444 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 



land was ploughed with three horses in the fall 

 and winter, turning under a great quantity of ve- 

 getable matter, almost in a dry state. The land 

 remained in that state until spring, when it was 

 planted in corn — and although we had a drought, 

 it produced five barrels of corn to the acre, and 

 the land is nearly restored. 



I will now give you some account of my system 

 of farming,or rotation of crops, as I think my land 



has improved very fast under this course. It is to 

 divide the farm into three fields, and several grass 

 lots: say, for example, each field to contain 120 

 acres — 80 acres to be in corn, and 40 acres of the 

 poorest to be in clover, and tallowed lor wheat — 

 the next year the whole field, say 120 acres, in 

 wheat — the third year in clover, which will com- 

 plete the rotation. Or thus: 



When the rotation commences again, that part 

 of the field which remained in clover and was fal- 

 lowed, will now be the best* — and should be in 

 corn with 40 acres of the next best, leaving 40 

 acres of the poorest in clover to be fallowed again 

 lor wheat. The clover should always be plaster- 

 ed, and a proportion of ashes mixed with the plas- 

 ter, and should only be partially grazed, leaving 

 at least two-thirds of the clover to improve the 

 land. To prevent grazing, I have besides my 

 meadows, some clover lots, which as soon as the 

 grass is sufficiently tall, is cut night and morning, 

 and carted to the farm-yard to the cattle which 

 are driven up from the woodland, where they 

 browse on the buds through the day. They also 

 have plenty of dry loud, such as wheat straw and 

 corn stalks, which are always put up securely 

 when my corn is gathered. 1 also use every ex- 

 ertion to make as much manure as I can from 

 wheat straw, corn stalks, &c. &c, the coarser 

 parts of which I top dress my wheat and clover 

 with. Indeed, I think to cover your young clover 

 with the long manure, or wheat straw, is the most 

 judicious method of using it, as it secures (with 

 the use of plaster) a fine crop of clover, and I 

 think a heavy crop of clover turned under in a 

 green or dry state equal to any manure, (particu- 

 larly of a dry season.) I have never failed in a 

 crop of corn on a clover lay, especially if I can 

 turn under the clover in the fall and winter, which 

 I think important, as the cut worm is not so bad 

 as they would be if the land was ploughed in the 

 spring, and the clover would be in a state of de- 

 composition, which would cause the corn to grow 

 off" very fast. 



CATI,ETT CONWAY. 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 COVERING CORN WITH THE HARROW. 



Last spring, when the time for planting corn ar- 

 rived, my land was very rough and much addi- 

 tional preparation was wanting. The ploughing, 

 though generally deep enough, had not been ei- 

 ther regularly or well executed, and the growth of 



* Query — Is this great improvement of the poorest 

 40 acres known from experience, or is it a result ex- 

 pected, and resting only on opinion? If the former is 

 meant, the fact is too important to have been left in 

 doubt. Ed. 



clover and weeds had not been well covered. The 

 extreme cold and wetness of the season had made 

 much of the ploughing lor corn late in the winter 

 — and on the part broken early (and especially 

 where badly ploughed,) the spear grasses were 

 shooting up in spots. Under similar circumstances 

 (brmerly, I have given a complete second plough- 

 ing beibre planting: but besides the great labor, 

 this tears up the buried grass, and leaves the sur- 

 face very rough. But besides this objection, this 

 process was then out of the question, as owing to 

 the measles then passing through nearly all my 

 family of negroes, there was not more than half 

 the proper force lor work. I had long before tried 

 covering seed corn, on well prepared land, with 

 light harrows. But though the seed vegetated 

 well enough, the plan had been abandoned on ac- 

 count of the surface being left too smooth, and 

 thereby made more liable to be "baked" by heavy 

 rains. * The bad stale of the land, and the want 

 of hands to cover the seed with hoes, induced me 

 to try large heavy square harrows, with straight 

 teeth, such as were used to get in wheat on fallow 

 land — each being a full draught for a pair of 

 horses, and was" generally drawn by four oxen. 

 The corn rows were marked off, as usual, by a 

 small trowel plough, the seeds dropped, and the 

 land then harrowed flush, and thoroughly, as if 

 the only object had been to put in order a rough 

 and foul fallow. The process was the cheapest 

 as well as the most effectual lor getting the sur- 

 face of the ground in decent condition, and the 

 corn was as well covered, to insure its vegetation, 

 as would have been by the usual slow and more 

 costly method of covering seed. The harrow 

 teeth cut deep, and not very close together, so 

 that the surface was not merely scratched and 

 smoothed, (as by light harrows,) and therefore 

 the danger of "baking" was not incurred. This 

 danger, however, would perhaps have been suffi- 

 ciently removed by the layer of vegetable matter 

 ploughed under. 



Those who have never tried covering corn by 

 the harrow, may suppose that the seeds would of- 

 ten be displaced. This evil could not have been 

 incurred by me, as my corn (though planted on a 

 flat surface) was designed to be ploughed only in 

 one direction, and the harrows were drawn in the 

 direction of the rows. But I do not believe that 

 any notable disadvantage of this kind would be 

 found under any circumstances. I always covered 

 cotton seed with harrows, as the cheapest and 



