390 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 7 



The idea, that mixed seeds always succeed bet- 

 ter than any one by iiself, is founded upon the 

 supposition, that every diH'erent species of plant 

 imbibes Ibod peculiar to itself, and as there must 

 be less rivalry amonj; a heterogeneous than in a 

 homogeneous assemblage, each sort will secure 

 for itself a more abundant share of its natural food. 

 That this notion is not merely suppositional, but a 

 reality, is often proved by the fact, that a mixture 

 of red and white wheat always yields a heavier 

 crop both of grain and straw than if kept and 

 sown separate in the saine field; and, moreover, 

 if sown separately, the plants, at the Ime of junc- 

 tion, where the sorts are in some degree accident- 

 ally mixed, are the strongest in the field. 



It was ibrmerly a custom to sow spring wheat 

 and barley together, in order to be ground into 

 meal for baking into bread; but this practice has 

 been long abandoned. 



Peas are always considered a precarious crop, 

 especially in dry summers ; and, lest any loss 

 should be sustained by peas alone, oats are fre- 

 quently mixed and sown with them. These 

 grow well together; the oats supporting the peas, 

 and the peas shading the ground, and thereby 

 nursing the oats. Three quarters of peas and 

 four quarters of oats are frequently obtained by 

 growing them totrether; and a vast quantity o( 

 excellent fodder either for the cribs or racks in 

 winter, or for cutting into chaff'. The grain is 

 easily separated in the barn, by simple thrnioing 

 from one end of the thrashinir-ffoor to the other. 

 The larire black Poland, or Tartarian sorts of oats, 

 and either the maple or common hog-peas, are 

 best (or growing together. 



Instead of oats, common horse beans are some- 

 times sown to great advantage; the beans serving 

 to prop the peas, and, consequently, rendering 

 them more prolific. This mixture answers best 

 on strong loamy soils, it never being attempted 

 on thin or light land. This mixed grain is chiefly 

 used for pig feeding; and, in the market, is called 

 polls or poults. 



In some rich, loamy districts of the kingdom, 

 where the early nimble pea can be cultivated, a 

 cast of turnip seed is thrown over belbre the last 

 hoeing, and when the peas are off, the stubble is 

 first harrowed, and the turnip plants, it enough 

 have risen, are regularly thinned by the hoe. The 

 same thing is done among beans. The turnip 

 seed is sown in June or July, before the last hoe- 

 ing; or, il" there be no weeds, the surface is chop- 

 ped over, to bury the seed. By this extra labor, 

 a fair sprinkling of turnips for spring feed will re- 

 main alter the beans are off. This, however, is 

 only done when wheat does not succeed beans, 

 and where the soil is moist and very mellow. 



Where buck- wheat is cultivated, and which is not 

 intended to be (bllowed by wheat, turnips may be 

 sown at the same time, and which sometimes an- 

 swers very well in raising — not large bulbs indeed, 

 but a fair bite of herbage to help out the main 

 crops of turnips in the spring. 



Sowing grass-seed with barley or oats, or har- 

 rowing and rolling it in upon wheat in the sprinir, 

 are every-day practices, and have long been es- 

 tablished by custom as the best methods ofculture, 

 from the economy of putting in two years' crops, 

 by the same labors, in one. Some agriculturists 

 prefer laying down permanent pasture seeds with- 

 out corn, and sowing them, not in the spring, but 



in the month of August. Their reasons for this, 

 are, first, that the ground intended (or permanent 

 grass should receive a thorough cleansing from 

 weeds, and which cannot be effectually done with- 

 out a summer fallow; secondly, the heat of the 

 sun so destructive to young grass, as well as the 

 turnip ffy at the same time, are less to be feared 

 in the autumn than in the earlier months of the 

 year; and, therefore autumn-sown seeds seldom 

 fiiil. 



J.G. 



From the Farmer's Magazine. 

 ON MANURE FOR WHE.4.T. 



We can strongly recommend the following 

 paper, on the choice of manure, to the notice of 

 our readers. It is from an able work on the varie- 

 ties, properties, and classification of wheat, by 

 Colonel LeCouteur: — 



"The effect of different manures on wheat is 

 very remarkable; it will not be necessary to say 

 much on the subject, as it is almost exhausted, 

 having been fully treated by far more able pens; 

 but having made some experiments on the sub- 

 ject, I may be excused from publishing their 

 results. 



" I confine my observation to those manures 

 which are within the reach of most farmers, with 

 one or two exceptions. 



" Stable manure will, in ordinary good soils have 

 the effect of causing the plants to tiller much, or to 

 make straw and grass, thereby diminishing the 

 produce in grain and meal considerably. 



"Liquid manure, one third stable drainings, and 

 two-thirds water, which I caused to be poured 

 once over wheat that was just tillering, made the 

 straw grow rank and coarse, the grain of every 

 variety of wheat was dark and thick-skinned, 

 hence containing less meal. The same quantity 

 and mixture of liquid manure poured a second time 

 over another portion of wheat, caused it to grow 

 so rank and full of leaves, rather than straw, that 

 only a few of the plants produced ears of wheat, 

 some having run up into sharp points, with merely 

 the rudiments of ears indicated. The few ears 

 that produced corn, displayed in its worst form, 

 hardly in the shape of meal, of a doughy soft text- 

 ure, evidently unfit for the food of man; besides, 

 some of them were smutty. Thus, an over appli- 

 cation of manure, excellent when judiciously ap- 

 plied, becomes a poison, precisely in the same 

 manner as in the human constitution, a surfeit is 

 usually the parent of some disease. 



" The wheat on either side of these experiments, 

 which had only been manured with the ashes of 

 kelp, or sea-weed, was henlthy, productive, and 

 farinaceous in the highest degree. 



" JV'ly attention was particularly called to the 

 proper application of manures by an old and ex- 

 perienced farmer, who considered kelp or the ashes 

 of rock sea weed, that which is cut, the best of all. I 

 am convinced by subsequent experience, that two 

 or three pounds worth of it per acre, spread at the 

 proper period, about two months before sowmg 

 time, would always more than repay itself. 



"It attracts moisture from the atmosphere, it 

 materially increases the volume of the grain, and 

 fineness of the sample ; but does not add to the 

 weight of the straw, though rendering it whiter 

 and more nourishing to cattle. It causes the wheat 



