1854 . 
THE CULTIVATOR 
179 
On Cultivation for Grass. 
Messrs. Editors —I have been spoken to about 
writing on raising grass; I ain incompetent to the 
task. “ He is considered a benefactor of mankind, 
that can make two spears of grass, grow where but one 
grew before.” I would that some able pen would give 
the public a plain practical treatise on the best culti¬ 
vation, to improve our grass, as this, in many sections, 
is one of the most important branches of agriculture. 
Our country is year by year experiencing a lack in 
this department, and we know not how to remedy the 
evil. 
We are decidedly a dairy county, and inferior to 
but one in the empire state ; as Chenango a,nd Dele- 
ware rank but little behind Orange. It has been sup¬ 
posed that the superior feed of Orange, is the cause of 
its higher standing in the butter market; but from 
late observation I am inclined to believe it is not 
wholly that. No doubt, the larger quantity from each 
cow is attributable to their superior feed ; but some¬ 
thing is owing to the churning all their mik, while we 
only churn the cream: but I leave this part of the 
subject, to examine how we may get more feed for our 
stock. More stock is generally kept than can be kept 
well, and our pastures are too close fed, with the ex¬ 
ception of a few, who show it by the extra amount of 
butter from each cow. 
To present facts for illustration, you will excuse me 
if I quote from my own experience, for in so doing, 
the credit reverts to your valuable agricultural papers, 
for I was rather a poor farmer, and like many men 
fond of doing things in my own way ; but finding that, 
the experience of others, together with my own, was a 
good school, I concluded it was best to try to improve 
in every thing—for I found, from my stinted instruc¬ 
tion, that by sowing four quarts of herd’s-grass and two 
of clover seed, I was constantly losing money by thin 
crops of grass. I began to increase the quantity, un¬ 
til I sow now half-a-bushel of herd’s grass and three 
or four quarts of clover. But just the increase of seed 
will not do it. 
I had eleven acres of new land, a little more than 
a middling good burn—ten acres of it was put into 
wheat and rye, about two-thirds wheat, and one acre 
left for spring wheat. I had a good man that would 
try to do just as I'told him ; I went with him ana sow¬ 
ed one bushel; directed him to leave no spot, until all 
was mellowed; to go round and round every stump 
until it was all dragged sufficiently to cover every ker¬ 
nel, before he asked me to sow any more. He came 
in crank at night; he had finished ali as I directed. 
The next morning we fitted another bushel, and took 
it out to sow; but coming on to the dragged ground, 
I was quite disappointed—“ Why, this is not half drag¬ 
ged ; it will not do ; you must drag it as much again.” 
1 Well if I do, we shall never get this large fallow, 
sowed this fall.” No matter, we will do what we do 
well, for my motto is, “ what is worth doing at all, is 
worth doing well,” and you must not get discouraged : 
I will send on another team. I did so, and two teams 
were continued till all was sowed. The next morning. 
Mr. Editor, I wish you could have met me there. I 
have no recollection of being so well pleased with any 
piece of work before in my life. It did not seem pos¬ 
sible that such a rooty, stumpy bit of ground, could 
have been mellowed up so much like a garden. The 
ten acres were all fitted in the same manner, and as 
much sown to wheat as could be got in, in good season, 
and the rest to rye. You know, and every other man 
. ought to know, that grass must grow on this fine tilth. 
I got the county premium on rye at 43 bushels to the 
acre ; on the wheat I did not, but the average on the 
whole 11 acres was over 30 bushels to the acre, all 
owing to heavy seeding and superior tillage. 
And now for the grass seed ; the last of March, while 
snow could be had to sow it even, I took 3 hogsheads 
of herd’s grass chaff', that had been run through the 
mill, and some 6 or 8 bushels of clean seed taken out, 
and my two men, myself in the middle, and>sowed the 
10 acres of winter grain all over with the chaff. We 
then took near one and-a-fourth bushels of clover seed, 
and mixed with near three bushels of herd’s grass and 
cross-sowed the whole, coming out within a few quarts, 
which we had left .when done. The spring wheat had 
about the same proportion. 
When harvest came, I took the surveyor to run out 
an acre of wheat and rye, to enter for premium—he 
said he never saw any thing like it before—the grass 
seed: being sown early, the soil so pulverized and mel¬ 
low, it took root immediately, and was now much of 
it headed out; a good swath of grass might have been 
• mowed. My neighbors repeated that they never saw 
such grass grow on new land before. 
I will now give a specimen on old, worn out land. 
I bought a farm; when the survejmr was running it ' 
out, the foi’mer owner told him, “ the farm was worn 
out; it used to be called one of the best farms in Cov¬ 
entry, but it never could be broughCtoo again.” But 
I will tell you how I produced a wonderful change. 
I took my man to set him to plowing, while I held the 
lines to drive three horses. We went around ; he could 
not keep the plow in over three or four inches. “ What’s 
the matter ?” (A good Butcher plow, at that time 
considered one of the best.) I gave him the lines and 
took hold of the plow, but it seemed to scrape along on 
a hard substance—“get on the beam, and put it in.” 
He did so, to some eight or ten inches, and it tore up 
a crust as hard as a road, about three inches thick, 
-then came a loose and open soil. I never saw any 
thing like it before. It had passed through a skim¬ 
ming system of'farming, of three-inch-deep plowing. 
What to do, I was at a loss. I got a large log, chain¬ 
ed one end on the whiffle tree's,' the other resting along 
the plow beam well secured, and went on to plowing. 
I was hooted by my neighbors, but it did not stop me. 
We plowed it well eight inches, or more deep—put on 
some twenty loads of barn-yard manure to the acre, 
dragged it all to dust, planted with corn and potatoes, 
and had a very heavy crop. The next spring, put on 
spring wheat, and seeded with grass in the manner 
above described—and such grass as was never remem¬ 
bered to have grown on the farm before, followed. I 
should judge from two to three tons per acre was taken 
the next year’s haying. This was not a solitary crop. 
I followed it up year after year, in this way,until now 
the farm is ranked among the best. I raised every 
year more grass seed than I wanted, and sold it from 
S3 to S4 per bushel, to my neighbors, when they might 
have raised their own for less than $2. 
We will look at one other mode of cultivation and 
seeding. I had a 10 acre lot, too far off a.nd up hill, 
to be manured without much labor. It had been a 
pasture field, and not so badly skimmed. I had heard 
much said of raising oats for a number of years in 
succession, by plowing in the stubble and all green 
substance immediately after harvest. I tried the ex¬ 
periment : for the first year or two, the crop was fine; 
it then declined. My sons remonstrated with me 
against adopting a new system for this field. For the 
rest of my fields, my determined and fixed principle 
was, never to put but two crops before seeding down ; 
but I was determined to cany out this new experiment. 
It was continued some four or five years, and then 
heavily seeded : and there it remains, a mark of my 
folly, neither fit for meadow nor pasture. 
It is evident that the generality of farmers have too 
much land ; yet all, X>r nearly all, want more. I know 
1 of but few farmers but who are overstocked, or at 
