GRASSES, MEADOWS, AND PASTURES.™NO. 3. 
115 
place, by carefully composting that of the stables and 
pigsty, with the gleanings from the truck and flower 
gardens, muck and alluvial soils from the swamp, 
charcoal, gypsum, &c., &c. The gypsum is also 
freely used in the stables. The compost is applied 
for the farm crops in a state of partial decomposi¬ 
tion, and incorporated with the soil. 
I was much pleased with the mode here practised 
of keeping the farm profit and loss account. This 
is done by making an accurate survey and map 
of the farm, with the divisions, location of the 
buildings, &c., on a scale sufficiently large to admit 
of the following minutiae, being intelligibly written 
in each enclosure, viz:—The number of the lot; the 
crop grown upon it; when put in; when harvest¬ 
ed ; the value of, and amount of, the manure ap¬ 
plied ; the entire expense of cultivation; and the 
net profit, with references or notes and remarks on 
the margin. This map is to be copied annually, 
and thus constitutes a complete farm account, for 
every year, the economy, convenience, and utility 
of which is very obvious ; besides, these maps will 
form a most interesting record to transmit to pos¬ 
terity, from generation to generation, and a com¬ 
parison of these tables, would make very interest¬ 
ing employment for the superanuated farmer. 
Mr. Wilkinson, the principal of this establish¬ 
ment, seems well qualified for the station, and evi¬ 
dently feels the great responsibility devolving upon 
him. By his patient, kind, and sociable intercourse 
with his pupils, he appears to have secured their 
full confidence, as well as their warm affection, and 
while they treat him with due respect, they are ap¬ 
parently without restraint in his presence, and to 
all appearances are cheerful and happy. 
Mr. W. is in the daily habit of assembling with 
his pupils immediately after dinner, in the lecture 
room, where they discuss all matters pertaining to 
the farm, by which, they not only enjoy the advan¬ 
tage of the experience of their preceptor, and each 
other, but by this means they become accustomed 
to speaking in public, a desirable accomplishment 
which few practical farmers possess. The students, 
also, have the advantage of thorough scientific in¬ 
struction, as well as elementary knowledge, in con¬ 
nection with the farm course, which is founded 
upon the only efficient and true system ; that is, 
they participate in every branch of agricultural la¬ 
bor and are taught to use, regulate properly, and 
keep in order, all the implements, vehicles, and 
machines of the farm. 
That the length of this article may not exclude 
other important matter, I must leave many interest¬ 
ing things relative to this establishment without 
comment, and conclude by wishing the fullest suc¬ 
cess to this and all other similar institutions. I 
will only add, that I would heartily recommend pa¬ 
rents, who have sons to educate, to visit this school, 
and see for themselves the facilities which students 
here enjoy for acquiring moral habits, physical 
strength, and a thorough practical and scientific 
knowledge of the foundation of and keystone to , all 
other arts. Samuel Allen. 
New York , February 1st, 1849. 
CAUTION. 
The use of lime without manure 
Will only make the farmer poor. 
From the German. 
GRASSES, MEADOWS, AND PASTURES.—No 3. 
The Sweet-scented Vernal Grass , (Anthoxanthum 
odoratum,) Fig. 28, is an early and valuable grass, 
which exhales that delightful 
perfume so characteristic of 
much of the eastern meadow 
hay. It is also a late as well 
as an early grass, and luxuri¬ 
ates in a dry, sandy loam. It 
affords two, and sometimes 
three crops in a season. 
Poa alpina, Fig. 29, Aira 
ccespitosa , Fig. 30, Briza me¬ 
dia , Fig. 31, and the Agrostis 
humilis , and Agrostis vulgaris, 
as well as the hard and sheep's 
fescue , before noticed, are all 
sweet, pasture grasses, and 
excellent for lawns. These, 
and a large variety of other Fig. 28. 
dwarf grasses, abound on our uncultivated uplands, 
mountains, and woodlands, creeping in through the 
neglect, rather than the care of the husbandman. 
They yield a nutritive herbage for the herds and 
flocks, and an almost perennial verdure to the land¬ 
scape, equally grateful to the rustic eye, and a culti¬ 
vated taste. 
Ribbon Grass , (Phalaris arnericana,) is the beau¬ 
tiful striped grass, occasionally used for garden 
borders. It has been highly recommended for 
swamps, to which, if transplanted, it is alleged that is. 
will supersede all other grasses, and afford a fine 
quality of hay, of an appearance quite different 
from the upland growth. The writer tried several 
experiments, both with the seed and roots, on a 
clay marsh, but without success. Its proper pabu¬ 
lum is probably a rich carbonaceous soil, such as 
is found in an alluvial swamp, or peat bed. 
Gama Grass , (Tripsacum dactyloides,) is found 
growing spontaneously on a naked sand beach in 
Stratford, Ct., and in other places on our eastern 
coasts. It has occasionally been much lauded at 
the north, where it is a coarse, rough grass.; and 
it seems generally, to be little prized at the south. 
But we have recently, the opinion of some intelli¬ 
gent men in that section, that it is much relished 
by stock ; as they frequently eat it so close to the 
ground, as soon to extirpate it. We should con¬ 
clude, therefore, that it is a valuable grass for some 
sections of the United States, where the soil and 
locality are suited to it. 
