Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1883-08-04
Meadow and Pasture Grasses.

w WY WY AOii""'pA ~ tiSW Iiblh
the New England Farmer, On Col.
Killebrew's pamphlet on the grasses
in Tennessee, sent to that valuable pa
per by A. j. McWhirter, commissioner
of Agriculture. The article will be
found interesting and profitable, and
hence we give it to our readers:
From A. J. McWhirter, commission
er of agriculture of Tennessee, we have
received pamphlet upon grasses for
meadows and pastures, prepared by
Prof. j. B. Killebrew, a well known
authority upon the subject under dis.
cussion. The Importance ola familiarity
with the value of grasses, and know
ledge Of the best methods of cultivating
them amply justifes the dissemination
of pamphlets like this by Prof. Kille-
brew, among the farmers. In his in
PRODUCTION, the author lays it down as
fact that the degree of agricultural
advancement off country can usually
be determined by the relative acreage
of land laid down to grass and devoted
to tillage, for wherever the grass is
most abundant there will be found
the best farming. This statement, he
finds, is most strikingly established
by comparing the agricultural systems
of France and England. In France
he finds that "fifty-three per cent of
tillable land is usually sown in
some kind of grain, while in England,
the grain bearing per cent of land is
only twenty-five. On the other hand
while France has but twenty-five per
cent in grass, England has fifty per
cent. Notwithstanding this difference
in the amount of land devoted to grain
the yield of wheat to each inhabitant,
is almost Identical in the two countries.
Every acre of land in England receives
on an average, the manure from ami
mails fed off three acres of grass. In
France, on the contrary, the manure
made from each acre Of grass has to
be spread over two and half acres of
grain. In other words, each acre of
grain in England gets nine loads of
manure to one load given to the acre
in France"
The Professor claims that the SAC
knowledged superiority of English cattle
sheep and other domestic animals, over
thoie of France, or any other country,
for that matter, is due more to the
superiority in the quality and quantity
of the meadows and pastures of that
wonderful island than to anything else.
The statement that the amount of
grass grown will give the measure of
the degree of advancement to which
agriculture has reached, holds good
however, only OF the cultivated grasses.
As lowly and humble as grass ap.
pears, ii comprises about one>sixth Of
all the vegetation in the world" says
the Professor, "and nourishes more
animals than all other food combined
and furnishes all the elements for ami
NAL growth.
Timothy, in this report, is placed al
the head Of all grasses in its nutritivt
qualities, but it can not be pasturec
in safety, nor must it be cut below thu
first joint with scythe or machine
Red top is given the second place il
Importance among the cultivated
grasses, it being the most permanent
grass grown, yet orchard grass is diff
fused more extensively than any othe
grasses, growing all over Europe, tn
northwestern parts of Africa, and il
Asia Minor. 1t grows anywhere be
tween thirty-fve and forty-seven de
grees north latitude.
The author gives the history of tn
introduction of German milIet into thi
country, which will doubtless be ne,
to most farmers. Two Germans cam
to Tennessee in 1861. One of ther
brought little sack of millet, about
quart, which he kept IN his trunk dun
ing the war. At the close of the wa
he took it out one day, and handing
to a merchant, asked him to give it
some good farmer. 1t fell into tn
hands of Mr.. James Allen, of William
son county, one of the best millet see
,>1ootore IN Tanooeoaa