152 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



cultivating grass land every tliird or fourth year, instead of 

 eking out poor crops by top-dressings. Much is also done in 

 raising pure seed, by which we avoid the weeds and foul grasses 

 that are introduced by careless cultivation. Those who are 

 careful of the health of their horses take pains to extirpate 

 weeds from grass fields. Next to thistles, perhaps the most 

 troul)lesome is white weed. This is found in great abundance 

 in the lower part of the county. It is occasionally seen in the 

 upper and western parts ; but the farmers consider it for their 

 interest to extirpate it, cither by pulling it up by the roots or 

 by frequent ploughing. Cattle will eat it freely, if cut early in 

 the season, but it generally blooms before the grass is fit to be 

 cut. Grass being the most easily managed and most profitable 

 of our crops, whatever hinders its growth or impairs its quality 

 should engage our earnest attention. 



The principal improvement in the cultivation of grass that 

 is now attracting the attention of the agricultural public, is 

 drainage. This has long been practiced on a large scale in 

 England, and with such success, that in thousands of instances 

 it has doubled the productiveness of land at a comparatively 

 small expense. Not swamps and meadow lands alone, but 

 ordinary uplands, a large majority of which are found to repay 

 the labor and expense of thorough draining. Every farmer is 

 aware that cold water standing around the roots of his plants 

 will kill them. They are killed in immense numbers, every 

 year, by this cause ; and tlie evils of a backward season or of 

 an early frost may be traced, in many cases, to the water which 

 freezes upon the surface or stagnates below it. And none the 

 less in our hot climate than in cooler ones ; for, although Ave 

 are liable to extremes of heat and drought, yet the average 

 .quantity of rain falling here is greater than in England, where 

 rainy days are more numerous. 



We do not propose to enter into the details of this subject — 

 neitbiCr our practical knowledge or skill justifies such an under- 

 taking. But we wish to call the attention of our society to the 

 experiments and observations of others eminently qualified to 

 instruct us. In the Patent Office Report for 1850, just pub- 

 lished, is an Essay upon Drainage, by the Hon. Henry F. 

 French, of Exeter, N. H. This essay is a valuable contribu- 

 tion to agricultural literature. 



