No. 2. Crimson Clover — The Wheat Fly — Italian Rtje-Grass. 



69 



Crimson Clover. 



The follomng notice of tlie Trifoliuin In- 

 caruatum is taken fi-oni tiie Code of Agricul- 

 ture, and as this grass is getting into favor, it 

 will not be unacceptable to see it so highly 

 spoken of abroad : " It is a subject of aston- 

 isnment that this valuable plant, ( Trifolhun 

 Incarnatum) should not have been long ago 

 introduced into this country, and cultivated 

 on an extensive scale. If sown in autumn, 

 after a crop of potatoes or other roots, it pro- 

 duces next spring a crop fit to be cut for soil- 

 ing cattle, eight days earlier than lucerne, 

 and a fortnight before red clover. Care, how- 

 ever, must be taken to have good seed, and 

 not to sow it too deep. It produces two ex- 

 cellent crops in one year, the first of which 

 should be cut as soon as it comes into flower, 

 and the second will produce a considerable 

 quantity of seed. From its early growth in 

 spring, when other articles for feeding stock 

 with advantage are so difficult to be obtained, 

 it is likely to become a valuable acquisition 

 to British husbandry." If the clover — the 

 seed of which is, we believe, to be had in con- 

 siderable quantity of the seed merchants in 

 this country — ^be sown in spring, it is con- 

 sidered that it will produce a full crop in Scot- 

 land in the months of July or August, and 

 must be of great value to those on whose 

 lands the common red clover does not suc- 

 ceed, or where the crop may have partially 

 failed. It is proper to remark that this is an 

 annual plant, and therefore should only be 

 employed in partial husbandry. — Bult. Far 



TIic IVheat Fly, 



Is an animal that has never attacked my 

 grain. It has so happened that my neighbor's 

 wheat and mine were in adjoining^fields, 

 separated only by a fence; that his wheat 

 was nearly destroyed by the fly, and not one 

 in mine. The only solution I "can give to it, 

 is as follows: My wheat uniformly is sowed 

 late— never until there has been a hard frost, 

 sufficiently so to kill insects of that kind. I 

 cause a strong solution of salt and water to be 

 made— strong enough to bear an egg, and my 

 wheat is soaked about twenty-four hours in it, 

 and then rolled in lime on the barn floor. When 

 that rule has been followed, my crops have 

 been about as good as my neighbor's when 

 their wheat was not afflicted with the fly. 

 Care should be taken not to soak the wheat 

 more than about twenty-four hours, and then 

 it should be rolled in lime, else the germinat- 

 ing quality of the wheat may be destroyed or 

 injured. A. Dey. 



N. York, July 23, 1839. [Poughkeepsie Tel. 



Use your own rights so as not to injure 

 others. 



Italian Rye Grass* 



In the year 1886 I purchased one bushel of 

 Italian rye grass, from ]\Ir. T. P. Wilson, of 

 Burgli Quay, Dublin, and sowed it on one Cun- 

 ningham acre of excellent land, after drilled 

 potatoes, the ground having been sown with 

 black Tartarian oats the preceding day, — this 

 occurred in the thn-d week in April, — the field 

 of oats turned out the most luxuriant and pro- 

 ductive that had been seen in tliis country, three 

 Cunningham acres and a half having produced 

 440 Winchester bushels of oats: the crop was 

 removed on the 27tli of September, when the 

 Italian rye grass was seen to rise like a crop 

 of oats about to shoot into ear. The winter 

 of 1836-7 was not severe, and the Italian (rest 

 of tlie fieU was laid down with Pacey's per- 

 ennial) had a most beautiful appearance at the 

 latter end of July 1837; the crop was cut for 

 seed at that time six feet long, the produce in 

 cleaned seed forty-eight bushels; there was a 

 great bulk of hay, and had it been saved with- 

 out regard to the sale of seed would have pro- 

 duced fi-om three to four tons on the acre, of 

 sweet, rich, juicy flavor, adapted for black 

 cattle and horses for slow work, admirable for 

 cutting as chaff" from the number of joints; it 

 was very full of saccharine matter and sub- 

 stance, but much softer than Pacey's; the 

 second crop was also reserved for seed, and 

 cut in September ; it produced about one ton 

 of hay not more than two feet and a half long, 

 with thirty-two bushels of seed superior to the 

 first crop in quality, making in the whole 

 eighty bushels of seed, sold at'lOs. per bushel, 

 the original having cost 17s. 6d.; the field 

 was ploughed for wheat, one ridge was left 

 for experiment, — the grass on it in November 

 wouW have cut a third time, being two feet 

 long, — the winter of 1837-8 was very severe, 

 the grass melted away, and in my opinion, 

 dissolved and rotted at the root. I was very 

 deep in the Italian rye grass, the acre above 

 mentioned having been so profitable, had in- 

 duced me to lay out eight acres with it, and 

 having observed that the soil thickened and 

 spread by being cropped, I had turned my 

 calves into the fields after the grain was re- 

 moved ; to this circumstance I attribute the 

 great success of my crops in 1838, as some of 

 my neighbors who had not taken this precau- 

 tion, lost their grass in the same way that my 

 ridge disappeared. Calves are the best stock 

 for this purpose, their teeth are sharp, and 

 they take the top off. For soiling, no grass 

 answers better, it grows so quickly, — half a 

 bushel Italian rye grass, 10 lbs. of red clover, 

 and 4 lbs. of trefoil ; if the land is stifle, more 

 seed will be required ; it is delicate at first in 

 heavy soils, but when rooted, seems to thrive 

 well. Half a bushel of Italian, half ditto 

 cocks-foot, 7 lbs. of white clover, 5 lbs. trefoil, 

 with 2 lbs. of yarrow, make a beautiful soil 



