for milch cows. The field engaged for the production of these crops 

 was not manured, because it was to be prepared for a special field 

 experiment during the following season. An area of this land 

 which, under favorable circumstances, would not produce more than 

 six tons of green grass at the time of blooming, yielded 9 to 10 tons 

 of green vetch and oats ; 10 tons of green southern cowpea ; and 

 from 12 to 13 tons of green serradella. 



The exceptional exhaustion of our lands in potash has also been 

 shown abundantly by detailed description of experiments with fodder 

 corn in previous annual reports. 



Our local results during past years tend to confirm the opinion held 

 by successtul agriculturists that dry grass lands which are in an 

 exceptional degree inclined to a spontaneous overgrowing by an infe- 

 rior class of fodder plants and weeds, if at all fit for a more thorough 

 system of cultivation, ought to be turned by the plough and subse- 

 quently planted with some hoed crop, io kill off the foul growth and 

 to improve the physical and chemical condition of the soil. 



Such lands prove in many instances, ultimately a far better invest- 

 ment when used for the raising of other fodder crops than grasses. 



The less the variety of crops raised in succession upon the same 

 lands, the more one-sided is usually tlie exhaustion of the soil, and 

 the sooner, as a rule, will be noticed a decrease in their annual yield. 



The introduction of a greater variety of fodder plants enables us 

 to meet better the differences in local conditions of climate and of 

 soil, as well as the special wants of different branches of farm indus- 

 try. In choosing plants for that purpose, it seems advisable to select 

 crops which would advantageously supplement our leading fodder 

 crop (aside from the products of pastures and meadows), — the fod- 

 der corn and corn stover. 



Taking this view of the question, the great and valuable family of 

 leguminous plants, as clovers, vetches, lucerne, serradella, peas, 

 beans, lupines, etc., is, in a particular degree, well qualified for that 

 purpose. They deserve also a decided recommendation in the inter- 

 est of a wider range, for the introduction of economical systems of 

 rotation of crops, under various conditions of soil, and different 

 requirements of markets. Most of these fodder plants have an exten- 

 sive root system, and, for this reason, largely draw their plant food 

 from the lower portion of the soil. The amount of stubble and roots 

 they leave behind after the crop has been harvested is exceptionally 

 large, and decidedly improves both the physical and chemical condi- 



