286 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5. 



winter, unless being passed over by a wooden or 

 iron roller, where the frost lias rendered the ground 

 too light. In the tnonth of May of the following 

 year, they pull out all the thistles, and other de- 

 structive weeds, and plants that may be likely to 

 impede its growth, or be troublesome afterwards. 

 In the beginning of July they cut the first, crop of 

 hay. This first crop does not give any seed, but 

 the plant grows again, anil it. is in the second cut- 

 ting or crop that they find the seed. It is lor the 

 farmer to judge when the. plant is ripe enough to 

 cut for seed. However, it appears necessary it 

 should be quite ripe, or apparently dead. They 

 then dry it well and slack it, and when dried or 

 deadened, ihey thrash it out with Hails, in the same 

 way they formerly used to take out grain in Scot- 

 land. It is, however, very difficult to part the 

 peeds from the husks of the clover plants, and 

 then it. requires all the skill and ingenuity of the 

 fanners, with their fanners, rakes, sieves, &c. to 

 cleanse it so as to please the English, and more es- 

 pecially the Scotch farmers. This plant is gen- 

 erally sown in land which requires rest, and is fol- 

 lowed by a crop of wheat. Thus they will in the 

 year 1833 have wheat in which ihcy sow clover 

 seed in 1834. They gather the harvest, of clover 

 seed in 1835 — they have wheat again, and in 1836, a 

 crop of Max. This mode of culture generally pro- 

 duces the finest quality of flax, but the land must 

 be good and rich. 



"If any further information regarding this or 

 any other of our productions, can be useful to you, 

 or your American friends, you know you have on- 

 ly to say so, and to command my services." 



The above you will publish or not, at your dis- 

 cretion, in the Farmers' Register. The subject at- 

 tracted my notice from its being the first account I 

 have seen of a method of saving clover seed. I 

 hope, (more for the benefit of my neighbors and 

 others, than of myself, for I never expect to ga- 

 ther the seed, although I sow it to some extent, 

 and intend to do so quite extensively hereafter,) it 

 will turn out that the ingenuity of some of our 

 Yankee brothers has already invented a machine 

 or a mill, for the purpose. If they have not it 

 seems to me from the nature of the thing, a mat- 

 ter of surprise. The introduction of clover into 

 the county of Granville, is of recent date, and un- 

 til the last two or three years, its successful culti- 

 vation was regarded as an experiment. This ex- 

 periment has, however, been fairly made, and its 

 success has fully realized the most, sanguine ex- 

 pectations, so that, the crop is now coming into 

 common, and in some instances, into extensive 

 use; and I doubt not will, with the herds grass 

 and other artificial grasses, in the course of a very 

 inw years, greatly improve our system of agricul- 

 ture. The doubts heretofore entertained with re- 

 spect to the culture of clover, were formed with re- 

 ference to the heat of our summer months, and 

 not to the character of our soil, which is general- 

 ly well adapted to the growth of tobacco and 

 wheat, and of course, in the absence of other op- 

 posing influences, to clover. 



[There are several objections to mowing clover to 

 save the seed, for the farnler's own use. The stalks 

 and leaves, which, if left, would help to enrich the bud 



where they stood, are taken oil; and with much labor, 

 to be carried out again lor the same purpose, even if 

 not wasted. A large proportion of the seeds are har- 

 vested green, or, if waited for, to ripen, the early ripe 

 will have been mostly wasted. Bad weather, after 

 mowing, will cause much more loss of seed, either by 

 shattering or sprouting. The seeds then must be sep- 

 arated from the stalks by treading or trashing, and fan- 

 ning, at considerable cost of labor. Finally, all the 

 seeds of bad weeds, ripe about the same time, are sa- 

 ved with the clover seed, and carefully sown over the 

 other best parts of the farm. 



There are contrivances to pull Tiff the ripe heads of 

 the clover, by means of an edge formed into long 

 teeth like those of a comb. The smaller kinds are 

 worked by hand— the larger drawn on wheels by a 

 horse. This plan seems to be free from most of the 

 objections stated above, and to promise well in theory. 

 Nevertheless, in 40 years it has not worked its way 

 any where into general use, and very few fanners in 

 Virginia have used, or continue to use this plan. 



There is another mode which would seem the rjoosl 

 slow and tedious of all — but which we think decidedly 

 preferable both to buying the seed, and to saving them 

 by mowing and thrashing. This is to pull oil the 

 heads by hand. When there is plenty of crop to ga 

 ther, and there is no objection to leaving a large pro- 

 portion--— and even though the growth is irregular or in 

 spots — women, stout boys, and girls, will gather from 

 eight to ten bushels each a day, These are of course 

 oidy the heads containing ripe and perfect seed — and 

 no seeds of had weeds are mixed with them. The 

 seed live and thrive better by being sown in the chalf 

 — and the only objection is the great difficulty of regu- 

 lating the quantity. If equally distril uted, six bush ■ 

 els in the chaff are enough for an acre. In this man- 

 ner every day's work is saved, by putting the seed in 

 a house as fast as gathered. No had weather causes 

 loss, except by interrupting and preventing the ga- 

 thering. Where there is the proper kind of labor to 

 spare in August (which however never can be where 

 there is cotton to pick out,) it is seldom so profitably 

 employed as in this seemingly slow way of saving 

 clover seed.] 



THE IMPKOVU.I) POCKET CIIOXBROMETEK. — 

 SKINLESS OAT. 



To the Editor of Uic Farmers' Register. 



Thie being a very useful little implement, and 

 probably not generally known to your subscribers, 

 I take the liberty to send you a description ol it, 

 together with a copy of the printed, table, pasted 

 on the inside of the small box containing the im- 

 plement itself Its use is to ascertain the weight 

 per Winchester bushel, ol all kinds of grain or 

 seed, which it does very accurately. The princi 

 pie on which it is constructed is that of t ho steel* 

 yard. It consists of a very neat little brass stan 

 dard, six inches high, with a circular bottom abou 

 two inches diameter, a small bar about nine, inche 

 long, part brass and part steel — the brass pari gra- 

 duated, and having a small brass weighl made to 

 slide on it so as to mark by its edge the number ol 

 pounds per bushel, of the grain or ^a'(\ intended 

 to he weighed. For the other end of the bar 



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