Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1872-07-30
agricultural,
The HaH crop.


NccS writes:
The hay crop Oithe present year seems
10 be mnch better than the farmers had
reason to expect. From ali directions
como the tidinss tha; it Will be two,
three, and even four times as large as il
was last year. The farmers are feeling
very jubilant Us they behold their barns
so We'll filed with the wherewithal to
feed a goOdly stock Of cattle during the
coming winter; ana to produce large
pile oil manure with which thsy can en-
rich their land next year. A good crop
OF hay is q great blessing to the farming
community. The effect of It's being ca;
of WAS seen and felt last winter by the
farmers who had to sell of large part
OF their stock at q great loss, and spend
a large amount of money in buying corn
and meal 10 help winter out tho small
part that was left Indeed many OF our
farmers ran in debt for their grain, and
are now working hard TO pay up the
debt. The loss that was caused by the
failure OF tho hay crop is hard to GsIi-
mate. Many farmers sacrificed great
deal upon the stock which they were
obliged TO sell at ruinous prices, and the
heaps OF manure were very small last
Spring. and the consequence is that the
crops this year win suffer from = lack OF
il, and the lasds viii not be enriched rs
il should be- Many farmers sacrificed
much in order TO keep the stock which
they did, and it Will be some time before
they fully recover again. The effects OF
the very small supply OF hay viii be visi-
blc for = long time.
\ crop that is so importan, as this
should be closely looked after. and meas
uyes taken to keep it up, even when We
suffer from drouth and the ravages OF
insects. believe that the failure of the
hay crop last year was not wholly due to
drouIh and insects, but was partly due to
the farmers themselves. Hon. Seth Scam
mon, Presiden. of Cumberland County
Agricultural Society. in speaking upon
this topic before the Maine Board Of
Agricultural said The system OF ag.
ricUlture that has been pursued in this
State has been such that we are brought
to learn by sad experience our folly in
the course that we have pursued. The
bes, that can be said OF il is, that it is
Starving process. We have been crop
ping our lands year after year without
making sufficient returns Our whole
system of farming has been cropping
system Further on in MS remarks he
said: cone very important lesson we
should learn from experience the present
year 5 not 10 run specifically over TOO
much land; not 20 cultivate more than
We can properly feed, and properly cal
tiyate.' flour farmers would hocd such
words as these, they might be better OF
than they now are.
The system that we have pursued has
cropped the land without returning the
elements that have been taken from il
until the soil is So exhausted that dry
season ruins the crop. The large amount
OF land that we will persist in cultiyating
cannot be properly fed and cultivated,
and consequently i is constantly growing
poorer and poorer. The grass is thin
upon a great deal of our land and we
have to so over four or six acres to Get
the amount OF hay that we ought to cut
on one acre if it had been enriched As it
might have been if we had gone over
less land. Land that is rich will yield
boun;ilul crop of hay in dry season,
and the grass will start up again as soon
y it IS cut. The reason is obvious. The
elements Of plant growth is in the earth,
and do not have TO be wholly derived
from moisture. Any farmer who has
piece Of rich land will testify to the
truth Of the above, and Will also tell Us
that at the same time the drouth will al
most destroy the crop upon his poorer
land. Many instances were seen last
year where the grass would not pay for
cutting, and whole fields remained uncut
for this reason. They lay idle and gave
not one cent to the farmer in return tor
the labor which he had bestowed upon
them. Why will no. our farmers take
warning by these things. and try to profit
by them ? Why will they not Try to
guard against such a loss in the future ?
Let them go over less land, and cultivate
it better, and enrich it more, and they
viii see a better hay crop, and the drouth
will not effect il so much. Oh course
this result cannot be produced in one
year. 1t will take time 10 bring it about.
But If thing is never begun, it can
never be done. Now is the time tor us
10 begin reform il this matter. Our
hay crop Is again pretty good, aud we
have reason 20 expect that it may contin-
uc so for two or three years, and while
we are cutting = good crop let US take
measures TO keep X good. even when we
have q dry season.
WhGt Is High Farming.
lt is q system OF tillage and farm man.