Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1885-04-17
Agricultural.
Reports Of the Department OF Agricui-
sura..A IfaIfn.

Reports Of the Department OF Agricui-
ture---Alfalfn,
We are under obligations 10 Senator Ed
munds for various public documents, includ-
ing the annual report Of the Department Of
Agriculture for 1884. The merits Of the an
nual reports of the Agricultural Department,
we believe are not sufficiently appreciated.
They are often spoken Of derisively, but they
nevertheless contain a large amount Of valua-
BILE matter, the result OF much study and re-
search. OF late years the reports have con
tanned few contributions outside Of the de-
partment, being made up Of the reports Of
heads Of the bureaus therein and their assist
ants The present volume contains the
abridged report Of DR.. d. E. Salmon OF the
bureau of animal industry, established by act
Of Congress last May the report Of H. w.
Wiley, chemist, and Of Clifford Richardson,
assistant chemist the report Of Geo. Massey,
botanist, and Of N. H. Eggleston, chief Of
the bureau of forestry of g. V. Riley, ento-
mologist, and an abridgement Of the statisti-
cal reports of j. II. Dodge Of the bureau of
statistics. II also contains a short article by
Peter Henderson, on the culture of lucerne or
plant as a substitute for hay on warm, dry
soils in northern states, but more especially
for the south, where no good grass or clover
can be found to stand the heat and drought
of the long summers. Mr.. VIM. Crosier of
Northport II. l., one Of the best-known far
mers and stookbreeders of that vicinity, says
he has long considered alfalfa one of the best
of forage crops. He uses it always to feed
his milch cows and breeding ewes, particular
ly in preparing them for exhibition at fairs,
where he is known to be a most successful
competitor, and he always takes sufficient al
falfa hay to feed them while there. Mr.. Gro
sier's crop averaged the second year Is TOM
(green) to the acre. and about six tons when
dried as hay. He lives in the latitude of New
York city, and for that section the best time
for sowing alfalfa he has found to be the first
week in May, and good cutting can be had
in September, though a full crop is not grown
till the next season. II cured for hay it is
cut when in full blossom, like red clover, and
after the first cutting it usually grows two
more green crops.
Peter Henderson's article can be readily
comprehended by the average farmer, and
the reports would be more widely read and
appreciated il the same we're true of them !;
but in this volume, and in many of the pre-
ceding reports, much space has been devoted
to the abstruse and halftechnical treatment
of matters of little interest except to profess
sional specialists. These things may show
the writer's scientific attainments, but the
general reader among the farmers for whose
benefit the Department of Agriculture is sup
posed to be maintained wants practical re-
Suits given in straightforward, simple Ian
guage.
Aside from this objection, the report con
tains much that is valuable. Four hundred
thousand copies we're ordered printed for dis
tribution-a number sufficient to supply about
one farmer in 20 with a copy, provided none
were distributed to persons in other occupa-
tons