequently, it will injure or exhaust the land. Now, in 

 reply, I would say that I am no chemist, and shall not attempt 

 to give the why or the wherefore in regard to its operation, but 

 would simply say that I have seen its effects on pastures for 

 more than thirty years, without ploughing or any other dress- 

 ing, except what has been dropped by the cattle, and they are 

 now among tlie best pastures in the vicinity. And further, if 

 pastures can be improved six fold, as I have often seen them. 



