1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



208 



Fnim llio Fiunlvliii raruicr. 

 BLUB GRASS. 



TIlis grass, wliicli constitutcf? the glory of Ken- 

 lucky pastures, is esteemed superior to all others 

 for grazing. It llourishcs only on calcareous soils. 

 Opiuions and practice vary here, as to the best 

 time o,'' sowing it — some prelerring September, for 

 the same reasons, chielly, which relate to timothy 

 or other grasses, others prelerring February or 

 March, to obviate the danger of the tender roots 

 being winter killed. It is sown either on wood- 

 land or open ground — in the latter case most ge- 

 nerally after a succession of exhausting crops in old 

 fields. Il" sown on woodland, the leaves, brush 

 and trash must be raked off or burnt. It is par- 

 ticularly important to burn the leaves, else the 

 seed may be blown away with them by the wind, 

 or if not blown away, the leaves may prevent the 

 seed reachmsi the earth and thus dcleat ihcir ger- 

 mination. Many of those who sow in winter, 

 preler casting the seed on the snow, as it enables 

 them to efiect the operation with more neatness 

 and uniformity. In woodlands, the grass must 

 not be grazed the first year, or at all events till af- 

 ter the seeds have matured. In open land, the 

 practice has been adopted by some, of mixing 

 timothy and clover with blue grass, in which case, 

 half a bushel of the latter seed to the acre, is sulFi- 

 cient. The advantage resulting from this is, that 

 it secures at once, a well covered pasture that will 

 bear considerable grazing the first year. The 

 blue grass, in a fe\7 years, expels the other grass- 

 es, and takes entire possession of the field. On 

 open ground, it is frequently sown in March upon 

 wheat, rye or oats. If the season is liivorable, it 

 may be sown in April; but should the weather 

 prove dry, a great portion of the seed will be lost. 

 It is the practice, we believe, of most graziers, to 

 put upon a given pasture, as much stock as it will 

 maintain, without shifting them during the sea- 

 son, as, besides saving- labor, it renders the cattle 

 more quiet and contented. Others, however, 

 fence oti' their pastures into separate divisions, to 

 undergo a regular succession of periodical graz- 

 ings. This plan secures a constant sup|)ly ol' 

 fresh grass, very grateful to the animals, and is be- 

 lieved to be more economical, as much less is 

 trampled and rejected by the cattle. The number 

 of animals to the acre, must depend upon their 

 size and the quality and quantity of grass. The 

 grass on open ground is much more abundant, 

 sweet and nutritious, than on woodland, and con- 

 sequently will maintain much more stock, perhaps 

 nearly twice as much; while open woodland will 

 produce much more and better grass than that 

 which is deeply shaded. The best graziers extir- 

 pate, as fvist as possible, every tree not valuable 

 ibr timber or wanted for fuel, and some even prune 

 the branches of those which are allowed to re- 

 main. IJut we shall soon, we hope, be able to 

 present this subject more at large, in some num- 

 bers which are preparing, on the grazing and 

 stock-feeding systems of Kentucky, which we 

 trust will |}rove interesting to all our readers and 

 particularly instructive to the farmers in the south- 

 ern portion of the slate and Tennessee. Although 

 we wish well to the tobacco growers on Green 

 river, and would cltcerfully lend our aid to pro- 

 mote their particulai interciilo in that pursuit, we 



wish they could be persuaded to adopt, in ils stead, 

 the grazing business; for we are confident it is a 

 much more productive, and certainly a more agree- 

 able and less laborious one. 



From tlic Genesee Fainior. 

 BEST TIMBER FOR PUMP LOGS. 



Friend Tucker — It may be thought too aspiring 

 by some, for an old man of 82 years of age, to be- 

 gin to write for newspaper inquiries; but seeing 

 some inquiries and communications in several of 

 the numbers of this year's Genesee Farmer, re- 

 specting the best method of conducting water in 

 logs to the place desired, I would inform friend 

 Southhill, as I have had some experience in con- 

 ducting the water to my house from a distance, 

 near forty years, in logs, ol'the sort of timber I used, 

 and the manner of laying the logs, in as concise 

 a manner as I can, and the length of time they 

 have been in operation, from actual experience. 

 The timbers used were all poplar (or what is 

 called the tulip tree), except three logs, two of 

 which were white oak, the other of chestnut — all 

 green, with the bark on, of the size of from one 

 foot to fifteen inches in the but-end, and not less 

 than eight inches in the top-end. They were 

 bored with an augur of two and a quarter inches, 

 and put together similar to a pump, but without 

 any iron bands. They were put in a trench three 

 feet deep, in the year 1797, the 8th month. Tliey 

 answered every purpose I could expect, until 

 1830, at which lime some of the joints began to 

 leak. In the year 1835, I had them taken up, as 

 they were not likely to convey a sufficient quanti- 

 ty of water. The distance fi-om the spring-house 

 to the head of the spring, was 33 poles, and the 

 descent three feet. Tiie end of the pipe in the 

 spring-house was 18 inches fiigher than the rest, 

 untit within three or four poles of the spring-head, 

 for the purpose of keepiiig the air out, to prevent 

 it from rotting. The logs were from fifteen to 

 twenty-eight feet long. When taken up, it ap- 

 peared that the' deficiency was at the joints, the 

 hole being worn to the size of lour, and some five 

 inches, which originally was but two and a quar- 

 ter inches. A number of the joints were worn 

 entirely through, the small end having been taper- 

 ed to join them togetlier. I had the pipes laid the 

 second time, with timber similar to the first, one 

 half new logs, the other half were of the best and 

 largest of tlie old logs that had been in 38 years, 

 and appeared to be in good condition. 



I had them laid in adifferent manner. All the 

 logs were cut square at the ends, and were joined 

 together by a band or ring of iron from seven to 

 eight inches in the clear, three inches broad and 

 on~e-eighth thick, sharpened at both edges and 

 drove in between the ends of the logs so as to 

 leave an opening between of half an inch, which 

 was filled with'slacked lime before covering, to 

 prevent the iron from rust. In order to have the 

 bands extend equally in both logs, I had a chisel 

 made the same circle of the bands, three inches 

 wide, and drove in each end of the log one inch, 

 previous to pulling them together. There has not 

 been the least appearance of any deficiency at 

 this time. 



A Pknivsylvania. Farsier. 



PVood Lawn, ith mo. lOih, 1338. 



