400 
Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
crop. So long as a ton of good, fine, sweet English hay is worth 
more than a ton of any kind of straw, so long will it be advisable 
to raise grass alone instead of mixing it with any of the small grains. 
He does not believe in sowing grass with grain, as many do, for 
the protection of the former. He invariably cuts two good crops of 
grass each season, after seeding with grain alone. He follows the 
indications or examples of nature as to the time of sowing grass- 
seed, which is August. Early autumn is the natural seed-time for 
grasses and all biennials and plants that take time to get root. He 
keeps his land rich and mellow, and cultivates it as carefully as he 
would for grain-crops. Grass grown in the fall early enough to 
get well established, will produce a full crop the succeeding year. 
He sometimes gets three crops of grass in one season. He regards 
timothy one of the poorest kinds of grass for spring-seeding, and 
orchard-grass one of the best; as the former, like the onion, is bul¬ 
bous-rooted, and cannot be cut with safety until it has reached 
some degree of maturity, and if cut as close as grass is usually cut, 
the chances are that a large portion of the timothy plants will nev¬ 
er revive, simply because the bulbs have not enough vitality stored 
up to retain life when divested of their leaves and exposed to the 
burning suns of July, while orchard grass, although a little tender 
during the first winter, can be cut as soon as it begins to lean or 
fall, and may be cut every six weeks through the first summer, 
yielding great crops of excellent hay for cows and becoming strong 
for entering the next winter. When once established it may be 
cut two or three'times a year, producing large crops of the best fod¬ 
der. He pronounces it the most valuable grass grown in the coun¬ 
try. 
He sows liberally, casting two bushels of orchard-grass seed, with 
one bushel of June-grass seed, and as much clover as with other 
grasses, on each acre; and this generous seeding, leaves no chance 
for weeds to smother the grass. His chief difficulty is to cut grass 
early enough to prevent the stalks from becoming hard and wiry 
on reaching maturity. If the land is kept in a high state of fertil¬ 
ity and productiveness, the cost of plowing, harrowing, seeding, 
etc., is saved. His plan is— u top-dress onl} r good grass; re-seed old 
fields that are run out.” I would most respectfully and earnestly 
commend Mr. CheeveEs statements to the attention of western far¬ 
mers. 
