352 OPINIONS OF FARMERS. 



feeding speak like the following, from a practical farmer, 

 who says : " I feed off slightly, although it would prob- 

 ably be better for the next crop if I did not. My cows, 

 however, like it, and, as they pay me well at the milk- 

 pail, I like to see them enjoy themselves." Another, 

 in answer to the questions of the circular, " Do you 

 feed off the after-growth of your mowing lands in the 

 fall? Do you think it an injury or a benefit to the 

 field to feed it off?" says, "I do generally, but con- 

 sider it an injury to the field." Another says : " I do 

 feed off, moderately, the after-growth of my mowing 

 fields, and believe the grass worth much more so fed 

 than if left on the ground to rot. A dense mass of 

 dead grass is also much in the way of the scythe and 

 the rake, the next year." A practical farmer in another 

 section of the country says : " I feed off the after- 

 growth of mowing lands only when I am compelled to 

 do so in dry seasons, for want of pasture. I think it an 

 injury to feed off, unless there is a large growth, which 

 is better to be eaten, so that it will not fall down and 

 heat the roots and kill them." 



Another says : " I feed my mowing lands in the fall, 

 and think it is a benefit to the field in all cases where a 

 top-dressing is used, and of no injury to an old field 

 that is ploughed once in three or four years. Where a 

 large growth of after-feed remains on the land, it is like 

 mulching trees, kills the grass-roots and makes a grand 

 shelter in winter for mice." Another farmer says : " I 

 feed it off and then top-dress it, and think it a benefit 

 to the land, but should consider it an injury if I did not 

 top-dress." An experienced practical farmer writes me 

 as follows : " I feed it off, but think it an injury to the 

 field to do so, and I should much prefer not to feed 

 mowing lands at all. The grass holds in longer, and is 

 of better quality. I feed it off because it is necessary 



