254 THE AMERICAN FARMER 



plow or hoof of any kind. Then he concluded to try his hand again at farming. Many of his 

 neighbors gathered to see the first plowing after so long a rest from tillage. 



An old farmer who was present assured me that the soil turned over eight or nine inches 

 deep, as black as your hat, and as mellow as an ash -heap. 



More than fifty years have now passed since that occurrence, and the farm has the repu 

 tation of being rich and productive to the present day.&quot; 



Many pasture-lands, especially in New England, have been so constantly grazed for years 

 without renovating, the general theory having been, that pasture-lands were manured suffi 

 ciently by the animals feeding upon them, 7 that they have become worn out, the finer and 

 nutritive grasses having gradually disappeared and the thin soil on which they subsisted cov 

 ered with moss or worthless weeds, while many are overgrown with briars and bushes. 

 Where a pasture is bound out and mossy, and the grass-roots unhealthy, it is a good practice 

 to run a harrow over the surface, first in one direction and again in another, cutting it up into 

 little squares. This process will loosen the soil, after which sow a mixture of grass-seed 

 suited to pastures, with a little white or alsike clover, and then give it a light top-dressing of 

 plaster or some other kind of fertilizer. Sheep are great renovators of the soil, and it is to 

 be regretted that sheep husbandry is not more generally practiced in some portions of the 

 country, especially in New England. 



The editor of this work had an old pasture several years ago, which had been worn out 

 by being fed by dairy cows, year after year for time out of mind. Bushes and briers had 

 come in ; huckleberry bushes, alders, mosses, and every sort of botanical specimen abounded, 

 abundant enough to delight the heart of a botanist. It was the worst pasture, in that respect, 

 that could be found. It was so rough and rocky that it could not be plowed, and the ques 

 tion was, what should be done with it? It contained about thirteen acres. The bushes were 

 cut down, and then more than a hundred sheep were put in, which was a larger number, of 

 course, than the pasture could possibly carry. But they were not expected to live entirely 

 on what the pasture furnished, and could not, if it had been expected of them. Cotton-seed 

 meal was bought, at the rate of thirty-five or forty dollars per ton, and the sheep had their 

 rations of this, about a pint for each sheep at each feeding, every morning and night, 

 which they greatly relished, and which seemed to agree with them remarkably. In fact, they 

 liked it so well that the moment the dispenser of their rations was seen by them in the 

 pasture, they would come bounding to him from all directions, no matter how far away, call 

 ing in sheep language for their breakfast or supper, as the case might be. 



The result was that they cleaned out absolutely every brier, and every sumac-bush in that 

 pasture, besides many other shrubs, but not the huckleberry bushes. They could not be 

 induced to eat these. They covered the pasture with manure. It was a delight to see the dress 

 ing they gave it. They went through the following winter in good condition, and the next 

 spring twenty or thirty less sheep were put in the same pasture, and they went through the 

 second year doing exceedingly well. The original plan was to run them three years in 

 this pasture, which, if it had been carried out, would, without doubt, have entirely changed 

 its character by that time, judging by the very great improvement made during the two 

 years. 



Mr. C. E. Hewes, of the State of New York, gives his experience in renovating 

 his pasture lands, as follows: 



&quot;My first experience with salt on grass was accidental, but it worked so well, I made it 

 a practice. It so happened that after sowing on my plowed ground all I desired, I had 

 several barrels of salt left, and quite a quantity of unleached ashes, and as my pasture, which 

 had never been plowed, and which I was quite averse to disturbing for many reasons, was 

 badly &quot; run out,&quot; producing little grass, but many weeds, and covered with moss, I deter- 

 mined to mix the salt and ashes, and spread them plentifully as far as they would go. Com- 



