«94 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 10 



wheat, rye or oata. They have their favorite 

 months — many of them sowing in all three 

 of the monihs of February, March and April. 

 Some prefer sowing the seed when the ground is 

 covered with snow, as it can be seen whether the 

 seed is strewed evenl3\ 



Q- 7. — What is the manner of sowing clover 

 seed ? 



y/. — The most of our farmers sow the seed 

 broad cast, as they do turnip or any other kind of 

 email seed. I have seen a box used lor sowinir 

 clover seed that ansvyers extreniely well. If 

 was invented by Mr. Bordley, of Maryland, 

 and consists of a box seven feet long, five inches 

 wide and three inches^deep, made of light half 

 inch boards. Tjie box is divided info seven ) arts, 

 each division having two holes bored through the 

 bottom, haif an inch in diameter and placed diag- 

 onally. Square jjieces of strong writing paper 

 are pasted over the holes, on the inside of the 

 box. A hole is burnt ivith a coarse knitting nee- 

 dle through each paper. At about a third of the 

 distance from each end of the box, were fastened 

 strong leather straps, by which the box was held, 

 and a little agitated in carrying before the seeds- 

 man, walking along the lands. 



The Pennsylvania farmers sow in the propor- 

 tion of a bushel of clover seed to eight acres of 

 land. Our proportion is a bushel to ten or twelve 

 acres, when it is intended ibr hay or seed; when 

 for pasture, a bushel to twenty acres. 



Q- 8. — VVhat are the modes practised in Lou- 

 doun, for gathering and cleaiiinsr clover seed ? 



■^- — The most common practice, is, to cut the 

 clover with a scythe: and as soon as it is mown, 

 to rake it into small heaps, and expose it in the 

 field for several weeks, to promote the decay of 

 the husk ; these heaps are turned during wet wea- 

 ther. When the husks are sufficiently rotten," 

 which may be ascertained by rubbing the heads 

 between the hands, they are "housed and thrashed 

 or trod out by horses, during the cold dry wenther 

 in winter. It is then blown gently through a 

 wheat fin, to separate the pug or chafi' fi-om" the 

 seed. The seed and chaff are sown separately ; 

 but as a large proportion of the seed will always 

 remain in the chaff, the field sown with the chaff 

 is generally thickest set with clover. Some of our 

 farmers make use of a machine invented in Npw 

 York, which is very simple in its construction. 

 The machine is drawn by one horse, and is guid- 

 ed by a man or boy. It' consists of an open'hox, 

 about four feet square at the bottom, and about 

 three in height on the two sides and back part ; 

 the fore part is open, and has fingers fixed to it, ei- 

 ther of hickory or steel, like a comb, about thirteen 

 inches long, and so near as to hrenk of}' the heads 

 from the clover stalks between them, which are' 

 thrown back into the box as the horse advances. 

 The box is fixed on an axle-tree, supported by 

 two small wheels, two feet in diameter. Two 

 handles are fixed to the hinder part, by means of 

 which, the driver, while he manngps the horse, 

 raises or lowers the machine, so as to take off all 

 the heads of the clover. It is the second crop of 

 clover that is saved for seed, that is of the same 

 year ;_ and when saved for seed, the heads should 

 be quite brown or dead ripe. 



Q. 9.— What is the modeofcurinu clover hay? 



^. — When the half or more of the clover 



keads are turned from red to brown, and on the 



decay, it is the right time to mow it. Some 

 make clover hay, by following the mowers, and 

 spreading the swarths as soon as the dew is off, 

 anil making it up into cocks before night — some 

 make it into cocks immediately after the mowers. 

 It is a hay that requires great attention in cur- 

 ing, as the heads and leaves will bear little stirring 

 without crumbling; it is therefore best to rake it 

 after the dew falls in the evening. The hay is 

 put into the stack or barn the day. after it is mown, 

 and to secure it from beconiiuij over-heated or 

 mildewed, some sprinkle salt alternately tielween 

 each layer of hay, which, assimilaiinu wiih the 

 juices of' the hay, prevents too great a fermenta- 

 tion. Some put a layer of straw between, load 

 and load of it. The straw contracts so much of 

 its moisture, that the cattle eat it very freely. 

 Where straw or salt are not used, it is usual to 

 make a funnel in the centre of the stack to admit 

 the air. This tnay be sim|)ly done, by placing or 

 leaniiiiT five or six rails against a centre pole, to 

 stack the hay around. 



Q. 10. — Is clover much used for raising hogs'? 

 ^. — It is : and our liirmers are making it a pro- 

 fitable business. Tlie hogs are turned in when 

 the clover is in blossom, and thrive exceedingly 

 on it. They graze without attempting to root. 

 The averajre quantity of corn allowed in former 

 times to make a hog good bacon, was two barrels ; 

 since the introduction of clover, a barrel, and 

 sometimes less, is found sufficient. 



Q. 11. — Is (\eQp ploughing much practised? 

 J?. — It is : and has done as much in my opi- 

 nion, to improve the soil of Loudoun, as the clo- 

 ver husbandry, and plaster. We seldom use less 

 than three, frequently tour, and sometimes five 

 stroni? horse's in a ploush, and ploush as deep as 

 ilie plough and the sirenjj^lh of the horses will 

 admit. Mr. Arthur Young, by attending parti- 

 cularly to the depth of ploughing in various towns 

 in Eniiland, found that the average depth in 

 sandy soils was four inches, in loamy soils four 

 and three quarters, and in clayey soils, three and 

 an half In Loudoun, we plough much deeper ; 

 sometimes not less than ten or eleven inches. 

 Great rejjard is paid to the situation of the land, 

 by our best farmers ; they never plough when the 

 land is so wet that it will not easily crumble ; be- 

 cause the principal design of ploughing, is to 

 break the cohesion of the soil; and. if in plough- 

 ing, you turn over a wet mass, the ploughing can 

 be of no advantage, as the soil becomes no lighter 

 or locscr by if, Imt rather heavier and more com- 

 pact. Regard is also had to the shape of the 

 land, by ploun-hing the hills horizontally, and 

 making the ftinows as nearly parallel to .the base 

 as possible. Owiuir to this mode of ploughing, it 

 is rarely that you now meet with a gully. 



Q. 12. — At what time of the year is the land 

 broke up deep? 



yf. — We plough deep for all kinds of crops. 

 For corn and oats, we break up our land early in 

 the spring or late in the fall. When the land is 

 broke up (or corn in the fall, we often plough it in 

 the sprinir, and cross running a heavy harrow 

 over it, either lay it off from three and an half to 

 four feet each way, or in drills, from five to eight 

 feet wide, and plant the corn from twelve to eigh- 

 teen inches apart. The deep ploughing not only 

 retains the moisture from rains and dews, pre- 

 vents gullies by absorbing the water, but burie* 



