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acre be idle. There is our true interest. Cotton, tobacco, rice, 

 hemp and sugar need laborers, but grass does not. If we sow our 

 lands in grass we can do without so much labor. The indisposition 

 of farmers to take advantage of experience is shown in the follow- 

 ing case, which is in point : 



"I know a rocky lot of about six acres which I myself sowed in 

 1835. During last year (1870) it afforded a profit to the present 

 owner of full $10 per acre. The owner has no grass on the balance 

 of his land, and does not intend to have any. He has lived during 

 his whole life in sight of rich pastures of blue grass, and knows 

 that his whole tract will produce as good grass as those pastures, 

 yet he will not sow grass. The reader will say that this farmer, 

 with his six rocky acres of blue-grass, is a singular man. But he 

 is not very singular, because hundreds of farmers here know just 

 as well the value of blue-grass as he does, and yet they do not 

 sow it. 



It is generally conceded that the lands most productive of blue- 

 grass are the calcareous soils. Lime is a natural stimulant to it, 

 and it flourishes best where natural supplies of this salt are found. 

 Go into a pasture that has an occasional out-cropping of limestone, 

 and the sprigs of grass surrounding the rocks will be found more 

 luxuriant than anywhere else. Our lower silurian formation then, 

 wherever found, may be safely sown in this grass. The Basin of 

 Middle Tennessee, and the valleys of East Tennessee, are all well 

 suited for this grass, and I have seen some good sods in Carroll 

 county, West Tennessee. It also grows upon many places amongst 

 the hills of the rivers, though not so luxuriantly as in the black 

 loams of the silurian and devonian formations. Lime, though a 

 great stimulant to its growth, is not an essential ingredient in the 

 soil. Blue grass will always grow well under walnut and locust 

 trees. 



We have in Middle and East Tennessee the same character of 

 soil that exists in the blue-grass country of Kentucky, and, owing 

 to our milder climate, can produce a better winter pasturage than 

 can be produced in the colder climate of Kentucky. Little land 

 exists in Tennessee but what will produce this grass profitably. 



Select the lot to be sown, and clean off all brush, leaves and 

 briars. If it cannot be done with a stalk-rake, use hand- rakes, as 

 the seed must come in contact with the soil. Seed sown on a bed 



