No. 6. DEl\\UTMEN'r OF At : KICUI/l'UKE. 695 



plniil or stalk, and how to utilize it to the best possibh' advautage. 

 V^'hen cue starts to grow tlie plant, the fertility of the soil and ro- 

 tation should be considered at least two or more years before. We 

 must accept the nature of the soil as we have it and not as we would 

 like to have it. My soil is limestone clay and will therefore, con- 

 sider it from this point of view. 



The soil should be of a clover sod, being mowed but one year, tiie 

 aftermath or second crop, unless it is very full of seed, should be 

 left on the field to supj)iy humus to the soil. Some prefer to man- 

 ure ground just before plowing. Our practice is to manure the tiny 

 plants immediately after the grain crop is harvested. This method 

 in connection with clipping the young plants and keeping all 

 stock oil' the land, enables the grass to make a vigorous growth of 

 the clover plant, and will encom*age it to the extent of never fail- 

 ing to have a good catch or clover. We sometimes have it burnt 

 out by excessive drouth and hot sun in the latter part of the summer. 

 But as yet I have found no remedy to avoid this, and try to accept 

 the situation as good naturedly as possible. 



To get the best i^ossibie stand of corn, it seems necessary to plow 

 our tough tenatious clay in the fall, allowing the action of the frost 

 to pulverize the soil. I very much prefer the spring plowing if 

 it was not for having the action of the frost upon the soil; and on 

 very rolling land I prefer to take the chances on the spring plowing, 

 as it is not as likely to w^ash the field into gutters which is very dis- 

 couraging to those wlio have any pride in the looks and condition 

 of his fields. 



The next lo be considered is the preparation of the soil by harrov.- 

 ing and rolling until it is fine and firm. Our method is not how 

 often, but how thorough. There are too many of our faraiers who 

 measure their success and failures by the number of times harrowed 

 and cultivated. One of my neighbors v.as complaining of his poor 

 corn crop and unable to feed any cattle this winter when, in the 

 same breath, said, he could beat Perry county for corn for only hav- 

 ing one cultivation. This man should be classed with the man out 

 west who mowed the weeds along the roadside witliout being com- 

 pelled to do so by the road supervisor. The neighbors are arranging 

 to exhibit him at the World's Fair at St. Louis. 



Before leaving this point, I want to say, to do this thorough 

 work at a profit, one must have good implements. My favorite 

 harrow is the spring tooth in connection with smoothing, and Acme 

 harrows, our soil being too tenacious to use either disk or spade, 

 requiring too much power for amount of work accomplished. When 

 speaking of harrows, some people think a harrow^ is a harrow, which 

 is not the case. There are many harrows on U\e market and among 

 the farmers that T would not take as a gift, being simply made to 



