180 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May. 
is so much space saved, that in most barns is over the 
threshing floor, and almost useless, a. Narrow passa¬ 
ges from the hall to the stable. As many of them may 
be made, and in such situations as the convenience of the 
builder may require. Gordon Evans. Dr Ruyter, 
March 5,1851. 
t /e rror's Jln tf-36ank. 
Best Grass for 44 Low .Lands.” 
We are frequently asked, “ What is the best grass for 
low lands?” The question, probably, has reference 
generally, to moist “ swales,” or to reclaimed bog or 
peaty soil, which it is desired to keep in permanent 
meadow. For such situations, we know of no grass that 
we think equal to a species of the Agrostis genus, indi¬ 
genous to some of the New-England states, and known 
there as “ Fowl Meadow.” It has several peculiar pro¬ 
perties which render it valuable. It makes a better 
quality of hay than any other grass that would thrive 
on such soils, and at the same time will yield more to 
the acre. A distinguishing trait belonging to it is, that 
its stems will keep green and retain their juices, even 
after the seed has ripened and fallen off. The stalks or 
stems are long and slender, and make a soft, sweet hay, 
which is much relished by cattle and horses. The roots 
are regarded as perennial, though it is deemed advisable, 
in order to keep up a good sward, to allow part of the 
seed to ripen and fall of itself, once in four or five years. 
New plants will thus be formed which will supply the 
place of such as die out. 
A good time for sowing this grass, is the latter part 
of summer or first of autumn. The ground should be 
prepared by the aquatic and inferior plants being eradi¬ 
cated as thoroughly as possible, and the surface smooth¬ 
ed, when half a bushel of good seed may be sown to the 
acre, and a bush-drag drawn over to cover it slightly. 
The seed may generally be had at Boston, and is, we 
presume, kept by the principal seed dealers there. 
An interesting description of the “ Fowl Meadow” 
grass, was written by Rev. Dr. Jared Eliot, of Killing- 
worth, Conn., and published in a work of which he was 
the author, entitled Essays on Field Husbandry, wrote 
from a Journal of thirty years Experience, printed in 
1747. The following is from that work: 
There are two sorts of grass which are natives of the 
country, which I would recommend; these are Herd 
Grass, (known in Pennsylvania by the name of Timothy 
Grass;) the other is Fowl Meadow, sometimes called 
Duck grass, and sometimes Swamp-wire grass. It is 
said that herd grass was first found in a swamp in Pisca- 
taqua, by one Herd, who propagated the same; that 
fowl meadow grass was brought into a poor piece of 
meadow in Dedham [Mass.,] by ducks and other water 
fowl, and therefore called by such an odd name. 
It is supposed to be brought into the meadows at 
Hartford [Conn. .] by the annual floods, and called there 
Swamp-wire grass. Of these two sorts of natural grass, 
the fowl grass is much the best; it grows tall and thick, 
makes a more soft and pliable hay than herd grass, and 
consequently will be more fit for pressing, in order to 
ship off with our horses; besides it is a good grass, not 
abundantly inferior to English grass; it yields a good 
burthen, three loads to the acre. It must be sowed in 
low moist land, our drained [bog] land when it is of 
sufficient age, [or has been drained a sufficient length 
of time,] is very agreeable to this sort of grass. As the 
seed is very fine, there is danger of sowing it too thick, 
as some have done, so as to come up thick, like hair; 
this is a loss of seed and prejudicial to the grass. When 
you bring to a swamp by flowing, have killed yorr 
brush and ditched your land and got it a little dry, you 
may sow your seed among the trees and brush; it will 
come up, establish itself, and prevent other bad grass 
from taking possession; then you may clear off the wood 
and brush at your leisure; and then you will have good 
grass to mow as fast as you can clear the land. I have seen 
it grow knee high where the dead brush were very thick. 
This grass has another good quality, which renders it 
very valuable in a country where help is so much want¬ 
ing; it will not spoil or suffer, although it stand beyond 
the common times for mowing. Clover will be lost in a 
great measure, if it be not cut in the proper season. 
Spire grass, commonly called English grass, if it stands 
too long, will be little better than rye straw: if this out- 
stand the time, it is best to let it stand till there comes 
up a second growth, and then it will do tolerably well; 
but this fowl grass may be mowed at any time, from 
July to October. One of my sons told me, that at New- 
Fairfield, he saw some stacks of it that the people told 
him was cut in October; he pulled out somejof the hay, 
it looked green and had a good smell. This is a great 
convenience in time of sickness, or any other casualty, 
whereby we may be hindered from mowing in season. 
This good property renders it a fit sort of grass for a new 
country, where we often have business crowd too hard 
upon us. 
In reading Mr. Ellis, I find by him that they have got 
herd-grass [in England] from this country, and set a va¬ 
lue upon it; if they like that, they would like this much 
better: for although herd-grass be a valuable sort, fowl- 
meadow grass hath quite eclipsed its glory. 
Indian Corn for Fodder. 
The practice of raising Indian Corn to be fed to stock 
in an immature state, either green or dried, is not un¬ 
common. It affords more forage, probably, than can be 
obtained from any other crop. It has been generally 
sown broadcast, harrowing in about two bushels of seed 
to the acre. But experience has proved that it is a bet¬ 
ter way to put the crop in drills, on account of the ad¬ 
vantage it gives for destroying weeds. In broadcast 
sowing, the weeds often get the start of the corn, and 
prevent its growth, more or less. 
In drill planting, the seed may be put in with a ma¬ 
chine, drawn by a horse, by which the work is executed 
with dispatch. The rows may be from two to two and 
a-half feet apart, and it is best to use seed enough to 
have the stalks thick and fine, as such are eaten better 
by stock than larger ones. The crop may be kept clean 
by the cultivator, which should be passed through the 
rows as soon as the corn is fairly above ground. 
The value of the crop depends somewhat on the va¬ 
riety of corn chosen. It is sometimes recommended to 
take the large southern corn, for this purpose. It may 
give as large, perhaps a larger crop, but stock do not 
like it as well. The best variety is the common large 
sweet corn. It makes a good growth, tillers, or suckers 
much, and the fodder has a peculiar sweetness which 
induces cattle to eat it with more avidity than they will 
eat that of any other kind of corn. A farmer in this 
vicinity who planted considerable corn last year, for 
feeding out while green, had three kinds of seed; south¬ 
ern, yellow or Dutton, and sweet corn. He began cut¬ 
ting the sweet, using it to feed stock which was be¬ 
ing exhibited at the State Fair. They ate every bit 
of it with a good relish; but when the sweet corn was 
gone, and the usual quantity was cut and fed from the 
the Dutton and southern, the cattle discovered the dif¬ 
ference at once. They smelt it over, tossed it about with 
