155 



replied it would be very expensive, as much manure would be 

 required, as well as much labor ; and again, I could not get a 

 good crop of hay under four years, as it would require two 

 years to get the ground in good tilth, and two more after being 

 seeded down to obtain a good crop. I promised to let him 

 know the result of my experiment the next year ; which I did. 

 It was on a ten acre lot that had not been turned over for mamj 

 years, that I expended upon it about seventy -Jive dollars in ma- 

 nure of a compost kind ; which was applied late in the fall of 

 the year. In the following season, in July, I cut (1st crop) 

 nineteen tons ; in September following (2d crop) six tons, mak- 

 ing twenty-five (25) tons on the same land on which I only 

 cut the year before eight and one-half (8^) tons for first and 

 second crops inclusive ! Was not this experiment and result 

 sufficient to encourage future top dressing ? 

 Oak Hill, South Danvers, Nov. 1, 1862. 



SHEEP. 



[The following communication from Mr. Charles Corliss of 

 Haverhill — -which was received too late for insertion with the 

 JReport on Sheep — will interest those who are engaged in 

 sheep-husbandry ; and may perhaps induce others to try the 

 experiment.] 



Db. Geokge B. Loring : 



Dear Sir : — Circumstances, unexpected and beyond my con- 

 trol, have so drawn upon my time as to prevent an earlier 

 compliance with your request, " that I would write you in 

 regard to my flock of sheep, my mode of feeding, manage- 

 ment, &c." I keep about thirty head, mostly " Cotswolds ; " 



