Cultivation of the Grasses and 



cotton and the cereals, with a large proportion 

 in forage plants and grasses, would give to the 

 cotton planter a pleasure in his business and 

 an amount of real profit which he has never 

 before known. 



But this subject has been sufficiently con- 

 sidered. The importance of grass culture has 

 been proved by reference to the fact, that 

 landed estate in Europe and America sells 

 high or low in proportion to the attention 

 given to the cultivated grasses, the human 

 pulse not being a surer indication of the con- 

 dition of the human body. And by these 

 grasses we are enabled to use profitably our 

 land with comparatively little care and anx- 

 iety on our part, and the employment of little 

 of our present expensive and unreliable labor. 



The following condensed statement of the 

 value of the grass and hay crop, extracted 

 from the Hay, Straw and Grain Reporter, will 

 be read with interest. 



THE GREATEST CROP IN THE WORLD. 



A question widely discussed involves the 

 relative value of the wheat, cotton, tea, and 

 hay crops of the world. Which of these pro- 

 ducts employ the greatest amount of the 

 world's capital ? It is said that hay leads the 

 rest, and the items that enter into the account 

 as stated are somewhat startling, and will 

 make a Granger's hair stand on end. Cotton 

 and tea are local crops, while hay is produced 

 everywhere the world over, and thus the hay 

 crop greatly out-weighs either of the other 

 two. The aggregate reported value of all 

 farm products in the United States for 1870 

 was $2,447,538,658; but as this includes addi- 

 tions to stock, " betterments," etc., it is prob- 

 ably too' high. N ow the hay crop for that 

 year that is the grass dried and cured for 

 use or sold is reported at over twenty-seven 

 million tons. This, at half the selling price 

 in the large cities, would amount to $405,000,- 

 000, and is far greater than the aggregate 

 home value of the cotton crop or any other 

 crop. But the cured " hay " is but a portion 

 of the grass crop. The other portion is used 

 on the ground, and it requires considerable 

 calculation to get at the value so used, even 

 in the roughest way. In the first place, live 

 stock, including horned cattle, horses, sheep 

 swine, etc., to the value of $1,525,000,000 

 were fed from it that year. Averaging the 

 lives of these at five years, we have one-fifth 

 of that sum as representing the grass fed to 

 them in 1870, viz : $305,000,000 ; next we find 

 the value of the animals slaughtered for 

 food in that year to be $309,000,000, and as 

 this is an annual product, the whole of it will 

 for the present be credited to the grass crop ; 

 next we find that the butter crop of 1870 was 

 five hundred and fourteen millions pounds, 

 which at the low average of twenty-five cents, 

 amounts to $128,000,000, and this goes to the 

 credit of grass ; next we have two hundred 



and thirty-five million gallons of milk, which 

 averaged at the low estimate of ten cents per 

 gallon, adds $25,000,000 more to the credit of 

 the grass crop; then we have one hundred 

 million pounds of wool at twenty-five cents 

 per pound, adding $25,000,000 more; and, 

 finally, fifty-three million pounds of cheese 

 at ten cents, adding over $5,000,000 to the 

 total credits to the grass crop of 1870, which 

 aggregates $887,000,000. Now, let us add the 

 value of the *' hay " crop as given above 

 viz : $405,000,000 and we have a grand 

 total for " hay " and the products of gniss con- 

 sumed on the ground amounting to $1,292,- 

 000,000 ! This is, of course, subject to deduc- 

 tion, as the meat, butter, milk, cheese and wool- 

 producing animals consume other food besides 

 grass and hay. To make ample allowance for 

 this, we deduct the entire value of the corn 

 and oat crops of 1870, estimated at $270,000,- 

 000, and this leaves a remainder of $1,082,- 

 000,000 to be credited to the hay and grass 

 crop of that year, when the reported aggregate 

 of all farm products was $2,447,528,658. If our 

 estimates make even the roughest approach 

 to accuracy, the value of that crop was two- 

 fifths of the aggregate value of all fa.rm pro- 

 ducts, and hence we may infer that two-fifths 

 of the capital then invested in agricultural 

 pursuits was devoted to the grass crop, and 

 this in the United States equals (in round 

 numbers) $4,575,000,000. Hay, Straw and 

 Grain Reporter. 



It is proper now to consider another impor- 

 tant question. 



WILL THE CULTIVATED GRASSES AND FORAGE 

 PLANTS GROW AT THE SOUTH ? 



There are some portions of the South, as is 

 the case in all countries, where the valuable 

 grasses will not grow. These are those por- 

 tions which have been exhausted by long-con- 

 tinued and exhausting cultivation, which are 

 naturally poor, or which contain an excessive 

 quantity of sand. 



If, however, it is meant to inquire whether 

 the climate of the South will prevent the suc- 

 cessful growth of valuable grasses, the answer 

 is given unhesitatingly in the negative. Per- 

 haps the only climate which is superior to ours 

 in this particular is that of England and Ire- 

 land, and others similarly situated. Theirs is 

 a dripping climate all the year round, and the 

 winters are so rnild that the grass is green the 

 whole year, so that winter and summer the 

 farmer has the advantage of grazing. 



But as compared with the Northern States 

 of this country, the climate of the South is 

 certainly better adapted to grass culture, if we 

 take into consideration the whole year. At 

 the North, during the whole winter and late 

 in the spring, the ground is hard frozen or 

 covered with snow. Of course, during that 

 period the grass is useless, and this constitutes 

 a large portion of the year. 



