TO IMPROVE THE HAY CROP. 215 



marked that hay fed directly from the mow spends much hotter 

 than when it is moved from one harn to another ; and we liave 

 no doubt it is so, as the hay cannot be moved without losing a 

 portion of its aroma. More reprehensible still is the practice of 

 pitching on the barn floor over night what may be required to 

 be fed out in the morning. We should as soon think of taking 

 out of the tea-chest at one meal the allowance to be steeped at 

 the next. 



As a final suggestion for the improvement of our hay crop, 

 we would mention a little more attention to the mowing lots. 

 We draw on these lots annually year after year, and often make 

 no deposits by which to enable them to honor our drafts. This 

 is too much after the manner of the horseleech, which cries, 

 " give, give." There is a homely proverb which says "We can't 

 get something for nothing; " but many farmers act as though 

 they could get grass for nothing. It is wonderfully cheap, and 

 grows in spite of neglect ; but there is a limit to the capacity of 

 our meadows and pastures to produce even grass. Already the 

 average production of the meadows of Massachusetts is less than 

 one. ton per acre, and some three or four acres of pasture are 

 required to support a cow ; whereas the average of hay should 

 be two tons per acre, and a cow should not be compelled to 

 traverse more than one hundred and sixty square rods of graz- 

 ing for her support. How shall we bring the grass lands of 

 Massachusetts up to this standard ? We answer, by the two 

 simple means of tile and manure. We formerly thought that 

 manure was the foundation of good farming, but our later expe- 

 rience is that draining is the first thing. They certainly work 

 well together, and neither is fully efficient without the other ; 

 but draining comes first in order of time. More of our land 

 needs draining than is commonly supposed. Wherever water 

 stands after a shower, or the coarse herbage shows that the roots 

 have a watery bed, there the tile are necessary before remuner- 

 ative crops can be obtained. An energetic manufacturer, who 

 has lately turned his energies to farming, recently said to us : 

 " Tile work like magic on my land. Where my horses could 

 hardly walk even in a dry time I now can plough immediately 

 after a rain." Such is the experience of all who have tried 

 thorough drainage. Not only can the land be worked immedi- 

 ately after a rain, but a fortnight or a month earlier in the 



