MAMKK ON n aii:y-kai:ms. 11.'? 



stomach of a cow may not allow licr to cat nine tons of hay a year, 

 but ll will allow liiT to cat six tons; ami if these six tons contain 

 as >niu h nutriment as iho nine tons, what is the real tliHerenee in 

 iLs vahie * Unlinarily we slioul 1 i)rol)ahly timatc the one at 

 fit) per ton, anil the ntlrr at ifl."). Hut accnnliut; to the altove 

 licures, oiu- is worth |l<i per i<mi ant! the other ^21. To pt rich 

 i:nis.>., tlien-forr, shoultl he liie aim of th<' American dairyman. I 

 hope ilic Deacon begins to see what connection this lias witli a 

 luruc pile of rich maiiure. 



1 do not mean merely a heavy frrowth of srniss, hut jrrass con- 

 tjiining a hi^'li |Hrccnt;i;;e of nutriment. Our lonir wintirs and 

 heavy snows an- a ^n-at advantage to us in this n'sjx'ct. Our 

 jirass in the sprinu', after its h>n;^ rest, oupht to i-tart up like aspara- 

 gus, and, un»l<r the omanizinjr inthnnce of our clear skies, and 

 jMiwerful sun, ou^hl to hv e.vi-eidinyly nutritious. C'ompanilively 

 few farmers, however, live up to their priv ieires in this respect. 

 Our climate is bett»r tiian our farmim:, tlie sim richer than our 

 nci:le<'tcd soil. Emjland may be able to produce more j,'rass jkt 

 acru in a y&ir than we can, but we ouiiht to produce richer gras.s, 

 an<l, conwqurntly, more clicest^ to a cow. And I believe, in fact, 

 that .sucli is often the C3\sc. Tiie f'nj;lisli dairvuKin has tlie advan- 

 tacre of a longer season of growth. We have a .sJiorter sea^^on but 

 abrii^hler sun, and if wc do not have riclier uT'iiS it is due to the 

 want of draining, chan culture, and manu. Iiig. The <»bject of 

 American dairymen should b( , not oid_\ to cotain more gra.>;s per 

 acre, but to increase its nutriment in a <:iV( n bulk. If we could 

 increase it one-half, making six tons ••'.j-.cii to nine tons, wc have 

 shown that it is nearly three times as vaaiable. Whether this can 

 be dime, I have not now lime to consiicr; but at any rate if your 

 land produces as many weeds as do some fields on my farm, not 

 to say the Deacon's, and if the plant-food that these weeds absorb, 

 could be oriranized by nutritious gra.sscs, this alone would do a 

 good deal towanls accompli>hing the object. Whether this can be 

 done or not, we want cows that can eat and turn to good account 

 as much food p'T annum as ^s contained in ni'-e tons of orcMnary 

 nieadow-hay ; and we want this nutriment in a bulk not exceeding 

 six tons of hay. If ponttOAf, we should get this amount of nutri- 

 ment in grass or hay. But if we can not d(; this, wc must feed 

 eiumijk concentrated food to bring it up to the desired standard. 



" But will it pay ? " asked the Deacon •, " I have not much faith 

 in buying feed. A farnjcr ought to raise o7erything he fer-ds ojt ' 



