652 



FARMERS' REGISTER— GRASS HUSBANDRY. 



i^rowth of the sprin<T crop, impedes 'the mower, 

 and iiijunously mixes with the hay of the next 

 crop, as it must be cut with it. On a new mea- 

 dow, this covering in fiiv^orable seasons, Vv'ill rot 

 afi.er the grass rises over it in the sprino; — but this 

 is not of en the case. It has been llie praclicc, 

 witli many larmers, to bum it olF eariy in tlie 

 spring. The objection to that, is the probability 

 of cmpoverishing the soil. But on the other 

 hand, sucli lieavy grazing as will be necessary to 

 consume and trample it completely down, is at- 

 tended with the pernicious ellect of poaching, or 

 making the ground too hard; and when that is the 

 case, the crop becomes short and meager. Wlien 

 tlic ground is dry, grazing may be permitted, 

 though never in wet weather, or when the hoof 

 breaks, or much indents the sod. At the time, 

 however, when the grazing of meadows, in this 

 climate, would be most protitable, grass is abun- 

 dant enough in the fields. The plan of a stand- 

 ing pasture, with an occasional use of the mea- 

 dow in the fall, would seem most advisable. Still 

 I am inclined to think, that burning once in three 

 years, would be more beneficial than injurious. 



Although the months of September and Octo- 

 ber are the best lor sowing grass seeds, it mav be 

 done, in my opinion, any month in the year, pro- 

 vided there be no danger of the waters covering 

 the land and removing the seed. When sown in 

 the spring or summer, or too late in the fall for 

 them to vegetate, the first crop will be more or less 

 mixed with weeds. I sowed a iew acres some 

 years ago, with oats. The grass came up re- 

 markably well. Aller the oats were cut, we had 

 very dry and warm weather. I examined the 

 fate of the grass, and Ibund that before the heavy 

 crop of weeds, which succeeded the oats, had 

 protected it, the young grass had been completely 

 killed. It had risen" two or three inches; and 

 though sown very thick, appeared to be entirely 

 destroyed. The ground was as dry as it could be, 

 and 1 could see no sign of life m the roots. This 

 soil when moist, is as black as lamp-black; light, 

 and contains much sand. Notwithstanding these 

 appearances, the grass put up slowly in the fall, 

 and in the spring, occupied the ground, to the ex- 

 clusion of every thing else. The crop of hay was 

 a good one, though much injured by the stalks of 

 the weeds that ought to have been cut off in the 

 fall. 



Excuse the digressions and diversities of this 

 long letter. They are characteristic of my mode 

 of thinking. The subject is but only broached. 

 For the present, let this suffice. I had intended 

 giving you a topographical and agricultural delin- 

 eation of the country from the James (o the Poto- 

 mac River. May I not call u])on the strong pens 

 and intelligent minds in the several intervenino- 

 counties to aid in this work? "^ 



C. W. GOOCII. 



For the F.nrinors' Register. 



DEStTI.TORY ORSKnVATIONS OW THE SOILS 

 AND AGRICULTURE OF IIRNRICO COUWTV. 



The lands in the county of Henrico vary prol)a- 

 bly, more tJian in any other country. Those of 

 the Chickahomony bottoms have been described 

 [pap 649.] The hills that overlook these, are 

 higher and more precipitous on the Hejirico, tJian 



on the Hanover side, and abound more in gravel 

 and clay. Some ot' them are quite steep and 

 gashed by very deep ravines, iji the bottoms of 

 some of which, o];posite to Richmond, deposites 

 of fossil shells have been found, consisting of clam, 

 scallop, oyster, and a great variety of smaller 

 shells; so iiir decomposed that they may be re- 

 duced by 1 he pressure of the hand, and when ex- 

 posed to the atmosphere, fall into powder in a few 

 days. Expecting that these deposites will be 

 examined by the ardent and skilful Professor 

 Rogers, I shall say nothing more about them, 

 except that they have not been found in many 

 places; and but few experiments have been made 

 with them, as manure. 



The soil of these hills is diversified. In some 

 places sandy, in others gravelly, with an admix- 

 ture either of yellow clay or yellow sand; and then 

 again, for a mile, on those the soil is a rich, choc- 

 olate colored fertile mould. There is but little red 

 clay, but fiequent hills of yellow or light brown 

 clay. The writer has found all these varieties to 

 be powerfully acted upon by plaster, and especial- 

 ly when applied to clover. 



Between the Chickahomony and the James 

 River hills, the country is generally flat, but often 

 brolcen by deep ravines and valleys, along which 

 the branches pass to either stream. Several 

 streaks or patches of red land, not unlike the soil 

 of the South West Mountains occur. They are 

 however, far from being as rich; j-et are suscepti- 

 ble of high improvement. They suffer greatly 

 from drought. There are similar portions, with 

 a gray or ash colored soil, of nine or ten inches 

 thickness, resting on a red clay ibundation. I'he 

 soil of these portions suffers less from drought, 

 retains manure longer, and seems to have been 

 originally surer in production, if not actually so 

 rich. The top soil abounds in silex in a fine form, 

 and I presume, had in its virgin state, a due propor- 

 tion of veget.abic matter. But shallow ploughing, 

 a hot sun, and close grazing, have brought these 

 portions to povert}', and made them the fiivorite 

 spots for the poverty, or hen's grass. The clay 

 fi'om below, after being exposed to the frost and 

 scattered and mixed whh the silicious soil above, 

 seems to be in some places almost as good, and I 

 think has a more permanent effect than barn-yard 

 manure. To dig up, prepare, and scatter this red 

 clay, would be very expensive, though less so, 

 than the raising and use of putrescent manure. 

 This operation might be efiected by the plough, 

 but then whhout a good coat of vegetation to turn 

 under in its green state, sterility would be the con- 

 sequence for a year or two. Indeed the plough 

 cannot be easily made to reach the red substra- 

 tum and throw it up uniformly, without running a 

 two-horse, directly in the furrow after a] three- 

 horse plough and few persons are disposed to incur 

 this expense. There is a great deal of this sort 

 of land in Virginia. If a sufficient crop of clover 

 cannot be made to grow on it by Mr. Sampson's 

 mode of lightly toji-dressing small grain, at, or just 

 before the time of sov/mg clover seed, a crop of 

 peas, buckwheat or r3'e, might be turned under in a 

 green state, by a double ploughing, as suggested. 

 Bui. from the experiments I have made, wintergrain 

 neatly put in and top-dressed with farm-j-ard ma- 

 nure succeeds well. The manure seems to be 

 more beneficial in this, than in any other mode of 

 applying it, and secures to a cerlaiuty a good crop 



