Agriculture is the most healthful, the most useful, and the most 
noble employment of Man.— Washington . 
VOL. II. NEW YORK, JULY, 1843. NO, IV. 
A. B. Allen, Editor. Saxton & Miles, Publishers, 205 Broadway. 
MEADOW LANDS. 
Mowing. —It is an old and oft-repeated adage* 
which has long passed current among out farmers, 
that in cutting grass, “ an inch at bottom is worth 
two at the topand they practise accordingly, 
and mow their meadows as close to the ground 
as possible. Now so far as clover and herds-grass 
are concerned, we deny the truth of the adage en¬ 
tirely ; for near to the ground the stalks of these 
grasses are coarse and dry, and the leaves decayed, 
and they are consequently divested of nearly all 
their nutritive quality ; it is therefore adding noth¬ 
ing to the value of the hay to cut so close, and it 
often does the meadows great injury. If dry 
weather follows immediately after close mowing, 
the stubs of grass left so short, and even the tops 
of the roots get so scorched under the hot sun, that 
vegetation will not start again during summer, and 
the ground is left quite bare during the following 
winter, which is injurious to the meadow, and an 
early start of the grass the following spring. In 
cutting herds-grass and clover, we would therefore 
be cautious about mowing too close; red top and 
some of the natural grasses, especially those in 
water-meadows, may be cut nearer the ground. 
After Management. —No sooner is the hay ta¬ 
ken off the meadows, than many are in the habit 
of turning their cattle on to them for pasturage, 
which we conceive to be nearly as injurious as 
close mowing; for any grass which may have es¬ 
caped the scythe, is sure to be gnawed down by a 
hungry herd of animals. Our practice has been as 
soon after mowing as possible, to give the mead¬ 
ows a slight top dressing of compost, and a small 
quantity of plaster of Paris, or leached ashes, and 
to shut off all stock till the grass has got well up, 
and then turn into pasture, taking care to keep the 
cattle out during wet or frosty weather, so that 
they might not endanger poaching the land. In. 
this way, on lands of only a moderate degree of 
fertility, we have been able to cut an average prod¬ 
uct of one and a half tons of hay annually per acre, 
besides getting a considerable amount of pasture 
from them; and at the same time, we think that 
we have rather increased the fertility of the mead¬ 
ows than otherwise, and improved the herbage. 
W e are careful to beat the manure fine early in the 
spring, which has been dropped by the cattle pas^ 
turing on the meadows the preceding fall. 
Time of Cutting Hay and Grain.— W e think 
