SECRETARY'S REPORT. 263 



mostly peat bottom. This meadow I treat as above. The three 

 acres, mostly rich, sandy loam, over clay, have been tilled three 

 years last past. The crop in 1864 was, of beets, 600 bushels ; 

 carrots, 250 bushels ; potatoes, 180 bushels ; turnips, 150 bush- 

 els ; corn, 50 bushels ; with a few loads of pumpkins. In 1865, 

 sowed barley, with clover and timothy ; got one hundred bushels, 

 then turned my cows into clover to their knees. The other lots 

 are used for mowing and pasture. My experience is, that a rich 

 pasture for milch cows is cheapest in the end. Therefore, I pas- 

 ture two or three years, then manure on top and mow for awhile, 

 thus keeping my meadows in good order, free from unsightly 

 bunches, and allowing the good grasses an opportunity to gain a 

 foothold. 



" While speaking of the meadows, I would say that from them 

 I get, annually, peat sufficient for two families' fuel ; then fill the 

 hole and raise hay equally as well as before. The twelve acre 

 lot is a sandy loam, well adapted for tillage. In 1864 I had 

 three acres in corn, which yielded 210 bushels shelled ; 1865, 

 four acres in corn, 160 bushels ; one acre potatoes, 180 bushels ; 

 one acre beets, carrots and turnips, from which I took about 600 

 bushels. The season was very dry, and vegetation suffered 

 severely for want of rain. 



" My method of manuring has been uniform, and the result, 

 on the whole, very satisfactory. For top-dressing grass lands I 

 use twenty loads, of thirty bushels each, to the acre, of compost 

 stable manure ; for tillage, twenty loads on greensward ploughed 

 in for corn ; second year, for root-crops, twenty loads ploughed 

 in, then twenty more spread on and worked in before planting ; 

 for potatoes, as above, omitting the last twenty loads, and plant 

 in hills with a forkful of kelp. Third year, sow barley or oats and 

 grass-seed without manure. As my business is confined mostly 

 to dairy produce, my chief aim is to raise grass ; and I have 

 found the above treatment produces satisfactory results. 



" Raising and feeding roots may be a hobby with me, as I let 

 no opportunity pass without bringing them under the notice of my 

 fellow-farmers. For dairy stock farming, I do not think we begin 

 to appreciate their value. Then again, how much more can be 

 raised on an acre. To be sure, last year was comparatively a 

 failure, but for the last ten years I have never raised less than 

 800 bushels to the acre, and many times twice that quantity. 



