1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



293 



medium of your periodical, to offer a few observa- 

 tions on the best mode ol' cultivating it. 



It is well known, that all the clovers like a solid 

 bottom; and from experience it appears thai such i> 

 more particularly the case with the scarlet trefoil. 

 When the land upon which it has been sown has 

 been rendered fine and Iight,by repeated plough- 

 ings, the crop hasfrequently been an entire failure. 

 Such failures have been attributed to the depreda- 

 tions of grubs; but there is much reason to be- 

 lieve that, the plant perished in the winter, owing; 

 to the lightness of the soil, as I have never heard 

 of a single instance of failure when the seed was 

 committed to an unploughed surface. In the be- 

 ginning of October, 1833, I sowed a plot of gar- 

 den ground, the soil being strong and rich, upon 

 a chalk bottom. The seedlings, came up well; but, 

 in the course of the waiter, all perished, with the 

 exception of a single plant. In September, of the 

 same year; Colonel Beach sowed a kw acres in a 

 field, about a hundred yards distant, which he had 

 ploughed and dressed tor the purpose, the soil in 

 this case being of a similar nature to that men- 

 tioned above, and here again the crop was a fail- 

 ure. At a distance of about two hundred yards, 

 and upon soil precisely similar, and in the same 

 season, a stiff, unploughed wheat .subble produced 

 as fine a crop as could be desired. The farmer, 

 who had this crop, had previously pursued the 

 same plan, and had realized from his produce up- 

 wards of £40 per acre! I find, also, that the 

 crops have frequently Jailed in the county of Es- 

 sex, where the ground had been ploughed before 

 sowing. In September last, I sowed four and a 

 half acres upon a barley stubble, without any prep- 

 aration whatever, and there is an abundant plant. 

 I do not mean to assert positively that, no crop 

 will follow alter ploughing; but experience proves 

 that success is very doubtful when this is done. 



With respect to the properties of the trefoil, I 

 do not believe that there is a more hearty green 

 food in existence. Cattle are extremely fond of it. 

 Farm horses, during their spring work, may be 

 kept in the highest condition upon it, and after af- 

 fording abundant feed, may be cleared off in time 

 for turnips or barley, both of which, upon trial, 

 have succeeded perfectly well after trefoil. 



Should these observations prevent disappoint- 

 ment, or be the means of drawing the attention of 

 the farming interests to the facts of the case, it will 

 be satisfactory to their friend, 



MATTHEW HARRISON. 



Church Oakley, 

 Near Basingstoke, November, 1S34. 



P. S. — Scarifying the ground has been found to 

 answer well; and where the surface is foul, it is 



certainly advantageous. 



From the Claremont, N. H. Eagle. 



SHEKP. 



It is a well known fiict, that wool growers in 

 this section of the country, whose flocks exceed 

 200 sheep, lose a large number of their sheep each 

 winter. Some of them, we will allow, die of old 

 age; but too many of them do not live more than 

 two years. There is a remedy for this loss of prop- 

 erty and that too directly in the hands of the shep- 

 herd. This being the case I am anxious to lay it 



belbre the public that all may profit by it hereaf- 

 ter. 



It is a custom among many farmers, when they 

 drive in their flocks in the fall, to put the whole 

 dock together in a single barn, shed, or whatever 

 place they may happen to have to keep them in. 

 Now it is very evident that the young, the very 

 old, and weakly, or in other words, the most un- 

 healthy of the flock, cannot possibly fare equally 

 well with the rugged, and it is a fact while the one 

 is thriving the other is losing i;s strength. When 

 kept in this situation, one after another falls from 

 hunger, and other causes incident to this slate of 

 affairs, and they are no longer able to raise them- 

 selves. Here the shepherd for the first time sep- 

 arates the almost lifeless sheep from the multitude, 

 and endeavors to restore it to health. But it is too 

 late. He is soon convinced that "a stitch in time 

 saves nine" — that ten thousand dying sheep, are 

 worth no more than the wool on their backs. 



Y\ hen sheep are brought in from the pastures, 

 in the fall, they should be divided into four distinct 

 flocks, viz. 



1st. Meagre or sickly — which should be kept in 

 a warm barn, with "but few in a pen. They 

 should have salt as often as once a week — should 

 have a handful of corn each day through the 

 winter — as much hay as they can eat through the 

 day, and should be watered as often as twice a 

 day. This will not fail to keep them in good 

 order. 



'2d. The ewes also should be kept from the 

 rest of the flock and should receive the same treat- 

 ment with the exception of the green which 

 may he given occasionally, though it is not ne- 

 cessary. 



3d. The bucks, intended for the benefit of 

 the flocks, should he kepi by themselves, that they 

 may be in good order, and lor another reason that 

 will suggest itself to all wool growers. 



4th. And last of all are the wethers which may 

 be, if health)', kept entirely on hay and water. 



I have for twelve years kept a large flock of 

 sheep, and have lost a great many; but since 1830 

 I have adopted this course and have not lost one- 

 tenth as many as I did in the same number of 

 years preceding that time. 



AN OLD FARMER. 



From the Annates des Arts et Manufactures. 

 DURABLE WHITEWASH. 



I am enabled to certify the efficacy of marine 

 salt in fixing whitewash made of lime. In the 

 year 1795, when I was director of the naval artil- 

 lery at the port of Toulon, I was commissioned to 

 ascertain the utility of a method proposed by the 

 master painter of that port, M. Maquilan, for 

 whitewashing the ships between deck, and like- 

 wise their holds, in a durable manner, by means 

 of lime. Our report was in favor of this process, 

 which consists in saturating water in which the 

 lime is slacked with muriate of soda, (common 

 salt.) The whitewash produced by it is very per- 

 manent, does not crack, nor come off upon one's 

 hands or clothes. The experiment was made only 

 on wood. It appears from M. St. Bernarde's ac- 

 count, that it succeeded equally well on walls, 



