M 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



Many gentlemen have told me, that they have 

 not land enough in possession to leave a part in 

 grass, they want it all lor grain. 



Such was the opinion and praciice which here- 

 tofore ruined much of" the lands of our slate. 



I believe that no matter what sized liinn a man 

 may own, to manage it judiciously, a certain part 

 must always be in grass. To say how much, wi I 

 depend upon your situation ; a contiguity to towns 

 and villages enables you to buy manures and 

 other sli.'iiulating substances, which, with the ad- 

 dition to those made on the liirm, will enable you 

 to cultivate a greater proportion. But in looking 

 alone to the resources you can control, and requi- 

 ring the greatest amount of grain to be obtained 

 without serious injury and ultimate sterility, I 

 should believe, that one-third of your tillable land 

 ought to be in grass, one-third in corn and wheat 

 eucceseively, feeding all your roughness as belbre 

 indicated on the grass previous to ploughing (or 

 corn. You will have made at the same time a 

 good preparation lor wheat. 



The long manure turned under with the clover 

 lay, is decomposed during the summer months, 

 and is then in admirable condition for the subse- 

 quent growth of wheat and clover. 



Thie system when pursued, upon our naturally 

 fertile soil, will certainly improve it, for under 

 every rotation something will be gained. 



I have adopted a ditierent course. From the 

 quantity of land I cultivate, I am enabled to let 

 my fields remain three years in grass, and in that 

 length of time they are generally well set in green- 

 Bward. It is said, thai while a good clover lay 

 will yield five tons of vegetable matter to an acre, 

 a well set eod of green-swarJ will produce twelve 

 tons. 



I am satisfied that there is as much difference iti 

 the fattening qualities, as there is in the fertilizing 

 properties. It is a liict well known to every gra- 

 zier that it is impracticable to make really fat cat- 

 tle on pastures alone, without a great proportion 

 of green-sward grass, and you ean only obtain it 

 by time and extended cultivation. 



I have ppoken of the alternate crops of corn, 

 wheat and grass, and the preparations they re- 

 quire; and will turn your attention to the value of 

 ?mall grain crops as a part of a well conducted 

 rotation. 



Wheat has not until recently become a leadiiicr 

 crop among us, and alihough much of our hilly 

 and rolling lands are well adapted to its culture, 

 ae yet the woodman's axe has reduced but small 

 portions of our Ibrests to a state fitted lor its culti- 

 vation ; where industry however, has overcome 

 the toils of clearing, and wheat has taken the 

 place in our husbandry which its importance de- 

 serves, the most valuable results have followed. 



The crop of small gram operates as an impor- 

 tant aid in introdurinw a grass crop, which it shel- 

 ters from the sun in its tender slate — the grain 

 gives a return in proportion to its cost and culture, 

 equalled by few of our other crops, and the straw 

 is found to be important winter forage, and a vaiu- 

 Sible fertilizer of the lands as 1 belbre remarked. 



As a proof that this branch of husbandry is 

 about taking its place in an improved course of 

 agriculture, I may refer to a distinguished member 

 of our society in this county, who harvested du- 

 ring the present year about five thousand bushel.*', 

 ^n^^. to no inconsiderable number in each of the 



three counties whose crops have ranged between 

 one and two thousand bushels. 



Our climate and soil, although not as favorable 

 to wheat as the more elevated districts of lime- 

 stone land, yet gives us a lull plump grain, weigh- 

 ing frequently liom sixty to sixty-four to the 

 bushel, and yielding under ordinary care from 

 twenty to thirty bushels to the acre. 



The spring wheat Irom Oneida in New York, 

 has been tried by some of our public-spirited farm- 

 ers, and alihough the results have not equalled the 

 succei^s of its more northern culture, yet I have the 

 assurance of some who have cultivated it of iis 

 uselLilness, and that its produce during the present 

 year on the farm of Mr. Matthews, was twenty- 

 seven and three-fuurlh bushels to the acre. The 

 spring as well as the winter wheat from abroad 

 may require time to acclimate it, and experimental 

 crops must be continued lor some years, belbre 

 conclusive opinions can be safely formed of their 

 value. Belbre dismissmg the wheat culture I beg 

 leave to remark that brining and liming the grain 

 belbre sowing has been Ibund of decided advan- 

 tage. By the first operation, the light and imper- 

 lect grains are separated, and the more perfect and 

 vigorous only committed to the earth. And by 

 the second, the small portion of calcareous matter 

 which enveloped the seed is proved to give valua- 

 ble aid in the germination of the grain and growth 

 of the plant. 



The occasion does not permit my passing with- 

 out notice the importance of wood pastures. I 

 trust that the facts and experience which I have 

 detailed will have sufficiently illustrated the indis- 

 pensible necessity of a competent sujiply of the 

 grasses. How this supply may be best obtained 

 and enlarged as the herbage of the forest annu- 

 ally diminishes, is a subject of deep interest to 

 every farmer. 



In other states, and in other quarters of our 

 state, this supply has been obtained by fencing in 

 districts of wood-land, clearing oil the dead tim- 

 ber and undergrowth, and seeding the land with 

 artificial grasses. This process is not an expen- 

 sive one ; in a short time it gives us luxuriant pas- 

 tures ; converts the rough hills which are of but 

 little value lor other purposes, into most useliji 

 parts of the farm. The timber and wood left on 

 the land, furnish the necessary supply lor future 

 wants, gives a park-like appearance to what was 

 before a dreary and almost useless appendage. 



I have had a considerable portion of my hill 

 land fenced and prepared for seeding by contract, 

 at three dollars per acre, but the cost must neces- 

 sarily depend on the amount of down timber and 

 undergrowth to be destro3'ed. 



In bringing land into woods pasture I have 

 found if best to seed with a variety of grasses, 

 clover, timothy, orchard grass and green-sward, 

 with red top on the wet or swampy parts, forms 

 the earliest and best grazing, and soonest gives a 

 good sod. Care should be taken in grazing it but 

 lightly the first year when the roots are small and 

 tender and the grass easily pulled up. When the 

 roots have penetrated to some depth, stock may be 

 freely put on. Their fondness for every species of 

 green food will prompt them to keep down and 

 destroy the sprouts and branches — their trampling 

 will consolidate the surface and hasten the forma- 

 tion of a general sod ; while their droppings will 

 both fertilize the land, and distribute the gniea 

 seed take--" in with their food. 



