54 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



put it in the barn. I sold the two lots of hay to Mr. New- 

 hall of Lynn. I got a dollar or two more a ton for that in 

 the barn than I did for the other. He said to me afterwards, 

 " I made a mistake when I bought that hay of you. I paid 

 you most for the bright hay. The damaged hay was a great 

 deal the best." I have often heard it remarked that salt hay 

 that is more or less colored will feed better than bright hay 

 that is put in the barn dry. I think all the farmers will 

 tell you that salt hay does not want to be too dry and hard. 



Secretary Sessions. I think you gentlemen here who 

 represent the salt marsh owners around Newburyport ought 

 to have an analysis of all these kinds of salt hay made by the 

 experiment station, and the result put on record, so that 

 people may know what they are talking about when they talk 

 about salt hay. 



QuESTiox. Will the gentleman tell us what is the esti- 

 mated value of a ton of salt hay ? 



Mr. LuNT. Well, it varies. I have known it to sell from 

 twenty dollars to five and six dollars. 



Mr. Little. I think the last speaker is in error in regard to 

 the price of salt hay as compared with English or herds grass. 

 It seems to me there is not distinction enough made between 

 the different qualities of salt hay. It varies in the different 

 localities in which it is cut. We distinjjuish between black 

 grass and salt grass, and I think good black-grass hay about 

 here sells for about two-thirds the value of English hay. If 

 salt hay is taken from the marshes and hauled to the upland 

 and cured, the quality of the hay is not so good as when it is 

 cured on the marshes. There is not the fragrance about it 

 that there is where it is cured on the marshes. It is said that 

 it damages badly in stacks. When salt hay is properly 

 stacked the damage is almost wdiolly confined to a few 

 pounds, perhaps one hundred pounds on the average, on the 

 top of the stack ; and once in a great while, when we have 

 an extra high tide, a small portion of the bottom of the stack 

 will be injured, but the bulk of the hay in the centre of the 

 stack is good. If it is properly secured when it is put in the 

 stack, it keeps better than it does if it is put in the barn. 



Mr. Evans. In regard to the matter of salt in salt hay, 

 it varies exceedingly. For instance, when we have had very 



