PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB 20t 



GRASS FOR SANDY SOILS. 



Solon Robinson. — I have a letter from Wm. Duane Wilson, of 

 Desmoines Iowa, a postscript of which says : 



Please have the following inquiry answered at the next meeting 

 of your Institute Club : 



What kind of grasses succeed best on sandy soils, such as yon 

 have in New Jersey ? This is a matter of considerable importance 

 to us in this State, as we have a considerable quantity of such 

 soils in Iowa, which it is desirable to turn into grass lands. 



As this is an important question, and one which some of the 

 New Jersy and Long Island farmers who attend the club can 

 answer, let us have it up for discussion at some future meeting. 

 Perhaps some one who knows will write us about it — what sort 

 of grass he grows, and how he grows it. 



Mr. Reynolds. — The common red clover is more grown in New 

 Jersey than any other hay grass. 



Wm. S. Carpenter. — I have seen white clover grow a ton and 

 a half per acre of hay upon a sandy loam. It is apt to be hove 

 out and killed in winter upon all clayey soil, but not upon sandy 

 land. 



Dr. Trimble. — If a farmer will not cut a second crop, nor 

 pasture it, it is not likely to heave out. If you dress clover 

 heavily with grass, it will not heave out. The Jersey marl will 

 bring a great crop of grass on any soil in New Jersey, no matter 

 how sandy. It is the lime and potash of the dressing that pro- 

 duces the grass ; and if grass or clover is cut before it ripens, it 

 does not exhaust the land. Much of the land in lower Jersey 

 has been restored from barrenness by the use of green sand marl. 

 There is some of the pleasantest land to cultivate in Monmouth 

 County, and there corn and grass and all other crops do grow 

 most luxuriantly, and that upon land which was almost a barren 

 waste a few years ago. 



Wm. S. Carpenter. — The Jersey farmers practice a most 

 thorough system of cultivation, so as to grow productive crops 

 instead of worthless weeds. In Westchester County the farmers 

 seem to delight in growing weeds. They allow them to grow in 

 their gardens and fields ; and, if they keep these free, they permit 

 them to seed all along the highways and railroads. 



LIGHTNING RODS. 



Solon Robinson. — I hold in my hand a letter from some " Pleas- 

 ant Hall" in some State, I suppose, though the writer forgets to 



