Vol.VII— No.41. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



323 



written in February, 1828, wherein the sowing of 

 grass is alluded to ; not being, however, tlie main 

 subject of the article, I request that you will al- 

 low nie a further, and more full explanation, on 

 this very ini|)ortant operation in agriculture. The 

 sowing of grass seeds in spring, may take place, 

 either with, or without grain ; if they are sown 

 with grain, the young grass will suffer greatly by 

 the interference of the roots, and of the straw of 

 the grain ; the roots will rob it of a great portion 

 of its nutriment, and the straw will deprive it in a 

 great measure, of the benefits of the atmosphere, 

 air, sun, dews, and rains. Grain and grass thus 

 striving together, are drawn up faster and slimmer, 

 than they would, if sown separate and alone ; tliis 

 forced growth injures the roots of the grass, which 

 at the time that the grain is mowed, is left ex- 

 posed, weak, and exhausted, to the ardent heat of 

 the sun, deprived on a sudden of the shade, which 

 before, was forced on it by the gram. Upon new 

 lands, or srich as are richly manured, these inju- 

 ries may not, perhaps, in connnoji years, prove 

 destructive, but upon our old fieMs, the chance is 

 truly a deplorable one, and has got to be more and 

 more so, for ten or twelve years past. 



Should tlie farmer prefer to sow his grass seeds 

 alone, and without grain, then a crop of weeds, of 

 various kinds, will start up, more or less overpow- 

 ering, acconfmg to the state of the land ; the care- 

 ful farmer will mow them, make them, and carry 

 them into his barn, and console himself with the 

 idea that it is better than nothing ; although the 

 growth of these weeds exhausts the land, and so 

 far injures the young grass, yet, unless they should 

 be very abundant and thick, the grass will have a 

 better chance than when sown witli grain, which 

 of all methods, I am apt to consider to be the 

 worst in this climate, especially if sown with oats, 

 wliich of all grains used with us for that purpose, 

 are the most exhausting and over|)owering. It is 

 evident that in the contest between grain a/id grass, 

 when sown together, although grain is always tri- 

 umphant in the main point, which is life, yet the 

 quality of the produce suffers greatly ; the roots 

 of the grain are obstructed by those of the grass, 

 and the soil being more or less covered and 

 clothed by the grass, the roots of the grain are de- 

 prived of the fullness of the benefit of air, and 

 heat, dews, and rains which they would otherwise 

 have enjoyed. The result is, that out of twenty 

 samples of barley thus raised, nineteen, I expect, 

 upon an average, arc slighted by the brewers, look- 

 ing more like hulls than grain, and the price 

 which ought not to be less than one dollar per 

 bushel, to afford a fair etnolument to the farmer, 

 has ranged for years past at thirty per cent., or 

 more, under that mark. 



We may conclude, therefore, frotn the exposi- 

 tion of these facts, if correctly stated, that the re- 

 sult of so wing grain and grass is to injure both crops, 

 and very often to loose the grass entirely. Such loss 

 and vexation may be avoided by sowing the grain 

 alone, early in the s[)ring with such majiure as 

 has been allotted for the field ; and as soon as pos- 

 sible in August, after the crop of grain has been 

 lioused, to plough the stubble in, turning a good 

 furrow, tliat the stubble may have a chance of 

 monlilering away, which the showers usually 

 taking place about that time, and the heat of the 

 weather, will generally bring about in the course 

 of 12 or 1-5 days ; before the end of August the 

 field should be cross ploughed, the grass seeds 

 * 'i'he opinion ol our respected oorrespoiideut reliiiive lo sow- 

 ill' grass seeds iu August is corroborated by respcclabie wrJiCi-i 



sown on the furrow, harrowed, and rolled.* It is 

 of nuich importance in this part of the process to 

 avoid any delay, an<l therefore it is quite needful 

 to put in the grass seeds, even if the weather 

 shonhl happen to be dry at the time, they will lay 

 safe in the ground, and be ready to improve the 

 benefit of the first showers, when the grass will 

 soon make its appearance, and generally a good 

 progress before the winter sets in. If the winter 

 should prove favorable, nothing further is want- 

 ed to secure a good and lasting lield of grass, than 

 to draw the roller over it in the spring, as soon as 

 the frost gets out of the ground ; this will settle 

 the roots of the young grass, which the frost will 

 always heave U]), and which without rolling would 

 be exposed to sutler from an exposure to the sun 

 ami to the wind. In case that the winter should 

 prove changeable, with cold turns, and successive 

 thaws and hard rains, then the grass will be ex- 

 posed to suffer, by being killed in spots, perhaps 

 some of it washed away ; in such cases it is need- 

 ful as soon as the frost is out of the ground, and 

 it is not wet to liarrow tlie field over, and sow 

 some fresh seeds upon such spots as may have 

 suffered, and roll over immeiliately. 



The benefit of the harrow and roller, in these 

 cases is such, as will surprise, and I do believe 

 I hat if the young grass was in all cases harrowed 

 in spring, and then rolled, it wouhl prove a great 

 advantage ; it acts like a cultivation to it, improv- 

 ing immediately its appearance as much as a good 

 hoeing does corn, or potato fields. It is needful 

 to observe that if clover is the object, fall is not 

 an advisable time to sow it. I have always found 

 it lo suffer by the winler when so young, and 

 therefore have occasionally delayed to sow it un- 

 til sjiring over the young giass, harrowed and 

 rolled, and all has been well. Upon a gravelly 

 soil which will not retain the grass, clover is ad- 

 visable ; upon loams I feel very little anxiety for 

 clover, because it will smother the grass, and I 

 esteem herds grass and red top to be a more valu- 

 able crop, they will last much longer, and give a 

 fodder of nuich greater substance. I shall close 

 these remarks by confirming a well settled opinion, 

 that full, is generally, the most advisable and best 

 season, willi proper management and diligence, to 

 sow grass seeds. The sun is then losing gradual- 

 ly its ardency, the ecrth is cooling with rains and 

 longer nights, it is that state of soil an'd of atmos- 

 phere which is genial to grasses, it assists the 

 rooting, the setting of the grass, by checking the 

 growth of the top and favoring the roots. But, 

 after all, general rules are subject to many ex- 

 ceptions, and particularly so in asricidture, tljcre- 

 fore the application and modification of the same 

 must be the study of every attentive farmer, in or- 

 der to suit them to the nature, situations, and 

 workings of his lands. 



With much esteem your friend, 



If'tston, April 25, 1829. J. iM. G. 



P. S. When grain is not a desirable article to 

 be raised by the farmer, a crop of early potatoes 

 will answer a very good purpose, and leave the 

 land early enough, and in e.vcellent order for 

 grass seeds. 



on agncullur«. We alluded lo Young's Farmer's Calendar, in 

 our remjiiks on lliis sul jcct. page 307, of die cuirenl vol. ol 

 \\\f N. Iv F'wuipr, in wliich llie preference is given to Au^-usi 

 'I'he Complete Grazier, an English work of rcpnlnlionT ob- 

 serves that •* Fnuji the extensive experiinenis of the Earl ol 

 Iloldemess, it appears that seeds (of grass) answer best when 

 sown alone. The fact, however, is ns an intelligent agrlcollu 

 ri«t has remarket*, that grass seeds will succeed almost equally 

 well in either method; tiiou^^h if a prelecetiee were given it 

 shoul J be to August sowing, without corn," (grain.) 



POISONING OF VEGETABLES BY VEGE- 

 TABLE POISONS. 



M. Marcet's experiments on vegetable poisons 

 are worthy of notice. Having ascertained that 

 bean plants could exist in a healthy state for 

 five or six days if immersed in spring water, 

 he tried them with five or six grains of opium dis- 

 solved in an ounce of water ; the consequence of 

 which was that in the evening the leaves had 

 drooped, and by the middle of the next day they 

 were dead beyond recovery. Iletnlock was equal 

 ly fatal ; and six pounds of dry powdered fox 

 glove (digitalis purpurea) in an ounce of water 

 began to operate by wrinkling some of the leaves 

 of the beau in a few seconds, which it complete 

 ly killed in 24 hours. Oxalic acid, though found 

 in sorrel, (rtunex acetosa) as well as several other 

 plants, proved very fatal poison to others. The 

 absorption of one-tenth of a grain killed a rose 



branch in flower in 48 hours London Registerof 



Arts. 



Q^uere. — Do snuff" and other preparations of to 

 bacco poison vegetables to which they are appli 

 ed for the purpose of destroying insects ? 



PURE WATER. 



Some e.xjteriments have recently been made in 

 Paris to determine the best mode of purifying foul 

 water, which resulted in a preference to the fol- 

 lowing : 



Into a wooden cask of any size, set upright upon 

 a stand, are placed two cocks, one close at the bot- 

 tom, and the other six inches above it. The cask 

 being filled with water, powdered altnn in the pro. 

 portion of something less than half a drachm to 

 each gallon is stirred into the water. No water 

 is drawn out for twenty-four hours, at the end of 

 that time it is taken as wanted from the upper 

 cock, and when iip",niore remains except what is 

 below the upper i'ock, the water containing the 

 sediment is let oft" by the lower cock, and the cask, 

 is then filled for further use. 



TO THE FARMERS OF ESSEX. 



The Trustees of the Essex Agricultural So- 

 ciety have determined that the Exhibition for the 

 present year shall be at Haverhill, on Thursday, 

 the fifth day of October next. 



The premiums ott'ered the last years are contin- 

 ued for the present, with some additional ones : a 

 full statement of which together with the Reports 

 of the last year, will soon be published. 



Seven premiums are otfered the present year 

 for the management of Farms^ — highest $30, low- 

 est .'513. Persons iiilending to claim these pre- 

 miums must give notice of their intentions to the 

 Secretary of the Society, on or before the 1st of 

 June. 



Five premiums will be oflTered for the best nur- 

 series of White Mulberry Trees, for the making of 

 Silk, amounting to fifty-five dollars, to be paid in 

 1830. 



The Trustees propose paying six hundred dol- 

 lars the i)resent yciir in prcmitmis, if a sufficient 

 number of nieritoriotis claims shall be presented. 

 By order of the Trustee>. 



JOHN W. PROCTOR, Sec'y. 



Danvers, April 12, 1829. 



Among the donations to the Philadelphia Ag- 

 ricultural Society, were some beautiful speci- 

 mens of silkithe proilnce of ,^00 silk-worms, raised 

 iind ])rescnted by Mrs Adams, wife of JohnQuin- 

 ry .Adams, Esq The silk was wound by herself) 

 without baking the cocoons. — Litchjidd Enq. 



