No. 4.] GRASS AND CLOVER. 137 



which I have presented appeal to you as being rational and 

 practical. They are the principles in the observing of which 

 we are able to gather into onr barns 41/^ tons to the acre the 

 first year and 3^ tons the second year, — nearly 8 tons of 

 valualjle hay in two years. This yield is not as large as 

 some that we hear so much about, but we do not use extreme 

 methods or excessive amounts of seeds or fertilizers. 



Aside from the minor things which enter into the manage- 

 ment of each farm, I submit these methods to you Massachu- 

 setts men as beino- such as each of vou can carry out on vour 

 own farms. 



I thank you for the privilege of presenting this important 

 topic before your Board, for your fine attention and interest 

 in what I have had to say, and will be glad to answer any 

 questions that I can. 



Hon. Wm. R. Sessions (of Springfield) . While the pro- 

 fessor is getting his breath, I want to have a gentleman in 

 the room tell us a little of his experience. He owns a patch 

 of ground located near the old schoolhouse where I went to 

 school, and I have known that patch of ground for sixty- 

 five years. It was such a field as the professor has spoken 

 of; it never has been plowed or reseeded in that length of 

 time. A year ago he took hold of it, and I saw a magnificent 

 crop there. I wish Mr. Bliss of Willn^aham Avould tell us 

 what he did with that patch of land. 



Mr. Ethelbert Bliss (of Wilbraham). It was rather a 

 moist field, and the underground was so stony it was impos- 

 sible to plow it. The grasses had become all killed out, — 

 that is, the good grasses. I took it right after haying, and 

 put the double-action cut-away harrow on it, and run it there 

 until we cut the ground thoroughly, — made it quite fine. 

 We did that several times, let it lie two Aveeks or so, and 

 went over it again ; I kept at it until it looked like a plo\vcd 

 field. Then I fertilized it, and sowed timothy, redtop and 

 alsike clover seed. That is all I did to it, but the results 

 were far beyond my expectations. I don't know just the 

 amount of hay we got there, but it certainly was a heavy 

 crop for us to gi*ow. The second crop also was (|uitc^ heavy. 



Question. How heavily did you fertilize it? 



