29 



per acre ; on the rotation mowings the average must be close to 3 

 tons. 



We possess the most exact records concerning one of the fields of the 

 experiment station. This field has an area of a little more than 9 

 acres. Most of it was seeded about 1898, and none of it was reseeded 

 until the summer of 1902. Between 1893 and 1902 the average yield 

 for the entire area was 6,619 pounds. In 1902 the average was less, for 

 a part of the land was plowed after the first crop and reseeded in August. 

 This portion of the land, however, gave us in 1903 the heaviest crop we 

 have ever obtained, the average per acre for the entire area for that year 

 amounting to 8,104: pounds. The average j-ield for the entire period, 1893 

 to 1903 inclusive, has amounted to almost exactly 6,600 pounds per acre. 

 The average cost of the manure or fertilizer applied to this land annually 

 amounts to about $12 per acre ; the annual cost of securing the crop to a 

 little over f 8 ; the annual profit on the crop to about $20 per acre. The 

 figures given, which are verified by the most accurate records, make it 

 sufficiently evident that land of the right character devoted to the i)ro- 

 duction of hay may be made exceedingly profitable. It appears to me 

 evident that the 9 acres under discussion must have an actual value to 

 an intelligent farmer of at least $350 per acre. The average profit, 

 whatever we may hold concerning the value of the land, amounts to 

 more than 5 per cent annual return on the figure which has been named. 



The facts which have been cited make it perfectly evident that the 

 possibilities of the hay crop are vastly beyond the actual results obtained 

 by the average farmer. It may be objected that the land of the college 

 farm at Amherst is especially adapted to grass ; that it is better than 

 the average land of the State. Both of these statements are undoubtedly 

 true ; but, on the other hand, the value of the hay crop in Amherst is 

 lower than in the average town of the State, and the chances for profit 

 on the crop in most sections must under intelligent management be 

 nearly equal to the chances for profit in Amherst, for the crops to which 

 reference has been made have not been produced by extravagant use 

 of manure or fertilizer, nor under any system of management not prac- 

 ticable for the average farmer of the State. The average mowings of 

 the State are sadly neglected. Their owners practise, at least, as if 

 they expected "out of nothing to get something." Ev6ry season when- 

 ever rainfall is deficient and the weather hot we read in the crop reports 

 that " grass in the old mowings is suffering, and will be a vei^ short 

 crop."' These old mowings are neglected mowings. They have not 

 been manured or fertilized, or they have not been reseeded ; and it is 

 unreasonable to expect they will give good crops, unless the conditions 

 are unusually favorable. 



The character of soil which best suits grass is pretty generally 

 understood. The strong, retentive soils which hold moisture well are 

 the natural grass lands. The production of hay upon these can be made 

 most easily profitable ; but l)y suitable selection of varieties of grasses 

 and clovers even some of the lighter soils may be made to yield profit- 

 able crops. On the other hand, the State contains large areas of low 

 lands which 8i;fi"er at the present time from excess of water, and which 



