i08 [Senate 



rowing wheat and manure all in together. And here let me remark, 

 that I have found out by experience that a few loads of manure per 

 acre, spread on the top of the soil is the best mode of making grass 

 seed take that I have ever tried, and I have practiced it for twenty- 

 years and never knew a failure. The soil was dry, and a severe 

 drouth at the time. The wheat did not come up until the next spring. 

 The spring not being very favorable, the most of the wheat perished, 

 and I thought it all lost ; and about the l5th of April, I sowed about 

 one bushel of spring wheat and fifteen pounds of clover seed per acre, 

 and harrowed once with sharp iron tooth harrow. About the first 

 of June, sowed a half bushel plaster per acre. The wheat carbe on 

 finely, and made a good crop, half winter and half spring wheat. T 

 did not pasture wheat stubble that season. I mowed the same, June 

 22d, 1840. The clover was short, but very thick — half bushel of 

 plaster sowed, July 3d, per acre ; mowed again in October for seed, 

 producing two and. one-half bushels to the acre. I sold the seed for 

 $7.25 cts. per bushel. In the spring of 1841, I drew about twelve 

 loads common unfermented manure per acre, and plowed under the 

 manure with a fine growth of young clover, — on the last week in 

 May 1841, I planted the same with potatoes and ruta bagas. The 

 crop was good. I planted with potatoes again in May, 1842; no 

 manure was used — the crop was good. I sowed with flax the last 

 week in April 1843, and with twenty pounds clover seed per acre — 

 no manure was used. The flax was sowed for the seed. One-half a 

 bushel of plaster was applied per acre on May 20th. It was mowed 

 June 22d, 1844, — sowed with plaster June 29th, half bushel per acre. 

 It was mowed again the last of September. This clover was brought 

 in during my absence from home, while at the late State Fair at 

 Poughkeepsie, and some of the same was rather damp to house, which 

 makes some loss in seed and hard to thrash from the straw, which 

 was done with horses. Some was left on the straw. It was cleaned 

 with Rittenhouse & Go's patent machine, made at Trumansburgh, 

 by King & Co., which I think the most perfect machine for cleaning 

 clover seed now in use. These machines will clean with good chafi", 

 twenty bushels per day, with four horses and the common strap horse 

 power. I know of one of these machines that cleaned 750 bushels 

 of clover seed last winter without any repair. 



Lot No. 2, by survey, came into my possession at the same time 

 as lot No. 1 ; there had never been a crop on it, although it had been 

 cleared many years ago, and then left to grow up with white pine 

 bushes. I cleared it in the summer of 1839, and sowed with wheat, 

 seeding with clover in the spring of 1840. The clover did not take. 

 I plowed and sowed with oats in the spring of 1841 ; seeded with 

 clover seed, 15 lbs. per acre. The seed did not take ; it came up 

 fine, but soon perished, although I sowed plaster on it, at each time 

 seeding. In the spring of 1842, I drew on 21 loads of common 

 barn-yard unfermented manure, on the piece. I thought it contained 

 about 1 J acres ; I plowed it in May, and planted with corn and po- 

 tatoes — the crop good. In the spring of 1843, the last week in 

 April, I sowed with flax seed, and seeded with clover seed, at the rate 



