136 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Table shoiving (Jomjiosition of Clovers and Grasses. 



Protein. 



Fiber. 



Ash. 



Nitrogen 



Free 

 Extract. 



Fat. 



Alfalfa bay, . 

 Red clover hay, 

 Alsike clover hay, 

 Timothy hay, . 

 Kentucky blue grass hay, 

 Redtop hay, . 



Per Cent. 

 14.3 



12.1 

 1-2.8 



6.0 

 10.4 



7.9 



Per Cent. 

 25.0 



21.9 



2.5.6 



29.6 



19.6 



28.6 



Per Cent. 

 7.4 



6.6 



8..S 

 4.5 



Per Cent. 

 42.7 



33.8 



40.7 



41.9 



50.4 



47.5 



Per Cent. 

 2.2 



4.5 



2.9 



3.0 



2.5 



1.9 



1 Table taken from " Encyclopedia of Agriculture," by Wilcox and Smith. 



If the life of alfalfa fields is to be only three or four years, 

 and there is to be constant eifort to keep up the growth even 

 that long, alfalfa culture will not be a success here. 



I heard Mr. Ellis, one of your leading dairymen from near 

 Boston, say a couple of years ago that he was paying $10 a 

 ton in Nebraska for alfalfa, and the freight was costing him 

 $10 more to land it in Boston, making $20 in all, and that he 

 considered it cheap feed at this price. If a ton of red clover 

 is so nearly equal in feeding value to a ton of alfalfa, and 

 you farmers in Massachusetts can grow 4 tons of clover to 

 the acre without efibrt, then you had better hold fast to that 

 which is good, and bend your best efforts to clover produc- 

 tion until the alfalfa problem is solved for New England. 



To summarize and conclude, I will say, in your grass 

 growing give good tillage and preparation. Rotate your 

 crops, and don't expect your land to yield one crop indefi- 

 nitely. Be careful in the selection of kind and quality of 

 the seed. Don't attempt to grow grass on sour land. Be 

 careful of your farmyard manures ; they are the most valua- 

 ble asset of the farm. Study the proper use of commercial 

 fertilizers ; cut early, to avoid running the grass out. In 

 clover production do all these things, but 1)e more careful 

 about drainage, soil acidity and proper cutting and curing ; 

 and by all means don't allow advertising schemes of any 

 kind to lead you away from giving any crop the conditions 

 nearest to which the Creator and nature intended it to have. 



I trust that the points in grass and clover production 



