Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-12-18
Thorough Culture,

Correspondent u ihe C.uutfy Gentleman
For many years have argued
that the whole Of the United States
would bc more prosperous, and the
farmers be able TO take life easier
and make more money, If they would
not cultivate SO much land. | have
continually written about the pcrma.
nent grass lands in England, which
pay great deal better for lying per
petually in sod composed of all tho
best native varieties, and never plow-
cd. This is no new thing, or any
experiment on n small scale, but 4
glorious fact on such a magnificent
scale, as TO astonish every American
who goes to England. lie finds that
more than half the kingdom is relig.
iousl V set apart and held sacred from
the plow, and hay is made of such
fine quality a. TO surprise men who
have been accustomed TO think the
old grass land in England was all
pasturcd. When it Is considered
ltiAk III hh'tAklbH W Nali tNt 'tAilNiN '
being in permanent grass. there are
clover and other grass crops which
come in rotation on the arabic land,
and also that onc-sixth TO onc-fourth
Of all the plowcd land is in roots
every year, all which are eaten by
cattle and sheep, it il not wonderful
there is so much wheat and barley
grown.
The best land in England is in
grass, such as farmers here could not
resist the temptation to take wheat
from. If such land could be kept
from being polluted by cultivation
here, sheep could he kept rs they are
in England. The less money obtain
cd for hay and grain the better it
would pay the stock-raiscr TO Craze
and grow meat, wool and milk. When
j farmer has fine tract Of land.
chiefly pasture and meadow, his cx.
penditure in labor is comparatively a
mere trihe. and in England this is so
we'll understood that any farm with
the greater portion in old grass is
sought after and rented readily. Let
every farm with soil suitable for per.
manent firstclass grass bc treated rs
English land is in the best districts.
and | would wager that more than
double the grain, corn and clover
could be grown on the half Of the
farm. The other half Gn grass)
should be the best and deepest soil
The grass land in the Eastern States
is that which will not pay to cultivate
for corn and grain.
Let any farmer who reads the
papers and has common sense
views of agriculture consider that
although Mr.. Mechi, who has won.
dcrfully good arabic farm, has been
telling the landlords and the tenants
that they ought to agree to plow it
all up and bring it into rotation with
grain, &C., and consider also that the
greater part of the Scotch farmers
are averse to permanent grass and
know little about it, yet under all
trying circumstances it is still held
inviolable, and instead of plowing it
up when hard times come more is
sowed down In properly mixed seeds
to be kept always in grass. When
grain is low in price it is folly to talk
of plowing up grass which is paying
by supporting live stock and If half
of the land, and the best half, is put
into grass and never plowed again,
the other half would grow more grain
than the whole did before, thus saving
the labor of attending to the whole.
OF course this would not occur all at
once it would gradually happen, be-
cause all the best land being in grass,
the other would be attended to and
improved.