that we really derive much profit from; therefore, we are deeply interested in the culture of the apple and grass. I offer that remark as an apology for the questions put to the gentleman.

MR. GOULD. I cannot tell with certainty, in winter, but as I rode along I saw some sod in several places which I thought was certainly Kentucky blue grass. It had the shape and form of leaf, and I took it for granted it was Kentucky blue grass-not the blue joint. Doesn't Kentucky blue grass grow in Maine?

MR GOODALE. Yes sir. It is very common, but it does not attain such luxuriance as in Kentucky.

MR. GOULD. Certainly it does; and I have heard of a growth of the meadow foxstail here in Maine taller than I ever heard of elsewhere. If it is not diffused throughout the whole of Maine, I have no doubt it may be.

MR GOODALE. I suppose the gentleman refers to a statement which I made to him some years ago, regarding an extraordinary growth of the Alopecurus pratensis which I once saw in this State. In 1861 I went along the seacoast of Maine from Kittery to Quoddy Head, for the purpose of investigating our resources in the matter of marine manures. Being on an island near Eastport, where herring were taken in large quantities, for the oil and manure which they yielded, I noticed near the oilworks a field of what appeared to be timothy, yet hardly had the usual appearance, and what struck me first as singular was that it had headed out so early, and in a locality where vegetation was later than in most parts of the State. So I walked toward it and found it, not timothy, but meadow foxtail; and much larger than I ever before saw this grass anywhere. Upon walking into it, I found the heads reached above my vest pocket, and upon measuring this height afterwards, I found it about four feet. I had reason to believe that the land where it grew had been manured with the liquid pressed out of the fish; but I was not then able to verify the supposition, the owner being absent. I noticed in the very valuable paper which Mr. Gould furnished for the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society for 1869, that he speaks of it as much esteemed in Maine as a meadow grass. I did not so intend to be understood, but rather that this case was an exceptional one. In no other case have I seen it much over two feet high, and oftener a foot and a half. It is not common in meadows, within my observation, but is occasionally seen by roadsides, in moist, rich places, and sometimes in pastures. The liquid which passes

over with the oil when fish, after being cooked, is pressed, contains, besides nitrogenous matters, considerable phosphate of potash, and, as both the phosphoric acid and the potash are exceedingly valuable food constituents of the grasses, it is very probable that the extraordinary growth in this case was due to their presence in the soil in unusual amount.

If a grass so rare as this should come to occupy a field almost exclusively, and attain a degree of luxuriance elsewhere unknown, because of favorable conditions in relation to the food which it found on that spot, as seems highly probable, the fact is exceedingly suggestive regarding possibilities about other grasses, which at present are little cultivated. Who knows but that, with more knowledge about the requirements of the various grasses, and with improved ways and means of fertilization, we may be ablet some day to bring to great luxuriance varieties which are now among us, but so rare, or so diminutive in their growth as almost to escape notice?

I would be glad to learn if this grass is often seen in any of the fields or pastures of this State. It may be readily known by its general resemblance to timothy, the obvious difference being its smaller growth, and the head, which in timothy has a harsh feel when drawn through the fingers, feels soft, as a fox's tail-whence its name.

I may also mention that its seed is not common in seed stores, and bears a high price; besides which, it is more complained of for failing to germinate than almost any other.

It would be a very valuable pasture grass, could it be generally introduced and thrive well; not because of remarkable nutritive properties, but on account of its earliness. Although much inferior to timothy for meadows, it will bear cropping a great deal better, furnishes a good bite before almost any other grass, and

throws up after shoots abundantly. As a pasture grass, it is highly prized in Europe, but not for meadows.

Adjourned.

EVENING SESSION.

The President stated that the general subject of grass culture would be resumed, and called upon the member from Kennebec County.

MR. HORACE COLBOURN of Windsor. I am not in the habit of making apologies, neither am I in the habit of public speaking, and it seems like taking a step backward to call upon a common, plain farmer, who is obliged to work hard to get a living, to follow so able a speaker as has entertained and instructed us this afternoon, nor would it be possible for me to speak of scientific methods; yet such practical experience as I have had is at your service. It relates chiefly to reclaiming bog or swale lands.

It has been truly said, that whoever makes two spears of grass to grow where but one grew before, benefits mankind, and if the farmers of Maine had heeded that saying in past years, as they should have done, they would not be where they are now.

Wherever I have traveled in Maine, I see a great portion of the best grass lands covered with bushes and other obstructions to culture. Whoever has taken notice the last year, may have seen a good crop of grass on what we call reclaimed swamp lands, while you could count the gravel stones at a distance on the uplands, and, in some places, you could see countless grasshoppers also. Some farmers object to swamp lands because they say they cannot raise the better grasses on them, and that the varieties of swale grass are good for nothing. But the present year will be We find those who

sufficient to convince them to the contrary. have those grasses have no difficulty in getting them all eaten up and to good advantage. In 1839, I purchased the farm, or a portion of it, on which I now live. The soil is mainly clay loam, through which runs a small stream that empties into the western branch of the Sheepscot River, on each side of which was a strip of interval, varying in width from two to twenty rods, and for that width it was covered with alders, elder bushes and with almost anything that could drift upon it. Wherever the bank comes down steeply towards the brook, the former occupants had hauled logs from the highlands and dumped them on to the interval, and it looked like a rather hard job to clear the piece. After I moved on to the farm, it began to be whispered around that I had bought Mr. such-a-one's bog, and much wonder was

expressed that I had not bought more upland instead, so that I could raise more grass and corn.

It was a good hay season, and all the hay cut was judged to be twelve tons. I bought it at that estimate, but do not think there was so much.

When a suitable time came, I commenced at the lower end of the bushes, cut them out by the roots, cut and cleared off the logs, and, where it was not springy, I plowed and seeded to English grass; where it was, I let the water grasses remain. I have cut grass on some of it for more than twenty years, and it has averaged two tons to the acre. The hay cut now is finer than when I first mowed it, and by following up these places I have been able to increase the quantity of hay upon my farm from twelve to seventy or eighty tons, until within the last two years. But these intervals and swales have not fallen off in quantity in these years when the upland has not yielded a half crop. By clearing these waste places, I am enabled to keep up the fertility of the uplands. The sediment left after being overflowed, keeps them enriched sufficiently to produce an even crop of grass without any other dressing.

Give us plenty of grass, and we can have plenty of most other crops. I have failed to get as much benefit as some have from concentrated dressings. My experience with them is that they will start a plant early and hasten its ripening. Corn, for instance, may be pushed along earlier and be got out of the way of the frost sooner by using them, but for grass we must have dressing that has more body to it than superphosphate, guano, plaster, &c. From plaster there may be considerable benefit derived on certain kinds of soil, but when land that has been plastered for a number of years comes to be plowed, it needs more dressing of a bulky nature to bring it up than it would if it had never been plastered. My experience is that plaster does not do as much good on land that has been plowed a number of times, as it does on new land which has never been plowed. I cannot give the reason why it is so, but I know it to be so from experience.

The only way, according to my experience, to make a sure thing of fertilizing properly, is to carry back to the land all the dressing we can make out of that we take off of it. It will not do to sell hay. It will not do to raise too many potatoes nor oats. I am not satisfied that top dressing, in all instances, is the best method of applying manure. For instance, to top-dress the past

fall cannot produce a great effect. We all know that the grass roots are nearly dead, and if so, top-dressing alone cannot do much good. My method has been, when the mowing gets run down, to turn it over about six or eight inches deep, in September or October, and the last part of October haul from twenty to twentyfive loads of dressing from the barn cellar to the acre and spread it broad-cast from the cart. In the spring, put on barley. By this method I never have failed of a good catch, and good crops afterwards. If any one, as he travels through the State, is careful to observe, he will see a large proportion of our best grass lands lying waste; they neither produce a growth of wood nor a growth of grass, but merely serve as a range for cattle when there is a drouth. We must resort to these places, ditch them, haul what we take from the ditches to our barns and use it to help increase the amount of dressing.

If any one asks, What shall we sell, if neither hay, potatoes nor oats? I answer, sell butter, cheese, calves, beef, pork and pigs. Then the crops are all consumed upon the farm, everything is made to contribute to the supply of manure. After any farmer has tried dairying, he will be very loth to fall back upon the skinning process again. As farmers, we must look to the condition of our farms, and see that the fertility is kept up. If we do so, although our barns may be empty now, we shall see them wellfilled again, and our stock again looking plump and sleek.

MR. SILVANUS POOR of Andover. My farm is what is called an interval farm, that is to say, most of the hay is cut on what is known with us as interval, or on swampy land, and contains one hundred and fifty acres.

When the town was lotted, nothing was called interval that was not dry enough to plow and cultivate, and was covered with hard wood, elm, maple, beech, birch, oak, &c., intermixed, in some cases, with spruce, pine and hemlock.

The upland, as a general thing, is from twenty to seventy-five feet higher than the interval, and in most places the banks are steep and curved, as though formed by the washing of the river. At the foot of these banks there is a belt of swampy land, from ten to fifty rods wide, generally composed of a deep black mud. This is kept very wet and soft by the water that makes out at the foot of the ridges, so much so that none of our domestic animals ever attempted to cross it. For many years such land was not considered worth clearing, and in many places they are not