16 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



pastures at least once a 3'ear, in order to keep clown the weeds, 

 and find that it pays' them well to do so. 



Mr. II. M. Porter. I see a great many pastures full of 

 little hummocks of moss ; how should such a pasture be 

 treated 'i 



Mr. Cotton. I believe that this condition shows the need 

 of lime, and slioidd use it myself. I should also put on a 

 disk harrow to tear up the moss and put in seed. 



Mr. A. M. Lyman. I have been trying to get land into 

 pasture as fast as I can, by taking small lots and fertilizing 

 and seeding them, and then fencing them in, and have found 

 rye very useful, both to seed in and for spring feeding. Some- 

 times we feed it in the fall, if it comes along better than we 

 expected. It serves a double purpose, giving early spring 

 feed and serving as a protection to the grass. I have also 

 found clover an excellent thing to use in a pasture mixture. 

 It is always wise not to depend entirely on the pastures, but to 

 have something that can be fed at the barn, to help out if the 

 pasture feed gets short. 



Mr. C. P. Aldricii. Does moss mean reduced fertility ? 



Mr. Cotton. Ordinarily it does, but sometimes it comes 

 in abundantly after land is cleared of timber, and there it 

 cannot be due to depleted fertility. I am not sure that the 

 moss comes to stay, in such cases, but think that certain 

 species of ferns and brakes would come up through it in 

 time. 



Prof. F. W. Rank. I have been greatly interested in the 

 way Mr. Cotton has l)rought this question before us. I was 

 especially pleased with the way in which he brought out 

 the question as to where the line should be drawn between 

 lands that should be kept for pasture and those which should 

 be allowed to grow up to wood. Just where it is to be drawn 

 is always a question, as some pastures that seem to be worth 

 very little will be found, on investigation, to be producing 

 a good deal of feed. While T am a forester, I cannot agree 

 that everything but lands lliat onght to be kept in general 

 agriculture should bo ]>ut into forests; but there are many 

 lands which are much more valuable for forest growth than 



