J. Schoenleber.-Timothy and red clover for pasture; for seed I prefer either alone; prefer seeding wheat or oats on wet ground. Have the ground plowed in the fall, and sow as early in the spring as the ground will admit. Sow the seed after the wheat is harrowed, then roll; or if a heavy rain falls it will answer the purpose of rolling. Have raised timothy mostly for seed-half peck of seed to the acre; for pasture or hay I would prefer one peck of timothy and two quarts red clover. Largest yield six bushels of timothy seed to the acre; lowest yield three bushels. By topdressing one can always calculate on six bushels. At $3 per bushel this pays better than wheat, as the straw and pasture will pay for harvesting and threshing. One seeding will do for 20 years or more. C. E. Barney. For pasture, as many kinds of grass as will grow on one piece of land at once. For hay, red-top cut early. Timothy, cut just after the blossoms fall For mowing, a compact machine without a reel; should not cut more than 5 or 4 feet, and have two driving wheels A steel wire adjustable tooth sulky rake I find very convenient, and a horse fork with short handle. V. Aldrich. For early pasture, blue grass or June grass is best, as it starts much earlier and will bear tramping early, when the ground is soft, with less injury than other kind. Clover and timothy, with a mixture of red-top, is preferable after it gets a good start-say six to eight inches high. It never should be fed off close, but given rest and a chance to keep in good bite for the stock. Timothy mixed with one-eighth clover I prefer to anything else for meadow. The best success I ever had resulted from sowing my grass seed right on the stubble ground from which had been taken crops of oats or wheat. I sow the grass seed the last of August or first of September. The first rains will bring it right up, and if the fall is wet and warm it will get a good start. The stubble keeps the cold winds from it and holds the snow, which protects it through the winter. The next summer we may expect a good crop of hay. I sow one-half bushel timothy seed with two to four quarts of clover, well mixed before sowing, so that one scattering completes the work. Average yield of hay per acre, 2 to 3 tons; two tons without manure would be full average. I have a five acre meadow that has had nine crops of hay taken from it in nine consecutive years, and never yielded less than two tons, and several years three, when it was wet and favorable to the growth of hay. This meadow has been manured twice in the time, completely covering it. Each time the manure was applied in the fall-October or November. I prefer to cut my hay when it is in full blossom, or just as the blossom is ready to fall from the timothy. At this stage the stalk contains all the sap and the blades are all green. If not cut now the sap goes into the seed, the stalk becomes hard and woody at the bottom, and the leaves begin to turn yellow and die. The longer it remains the more worthless it becomes as fodder. I have used a two-horse mower-Ball's patent. It cuts close and easy. The Buckeye is abou. as good. No combined mower and reaper will cut anything but timothy, when standing roll, close enough. A single mower will cut lodged grass as well as it can be done by hand with a scythe. A one-horse revolving rake does the work well and expeditiously. I never practise mowing more in the forenoon than we can rake and put into the cocks the same evening. The next day the cocks are opened and the hay cured suffi ciently and carted into the barn, without being wet or bleached by the dew. When my barn is full I stack hay under a shed roof. This is nearly equal to a barn. Make a double roof-span twenty-four feet-and as long as needed; cover with sixteen feet boards, and batten with fence board. If the boards are sound this will make a tight roof. Timothy and clover are the only grasses sowed here for pasture; but the natural pastures, after blue grass and white clover get in, are much the best. Sow eight quarts of timothy and four of clover, per acre, in the spring, either with wheat or oats, or in the fall by itself, minus the clover, which is sowed the next spring. Average yield, two tons per acre; greatest yield, three tons per acre. I pasture one horse or cow per acre, and from five to ten hogs per acre. I think we can double the yield of our meadows for hay and pastures by manure. The best time to cut hay is just after the blossom drops. The Buckeye mower and the sulky rake are considered best here. G. W. Minier. For meadows, timothy, or clover mixed with it; and same for hay. Sow moist ground, red-top is preferable. Generally seed with wheat, oats or barley; have seeded after burning off stubble in the fall. I wish to speak this in an undertone, for whoever burns his stubble is, in so far, a spendthrift We usually get about two tons of hay to the acre. We can keep one ox or cow to the acre, or about five sheep. The best top-dressing for meadows is the folding of sheep, the penning of swine, or herding and feeding cattle. Stable manure should not pass through fermentation before being spread on meadow, or elsewhere But this contradicts custom, and therefore will provoke controversy, and most men will still carry a stone in one end of the bag, and a peck of corn in the other. The time to cut grass for hay is after the bloom has fallen, or rather as it falls. Mower-Buckeye, or any other as good; horse-rake; good hand pitch-forks. A large amount of hay will warrant other implements. J Robinson-For summer pasture I prefer timothy and clover; for early spring, fall and winter, Kentucky blue grass. I have made very good pastures by sowing one and a quarter bushels of rye per acre, early in September, among the standing corn, covering with a one horse double shovel plow, by passing on each side of the rows as near the standing corn as possible; then before a rain falls on the ground thus passed over, sow timothy seed at the rate of one bushel to six acres; the seed will be covered by the first rain; the rye and corn stalks afford good protection to the young grass during the fall and winter. On the ground thus treated I sow clover late in the winter, being governed as to the amount of clover seed to be sown by the condition and stand of timothy and the amount of clover I want on such pasture-one bushel on twelve or fifteen acres being a very good mixture Land thus sown is sure to catch well the first year, and produce as much feed the first summer as a good, well set clover and timothy pasture It is best not to pasture when very wet Land seeded in this manner is too uneven and the stalks inte fere too much for mowing For meadows I succeed best seeding a mixture of one-fourth clover and threefourths timothy; sow early in the spring on land well plowed, and with wheat or barley, well harrowed; and if the ground is rough, roll before sowing the grass seed, cover the seed with a light harrow or brush; one bushel on six acres being a fair quantity. It is very desirable to set a meadow with the ground as loose as possible, as a hard bottom never yields a heavy crop of hay. My average crop is generally about two tons per acre. Two acres is usually required to pasture a grown horse or cow the entire summer; a less area will do until the dry and warm weather after harvest, when I add meadows to my pasture when very close, lest my succeeding crop of hay be diminished, and my land fails to be renovated as it should be. The grass should be cut for hay as soon as the timothy seed is in the dough, and cured as well as the weather will admit. If my hay is well cured when I put it in mow or stack, I sprinkle ten pounds of salt to the ton; if a little green, fifteen; and if very green, twenty pounds. A good mowing machine, hay rake, and stacking machine, or, if in a barn, a horse fork and some light steel spring, but strong, pitchforks, are all the machinery required for hay harvest. J. R Tull-Red clover is best for improving the land, and is valuable as hog pasture, as well as food for cattle. It is the best crop known in this country when used as a fertilizer; which is done by plowing the seed crop under when the seed is sufficiently ripe to seed the ground Land that is very much exhausted may in a Our yield is from one to one few years be restored to its original fertility without any other fertilizer. I find a top-dressing of good My experience in cutting timothy for hay has taguht me not to cut it until the seed is ripe enough to grow Some say, cut it when in blossom; but if cut at that time there is a heavy loss in weight and substance. For cutting timothy, I find Ball's large combined reaper and mower to do excellent work T. Gregg-In meadow I have no experience; but can report that timothy, and clover and timothy mixed, are mostly grown for meadows on the prairie farm hereabouts In mode of culture and amount of production I am not well enough posted to report A C. Hammond.-Timothy produces the best results as a forage grass In seeding I use from one fourth to one-fifth of a bushel per acre. Usually sow on wheat in the fall or winter. I find that top-dressing with stable manure will increase the yield from twenty-five to fifty per cent. H. Sodowsky-For meadow grasses I prefer red clover and timothy-one-eighth of clover and seven-eighths timothy. For pasture I would add a portion of blue gra-s. My mode of seeding varies; I have sowed timothy the last of August and it did well, and I have sowed it in March and April and it did well also. Clover sced should be sown about the last snow in March I usually sow broad-cast, and about one bu-hel of timothy and one-eighth of clover to 6 or 7 acres. Meadows differ so much in wet and dry seasons that it is difficult to estimate the average yield, but I would place it at 14 tons per acre, in a favorable season, and one ton per acre in a dry season In this section of the country we calculate 2 acres to the head for grown cattle. We think that a three-year old steer requires the same amount of gra-s that it takes to pasture six sheep. My experience in top-dressing is limited. I find it advantageous to roll meadows in the spring, when the land is thawed about two inches deep This process levels the land, and presses back the grass roots that have been drawn out of the ground by freezing. The time of cutting hay varies with the amount to be cut If I have a a long harvest, I commence as soon as the seed is in, the dough. I find that hay cured at this stage is better for stock than at any other, being small, soft and full of nourishment. When riper it is hard and stiff, with more wood in the stalk. Stock cannot cut so much of it, and it does not do them the same amount of good. W. M. Allen.-Timothy and clover. Have tried all modes of seeding; each some time fails. Quantity, 8 quarts timothy, 4 quarts clover; yield, tons to the acre. The best time to cut timothy is when the bloom is off. S. P. Boardman.-Either for meadow or pasture, I find it best to sow quite a variety of grasses. Our prairie soil is so light, loamy and grainy, that it heaves grass roots out of the ground terribly in the spring of the year. To obviate this heaving process there is nothing like having the ground well covered and the soil well tied together with grass roots. Any one who has ever had any experience in sowing grass knows that timothy can be made to cover the ground only about so close, no matter how much seed may have been sowed to the acre. Another fact with regard to sowing timothy is, that, no matter what the "stand" which may have been obtained from an original sowing, no subsequent sowing seems to help the matter a bit. Timothy will "take the ground" to a certain extent-no more, no less-leaving space which can be occupied by other grasses. In a less degree the rule holds good with all other of the most common grasses sown, except blue grass and red top, which spread from the root. I have been sowing grass for the last sixteen years in Illinois, and I am satisfied that the worst mistake men make in general, is in not putting on seed enough. I am now sowing about 160 acres to grass, and I am putting on 11 quarts to the acrebeing a mixture of timothy, clover, orchard grass, and red-top-a peck of the first, a quart of the second, and the two last by the "grab." My largest yield of hay (season makes everything with the hay crop) has been two tons to the acre. In a general way we get a little over a ton, perhaps, as an average crop. 66 My farm is stocked almost wholly with sheep, and I am trying to stock light; five sheep to the acre is as many as I wish on my pastures. Big grass under stock makes a profit; short grass, short everything." The best time to top-dress meadows is immediately after the hay crop is taken off, and will make a difference of an increase in the hay crop of from one-fourth to onehalf. No way so good, that ever I have found, to apply manure in Illinois. G. Harding. For pasturing I sow a mixture of grass seeds-timothy, red clover, English blue grass, native blue grass; white clover comes up itself. This mixture makes the best pasturing that can be made in any soil; the native or Kentucky blue grass, with some timothy, being the best for fall and winter pasture. Sow a peck of the blue grass seed, with a little timothy mixed with it, to the acre. For summer pasture the English blue grass will yield twice the amount of any other. Sow one-half bushel seed, with a little timothy to the acre, This mixture of seeds does well on most all kinds of land, sown in January or February, and should not be pastured the first season. Timothy, with some red clover mixed, is best for meadows that you intend mowing for hay, sowing about one-sixth of a bushel per acre. Sow from the first to the tenth of September. Average yield per acre is two tons. Two acres of mixed pasture will take a three-year old steer through the grazing season, and make him gain 300 to 400 pounds in an ordinary season. Timothy makes the best hay when cut just after the bloom drops. The Excelsior or Buckeye mower, common revolving horse rake, and Fowler's hay derrick, are among the best hay-making implements. G. W, Vaughan.-For meadows I prefer timothy and clover mixed. For pastures, I want different kinds. Blue grass is the best for early; then red-top, timothy and clover. Blue grass is hardly fit for summer pasture, as it dries up and has but little substance, while red-top, timothy and clover keep greener and have more substance. Timothy and clover meadows make splendid fall pasture, and blue grass early winter, and if not pastured too much in the spring will keep green nearly all winter, and sheep will need little if any other feed except while snow is on the ground. Timothy and clover pastures do not last like blue grass and red top; the timothy is easier killed by close pasturing, and the clover, if not allowed to seed, will die in two years, as the plant lives but that length of time from the seed. Clover is splendid for pasturing hogs during the spring and summer. I think red-top fully equal to any kind of grass for pastures. English blue grass not so good as the common kind. My plan for sowing grass seed is, to put the ground in wheat in the fall, and then sow the seed in February or March, on snow if possible. Clover seed, however, should be sown later, as the young plant is more easily killed by freezing than that of other kinds. I usually sow one peck of timothy and one-half gallon clover seed, per acre. If sown together, less of either is required. When wanting a red top or blue grass pasture, I mix the seed with timothy and sow together. The timothy makes a good pasture until the other gets sufficient hold, and is then rooted out by either blue grass or red-top. Red-top yields less per acre than any kind we have, as it is very light. Timothy alone seldom yields more than two tons per acre, while timothy and clover often yields from three to four tons. The average yield is about two tons per acre. Clover is very essential to meadows for producing a good yield of hay. I have tried top-dressing meadows enough to satisfy myself that nothing pays the farmer so well as that mode of recuperating meadows. Manure for that purpose should be well rotted, if possible, but if not, will answer well if put on in the fall, so that the freezing, thawing, and rains of winter and spring will dissolve it, thereby washing the strength into and around the roots of the grass. Manure should in all cases be put on the meadows in the fall or early winter, if one expects to secure the benefit of its full strength. I hauled out a lot of manure last winter and put on my meadow. I did the same in the spring, and the difference in result was very perceptible. The winter dressed meadow was a great deal better than the spring dressed, and that better than the meadow where no manure was applied. One load of manure, put on the meadow in the fall, will pay a large percentage to the farmer. I prefer cutting grass when the seed is just ripe or in the dough. I never want it cut too green or too ripe, as it moulds when too green, and the seed falls off when over ripe, making it disagreeable to handle. Stock will eat hay cut when the seed is nearly all off better than when cut green. I have seen this tried. My father cut a piece of meadow just after the bloom fell off, and then cut some after the seeds were nearly all fallen, this last being left to seed the ground; both were put up without any rain; the former was as nice bright hay as I ever saw, while the latter was brittle and seemed of little account. We stacked them and fed them together, and the stock would hardly touch the bright hay when they could get the |