232 



FARMERS' REGISTER— MR. ROGERS' FARMING. 



der it as well to dispense with plaster altogether, as 1 small harrow to be run lengthwise on the lists, 



to have its good effects destroyed by apian so ruin 

 ous. My clover is cut when a portion of the heads 

 comroence tuniing brown, is cured \n the usual 

 v/ay, and stacked in ricks thatched with straw, or 

 put in houses. A large quantity of my straw is 

 hauled and s|/read (generally on stubble fields) co 

 thinly as not to check the growth of vegetation, 

 and regularly on the poorest parts of the fields. 

 This I consider to be so valuable a mode of im- 

 proving, that I might be justified ni using verj' 

 strong terms in speaking of its importance. It 

 forms an admirable cover for the land — it protects 

 the young clover, encourages and fosters the growth 

 of all kinds of vegetables. I also improve much 

 by penning my stock on the poorest parts of my 

 fields. The mode of penning is, I suppose some- 

 what new. I have poles cut and bushed of about 

 six inches diameter and 18 or 20 feet long. In each 

 of these, two legs are inserted on one side and 

 three on the other, so as to form a kind of bench, 

 four and a half feet high. On the side of three legs, 

 laths sawed about three by one inch are nailed to 

 the legs about a foot apart. The benches thus 

 prepared are put end to end, three or four or more 

 according to the number of stock penned, and 

 placed so as to tbrm a square, the laths nailed on, 

 being on the outside. The area of the pen is then 

 covered with straw. The convenience of this pen 

 will readily be discovered, as the pens require 

 moving ever}- eight or ten days. Two men and a 

 boy may easdy raise the benches and alter their 

 position in 15 or 20 minutes. If it is necessary to 

 move them to a distance, the two legs on one side 

 (having been put in without wedging) may easily 

 be taken out, tlie benclies put in a wagon and 

 conveyed to the spot selected, when the legs ma}' 

 Boon be replaced, and the benches set up. "One of 

 the benches is about eight feet long, so as to be 

 more easily moved than the rest, in order to form 

 a convenient entrance into the pen. The above 

 mentioned rotation and use of manure, with the 

 mode of cultivation, soon to be described, have 

 produced all the results ascertained; some idea of 

 which may be formed by stating that the waste 

 land has all been reclaimed, there is not a gully or 

 gullied spot to be seen, and a yield safely calcu- 

 lated on, of fi-om six to eight barrels of corn, and 

 li'om 20 to 25 bushels of wheat, per acre, on an 

 average. Cloverton, (the farm on which I reside,) 

 contains about 800 acres nearly all enclosed, 300 

 woods and 500 cleared; the cleared land is divided 

 into six fields averaging about 80 acres each, vary- 

 ing a little in size — there are besides a few grass 

 lots. The mode of cultivation is as follows — my 

 corn is planted fi-om the 5th to the 15th of April 

 on clover land, not closely grazed. The prepara- 

 tion is made in the fall or before the winter sets in, 

 by first laying off' rows with a coulter, six feet apart, 

 then runnino; a coulter furrow on each side of the 



which are aftenvards opened with a shovel plough, 

 and corn dropped four or five grains together, from 

 three to three and a half feet apart. The intervals 

 are then broken up as deep as possible with the 

 coulter; they remain in this condition until the clo- 

 ver growing in them blossoms. The clover is hin- 

 dered from flourishing b}' the coultering, and almost 

 effectually secures the corn from destruction by the 

 worm; that insect feeding on the cloveruntil the corn 

 is out of danger of its depredations. As soon as the 

 corn is of suitable size, it is thinned to two stalks 

 in a place, and weeded with a hoe, or sometimes 

 a small iron rake is used soon after a furrow is run, 

 with a two horse plough, on each side of the list, 

 throwing the earth to the corn, and weeded with 

 the hoe. When the clover is in bloom, as stated 

 above, tlie whole of the intervals are broken up 

 with a two horse plough, turning the clover aa 

 well under as possible. It is then run over Avitha 

 cultivator or iiarrow: it may be necessary to run 

 the cultiva.tor over again just before or after harvest 

 to keep it clean for seeding. 



I have been thus particidar as I think it very 

 important that corn should be cultivated on clover, 

 and not on stubble land. Independent of other 

 advantages, such as prevention from washing and 

 exhaustion, after the land has been well covered 

 with clover and two or three crops well seeded, and 

 turned in, there willbe no more necessity of sowing. 

 Corn land cultivated in this way will be a good 

 preparation for a wheat crop, and will yield nearly 

 as much as that on fallow. My time of sowing 

 v/heat is from the 20th of September, to the 15th 

 of October. The preparation is made by breaking 

 up the ground after harvest Avith a three horse 

 nlough, (the coulter is used when the ground has 

 been rendered hard by dry weather) then harrow- 

 ino-, sowing the wheat, and ban-owing it in, pro- 

 vided there be moisture enough, othenvise, 

 ploughing it in with small ploughs. The greater 

 part of my corn land is sown in wheat, the balance 

 generally in rv^e. This is done if the ground is 

 foul, by" first breaking it up with a two horse 

 plough and harrowing in the grain, or if not foul, 

 by ploughing it in with the one horse plough. I 

 sow but few oats, and those on corn land the last 

 of Februaiy or first of March, clover seed about 

 the same time. It may be as well to remark here 

 that I consider the Avhite flint and purple straAV 

 wheat most productive, and that I have always 

 been very particular in selecting the best of the 

 product of each crop for seed. Also, that in se- 

 curing the wheat crop, I have about half of it cut 

 with the sickle, on account of not being able to 

 work to advantage where it is rank. Even where 

 it is rank and standing up, my hands having been 

 well practised, secure nearly as much in a day as 

 they can Avith the cradle. The laborers emplo}'ed 

 on my farm amoi.mt to twelve men, two boys and 



roAvs laid oft; so as to have three ftirroAvs -together, tAvo women, except a fcAv small boys Avhich render 

 to be covered by a list — this should be done very - -. - _ .. 



deep in order to have the ground well broke; then 

 with a large tAvo or three horse plough a furrow is 

 run on each side of the three coulter furroAvs, bare- 

 ly making them meet: there Avill then be three 

 surfaces throAvn together Avhere the corn is to be 

 planted, and a good portion of vegetable matter 

 covered, Avhich fermenting about' the time the 

 young corn gets aboA'e the ground adds materially 

 to its Angor and grQwth. In the spring I cause a 



as yet but little serAice. I seldom ever hire, even 

 in time of harvest, any day laborers. In addition 

 to this force, I Avork six mules, four horses and 

 eight oxen; tAvo riding horses are also used. All 

 the resources for its improvement, have been fur- 

 nished by my farm, AA-hh the application of this 

 ft>rce — a force AA^hich has expended a considerable 

 portion of its time and labor in clearing up and 

 improving a small farm purchased some years ag^ 



