124 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



a beginning ought to be made wliilsl they are yet 

 in bloonj ; lor, unless the Ibrce is a'large one, and 

 ihe eeason favorable, some will be advanced too 

 lar before it lalls under the scylhe. 



As a generul rule, no grass ought to be mowed 

 whilst it is wet. Even a dew will injure it. and a 

 shower ol' rain much more ; nor ought it. if possi- 

 ble to prevent it, ever to gel wet alter it is mowed. 

 The best [ilan is, to siir the grass as liitle ae 

 possible, in good weather, there is no need ol 

 disturbing the swaths, but let them lie lor a ievs 

 hours, uniil the lop is wilted, tht-n throw them 

 into the wind-row, taking care in doing so to bring 

 the bottom to the top, and it is surprising how 

 Boon the whole mass will be cured. 1 have seve- 

 ral limes had grass cut in the morning and be- 

 lore night it was under the shelter. In bad wea- 

 ther, this is a diiricult crop to manage. In ihi-s 

 event, ail that we can, do is by shocking to protect 

 it li-om the wet as far as possible. My rule is 

 to have as liitle in the field as possible. When 

 therefore we begin the harvest, as soon as any 

 portion is fit to put away, it is immediately depo- 

 sited under the shelter, and after this we cut only 

 as last as we can take care of it. Il therefore a 

 rainy season should occur, no large. amount is 

 in the field, and no great loss can ensue. In good 

 weather the process is a simple and beautilul one. 

 A certain number of hands are employed in 

 mowing. These are followed by another set who 

 wind-row the grass, or pile it up as soon as cured ; 

 and these are succeeded by a third set, who carry 

 it to the stack or shelter. Thus the whole pro- 

 cess of cutting, curing and storing away, goes on 

 at the same time. But the quantity cut should 

 always be regulated by our means to take care 

 of it. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

 WENTHAM (KKG.) FARMERS' CLUB.* 



At the following meeting, the subject was, "On 

 the application ofnitrate of soda, and its eflecis as a 

 manure." The member introducing it, related the 

 following experiment he had made as applied to 

 wheat : — 



"JMarch the 12th, 1840.— Sowed nitrate of soda 

 at half a cvvt. per acre on about half a field — missed 

 two Btetches, then sowed the remainder of the field 

 with a cwt. per acre. On the 23d of May, the 

 land sown with the halfcwt. only was again sown 

 with half a cv^rt. per acre more, excepting one 

 sletch, still leaving the twosteichcs wiihoulany ; in 



* The papers from which the following extracts are 

 made offer an excellent example to all agricultural 

 societies. The report of proceedings is but the sub- 

 stance of farmers' conversations. Such verbal discus- 

 sions, conducted with due preparation and order, by 

 the members of any agricultural society, or farmers' 

 club, and the results reported, would alone serve to 

 change even one of the most useless bodies of the 

 kind to the most interesting and useful. We have of- 

 ten, and in vain, urged the commencement in Virginia 

 of this easy and agreeable plan of collecting and dif- 

 fusing the opinions and experience of fariner-s,— Ed. 

 F. R. 



a lew days a great difference was perceptible, both 

 in color and slrengthof the wheat between the land 

 sown with nitrate and that not sown ; and there 

 was also an evident difference in the sletch sown 

 with half a cwt. only, being much paler in color, 

 and not so strong in plant as the land sown with 

 the cwt. per acre — and so continued till harvest. 

 At harvest, measured one-third of an acre from 

 the two stelches left unsown, and the same qv/an- 

 ■tity from two sown stetches adjoining ; each crop 

 was harvested and thrashed separately, and the 

 result was, an increase at the rate of five bushelci 

 and seven pints of wheat, and two and a half cvvt. 

 of straw per acre on the nitrated part above that 

 not nitrated. This experiment was made on light 

 land, a pea stubble mucked lor Ihe wheat, which 

 lost the color very much in ihe dry moiiih of April, 

 and became very weak in plant previous to the 

 nitrate being applied, but improved very rapidly 

 afterwards." 



He had also applied it to barley and oats, without 

 receiving much benefit, and is ol opinion that apply- 

 ing it to land ola deep staple and already in a good 

 state, likely to be injurious, by producing too lux- 

 uriant a growth of straw, and tending to injure the 

 quality ol the grain without increasing the quantity. 

 In corroboration ol this, another member related an 

 experiment he had made on a good mixed soil lor 

 wheat, in which the crop on the land not sown 

 with nitrate exceeded that which was sown by six 

 bushels per acre, the land all treated alike previ- 

 ously ; there was also less straw, (a circumstance 

 not easily accounted lor) and the wheat not so 

 good in quality on the nitrated part of the field. 

 Several other statements were made, in which its 

 application had been attended with success, on 

 lands varying from a poor light soil to a strong 

 clay ; in an experiment on the former description 

 ol land, the increase was at the rate of sixteen 

 per cent., and in another, on a clay soil, an in- 

 crease of about fourteen per cent, was obtained — 

 the straw on the nitrated part was also six inches 

 longer than where not nitrated. Instances of its 

 successful application to clover layers, and also to 

 grass lands were stated ; in the latter case, stock 

 were found allerwards to eat down the coarse 

 places where it had been applied. The Ibllowing 

 resolution was adopted : — 

 Resolved — " That on lands to which it is applica- 

 ble, nitrate of soda has the effect of stimulating 

 the plafit, by which means more straw and an 

 increased quantity of corn have almost inva- 

 riably been obtained. From the statements 

 made, the wheat crop appears to derive most 

 benefit ; but on rich soils, and those in a high 

 state of cultivation, its application has been 

 found injurious to the quality of the grain, 

 and the quantity not increased. Il is there- 

 fore the opinion of the meeting that strong 

 clay and light soils are the most adapted for 

 its use.'" * * * » 



" The proper a|)pIication of farm-yard manure, 

 with regard to those crops to which il can be most 

 beneficially applied," was the next subject which 

 engaged atleniion. The member introducing it, 

 alter observing the great importance attending a 

 judicious use of animal manures, and that much 

 would at all limes depend on the nature of the soil 

 to which il was applied, contended, that on strong 

 and mixed soil lands it was most essential to apply 

 manure extenf=ively (or the root and bean crops 3 



