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in Tennessee. Among them is the white top (Erigeron Philadephi- 

 cum) or fleabane. This is a perennial, and sometimes infests 

 meadows to such an extent as to render them worthless. Meadows 

 troubled with them should be mown several years in succession 

 when the white top begins to blossom. Broom grass (Andropogon 

 scoparius) is also very pestiferous, destroying meadows after four or 

 five years unless closely watched, and the broom grass cut up by 

 the roots every spring. The trumpet creeper (Bignonia radicans} 

 infests meadows in rich bottom lands, and when cut off by the 

 mower forms hard knots, which will arrest the action of the sickle. 

 This vine should be dug up "root and branch." White clover and 

 blue-grass are both great enemies to the meadow, and when they 

 prevail to any extent it is best to use the meadow as a pasture, and 

 sow another meadow somewhere else. 



A top dressing of superphosphate or of stable manure every fall,, 

 after a crop of hay is taken off, will also do much to keep down, 

 noxious weeds and grasses. The farmer should always bear in 

 mind that meadows require to be regularly fed. It is too much to, 

 expect that they will grow heavy crops of hay year after year with- 

 out exhausting the elements in the soil which go to make hay. 

 These elements must be supplied. Restitution must be made if the 

 farmer expects to have luxuriant and profitable meadows. The 

 best rule to adopt is, never to take off a crop of hay without making 

 a liberal application of manure. 



A WORD ABOUT MANURES. 



The people of the South have much to learn in regard to the success- 

 ful management of meadow lands. Many farmers seem to think it 

 possible to take large crops of hay from the same land year after year 

 without adding any fertilizers. This is a grand mistake. One had 

 just as well expect to check on his bank account day after day with- 

 out making additions to his deposits, as to check on the soil for 

 large crops without properly feeding the land which grows them. 



The question we ought to consider is, how to manage meadows- 

 after they are properly sown and a stand of grass secured, so as not 

 only to keep up their fertility, but to increase their power of 

 production. 



This question is so well understood by English farmers that they 

 seldom take a crop of hay from a piece of land without making a 



