180 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 
land or beast carry double, as one or the other of the burdens 
will be likely to be thrown. The seed should be covered by 
dragging with a fine harrow or with a bush prepared for the 
purpose. 
To maintain the meadow and have its production profitable 
for a long term of years, avoiding the labor the plow imposes, 
and the expense entailed by re-seeding is certainl}' r an obj ect to be 
desired. To secure permanence, the first thing to be avoided 
is, the ripening of the seeds of the grass. While it is yet 
grass, while the strength is in the stalk, and leaf, it should be 
cut down; it contains at this stage of its growth that nutri¬ 
ment which the herd can appropriate and give returns for in 
desk or milk. 
If mowing early be the first great rule, the second is like 
unto it, viz : Abstain from making a pasture of your meadow. 
Let the after growth go down upon the ground ; when the 
earth is frozen it will be a protection to the roots ; when it de¬ 
cays it will be their nourishment. Should there be sufficient 
to make a covering for the mice, a few days tramping by the 
cattle in the early winter will dispose of them; in any event 
their teeth are not so dangerous as those of colts and sheep. 
What is true of autumn feeding of meadows is much more 
applicable to spring pasturing, for then the ground is capable 
of being made rough by trampling, and two evils follow in¬ 
stead of one. We have seen a meadow of thirty years stand¬ 
ing, with not the best of soil to sustain it, yielding desirable 
and remunerative returns, treated as above indicated, without 
any manure whatever, save that supplied from nature’s lab- 
ratory tempered with light, heat and moisture. Upon that 
meadow there had not a foot pressed in those thirty years ex¬ 
cept what were necessary to cut and harvest the crop. 
Whatever course we may pursue in manuring plow lands 
for the raising of grain, there is but one way to enrich the 
meadow, that is by top-dressing. The mineral manures within 
the reach of the majority of farmers are gypsum (land plaster,) 
wood ashes and salt. Of gypsum, my experience makes it 
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