Vol. XVIII, Second Series. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., MARCH, 1857. 



No. 3. 



HINTS ON SPRING WORK 



Drawixq out Manure. — The first favorable op- 

 portunity should be seized to draw out the manure 

 from the Warn yard. To what crops, at what time, 

 iu what condition, and in what manner, manure should 

 be applied, must be determined by circumstances. 

 The loss from spreading manure on the soil and 

 leaving it exposed, is far less at any season of the 

 year than many able writers have supposed ; and 

 early in the spring, when we may reasonably expect 

 considerable rain, the loss, if any, is very trilling. 



Clover for Soiling Purposes. — The high price 

 of labor renders the general introductioa ot the sys- 

 tem of soiling adopted with such advantage in some 

 parts of England and the Continent, of questionable 

 economy with us. Nevertheless, every farmer will 

 find it to his advantage to have at least enough green 

 food to feed his horses and cattle at noon, when at 

 hard spring and summer work. For this purpose, 

 all things considered, we know of nothing better than 

 red clover. If you have any young clovar near the 

 barn, draw on to it and spread, as soon as possible, a 

 few loads of well rotted manure. This will give the 

 clover an early start, and force it rapidly forward. A 

 bushel ot plaster to the acre, also, will generally be 

 beneficial. This will furnish excellent green food as 

 early as any other crop; it does not impoverish the 

 laud, and the clover can afterwards be allowed to go 

 to seed with advantage. 



Manuring Clover Sod for Potatoes, Corn, &c. — 

 It is the opinion of many of our best practical farm- 

 ers, that there is no better preparation for potatoes 

 and corn than a one or two year old clover sod, 

 plowed immediately before planting, turning under n 

 good coat of young clover. For corn, this method 

 is found beneficial, not only in furnishing organic 

 matter for the plants, but also in providing a more 

 palatable food for the wire worms, which feast on the 

 young clover and leave the corn alone. It may be 

 questioned, however, whether providing an abundance 

 of food for the worms will not tend to their increased 

 multiplication. We have had no experience on this 

 point. If it is intended to manure the corn, there 

 can be no doubt that it may be applied with con- 

 siderable advantage on the clover sod early in the 

 spring. It will greatly increase the growth of the 

 clover early in the season, and there will be much 

 more to turn under, or to eat off by cattle and sheep 

 if desired. If it is intended to use plaster on the 

 com, we believe it would do quite as much good 

 sown broadcast on the clover at this time, as if 



applied in the usual way on the hills soon after the 

 younu corn is out of the ground. 



Sowing Clover Seed. — In England, clover is usu- 

 ally sown with barley. In the wheat growing sec- 

 tions of this country, nearly all our clover is sown 

 upon winter wheat in the spring. It is frequently 

 sown upon the snow, towards the latter part of March, 

 and is seldom injured by the frosts which sometimes 

 occur after it is sown. We prefer, however, to wait 

 till the ground is sufBciently dry to roll or harrow. 

 Make it a rule to sow all your wheat land with clo- 

 ver. You cannot grow too much of this fertilizing 

 crop. All the barley land should also be sown with 

 clover, unless you intend to sow wheat on it as soon 

 as the barley is off. If you plant corn on barley 

 stubble, we think it will pay to sow clover on the 

 barley, for the purpose of turning under as a manure. 

 The quantity of clover seed sown per acre varies 

 from eight to fourteen pounds. Ten pounds is usu- 

 ally quite enough, though we are decidedly in favor 

 of plenty of seed — grow your own, and scatter it 

 with a liberal hand. 



Rolling, Harrowing, and Sowing Whhat. — On 

 soils where the wheat plant is apt to be thrown par- 

 tially out of the ground by the frosts of winter, there 

 can be no doubt that rolling it in the spring is de- 

 cidedly advantageous. We must say, however, that 

 we have seen more marked beneficial results from 

 harrowing wheat in the spring than from rolling it. 

 The practice of hoeing wheat in the spring is quite 

 common in England, and some farmers have adopted 

 the practice with advantage in this country. I^abor 

 is higher h 're than in England, but we have not the 

 slightest hesitation in saying that few things would 

 pay better than hoeing wheat in the spring. Of 

 course it would be necessary to sow the wheat in 

 drills, from twelve to fourteen inches apart. In this 

 connection we may quote a passage from Morton's 

 Cyclopedia of Ao;rkulture — the most recent and re- 

 liable work on Biitish agriculture extant: "On all 

 soft soils which throw up a profuse growth of weeds 

 in winter and spring, the broadcast system of sowing 

 wheat is always precarious, and drilling should al- 

 ways be preferred. There is no advantage, however, 

 in drilling wheat on any kind of land, unless the sys- 

 tem is followed up by either horse-hoeing or hand- 

 hoeing in spring, as weeds grow fully faster in the 

 vacant spaces between the rows than where the seed 

 has been sown broadcast, and the plants are standing 

 somewhat evenly on the surface." This opinion is 

 worthy of consideration. If we cannot afiford to hoe 

 our wheat, we might at least harrow it ; and we be- 



