750 TuAXSACTioys OF THE American Institute. 



fed in summer on this grass, and tlieir condition is proverbially 

 excellent. Mr. Gibson says, " the great point is to get the crop 

 started." To do this successfully it is best to plow the ground deeply 

 in the fall, after some hoed crop, and then again in thp Spring, so as 

 to thoroughly pulverize it and fit it for the reception of small seeds. 

 The seed should be put in as early as possible in the spring to get the 

 start of the hot sun, that is, so that the young plants may have 

 growth enough to shade the rootlets. The surest method would be 

 to sow the seed in drills wide enough apart to allow the rows to be 

 tilled with a cultivator or horse-hoe, and the weeds and other grasses 

 removed, or they will choke out the lucern. This plant is exceed- 

 ingly sensitive in this respect and if it is expected to last for years it 

 must be protected from the encroachments of all such interlopers. 

 Two crops may be taken off* the first year. So rapid is the growtli 

 that the stalks will attain the length of from one to two feet between 

 tlie cuttings. Like all other leguminous plants, lucern makes exten- 

 sive drafts upon the atmosphere, and its roots, penetrating down into 

 the subsoil, draw up from beneath both moisture and valuable ele- 

 ments of growth. The farmer should select for his Incern patch a 

 spot of ground handy to the barn, where the snow, nature's coverhig, 

 will be likely to lie still during the winter ; and then, if he has been 

 painstaking in his culture, he may have an abundance of that which 

 will gladden the eyes of the restless bovine confined in the solitary 

 stable, and fill to overflowing the milk pail of the dairy maid. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Curtis for his valu- 

 able paper which, was unanimously adopted. 



Fertilizers for Corn. 

 Mr. William K'ewton, Henrietta, iSTew York : Having been enga- 

 ged last season trying experiments with difierent manures on corn, 

 and as corn planting is drawing near, I thought a report of the result 

 might be of interest. The pieces of ground on which these experi- 

 ments were made were as nearly alike as possible, each consisting of 

 ten rows of corn, extending across the field and containing two-fifths 

 of an acre. The soil is a gravelly loam. Each piece received the 

 same treatment with the exception of the manures applied. The 

 field had been mown two yeai*s before it was plowed for corn. Piece 

 !No. 1 received no manure. The other pieces were manured in 

 December, before the corn was planted, with eight two-horse loads 

 of well-rotted barn-yard manure to the acre. The results were as 



