354 EFFECT OP FALL FEEDING. 



And another : " The feeding of dry mowing injures it 

 By causing it to run out, leaving the roots exposed to 

 the winter, while moist land is injured by the cattle's 

 feet much more than the value of the feed, in both cases 

 taking all off, and leaving nothing to renovate the land 

 another season." 



An experienced farmer in one of the best grazing 

 towns of Massachusetts says : " It is now more than 

 twenty years since I have allowed any kind of domestic 

 animal to feed upon our mown lands, and my opinion 

 previously has been fully confirmed by my experience. 

 It is a decided benefit to let the after-growth remain 

 upon the land ; it is a protection from summer's drought 

 and winter's cold. Some of my neighbors are following 

 my example." And another : " I sometimes feed off my 

 after-grass. When I do feed it off, I take good care to 

 feed it early, and leave a good growth to protect the 

 roots of the grass from frost in winter. I think it an 

 injury to feed ; mowings will last longer not to be fed 

 at all, and the land when broken up will produce a bet- 

 ter crop of com or potatoes than if fed." 



Prom these extracts it will appear that the practice 

 of fall feeding is very general, while the good judgment 

 of practical farmers almost unanimously condemns it as 

 injurious, especially to feed closely and late in the sea- 

 son. The reasons assigned for the practice are, chiefly, 

 the necessity generally felt for feed at that season of 

 the year, and the importance, in some situations, — par- 

 ticularly on interval lands, — of removing all protection 

 for the mice, which frequently prove very destructive 

 to the roots when buried with the snow in winter. All 

 condemn the practice of too close feeding, under all 

 circumstances. 



The fall growth collects the elements of a thrifty 

 growth in the following spring. These are stored up 



