10 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



ing winter was invariably a severe one. I thought ; 

 ihat (hough a cause lor inis iiiighi be iound m liie \ 

 luxuriam vegetation oi' last summer, there might i 

 yet be some truth in it — that nature, aware of ihe | 

 coming severity of the w inter, might tlius lurni^^h j 

 the grain with an extra covering. At all events, \ 

 the old gentleman's remarks set me to making 

 additional oLservations. In confirmation ol his 

 opinion, I Iound that the snovv-Lird, (Iririgilla 

 Hudsonia, of Wilson,) arrived uncotnnioniy early 

 this fall, and in great numbers, 'i'he redheaded 

 woodpecker, winch rarely leaves ue altogether, 

 except in the very depth of winter, has entirely 

 disappeared. The bine bird is only to be seen in 

 flocks, as if preparing to go farther south, while 

 their sweet warble, in an ordinary winter may be 

 lieard every fine day. The gold-finch or thistie- 

 bird, generally so abundant with us at all seasons, 

 is only to be seen in small tiocke, in and about the 

 city. I have observed the nut hatch, sitta caro- 

 binensis, (this liule insect-hunter and the downy 

 woodpecker, are commonly, but most absurdly, 

 called sapsuckers.) busily engaged hammering 

 pieces o/ acorns, and beechnuts into crevices in 

 the bark ol' trees, and alter making tliem last, 

 carefully covering them o^'er with moss, as if to 

 secure a supply of [irovisions during the severity 

 of the coming season. Even the crows, whicii 

 generally Vvinier with us in great numbers, seem, 

 with an occasional exception, to have lorsaken us. 

 1 am told that numerous flocks of quails have 

 alighted in the city and still continue to do so — 

 this has always been marked as a sign of the np- 

 jjroach of severe weaiher. The mocking or Ca- 

 rolina wren, (certhia Caroliniana of Wil.) is al- 

 ways abundant with us. His lively, quaint and 

 varied notes are to be iieard, ringing ihrough the 

 woods, both summer and v^inter. 1 observed a 

 large flock of small birds, finches, rise out of a 

 garden yesterday, which were strangers to me. 

 They sal so close and silent, until they at once 

 rose and flew ofl, with a clear note like that of the 

 gold-finch, that 1 conid not determine what ihty 

 were, and [ am averse to killing the little beauties, 

 unless when reallv needed. T. A. 



LAYING DOWN OPEN LANDS IN GRASS — KEN- 

 TUCKY ROTATION — STOCK FODDER, MA- 

 NURING AND GRAZING — CURING CLOVER 

 HAY. 



From tlie Soutliern Cultivator. 

 {Near) Colbyville. Ky., Nov. 5th, 1840- 

 I eiiall now proceed to the laying down open 

 lands in grass, and the length of lime the grass 

 is intended to occupy the ground will determine 

 the kind of eeed to be used. If it is intended for 

 permanent pasture, blue grass should perdomi- 

 naie. There should also be a considerable portion 

 of timothy and clover seed. As soon as it is de- 

 termined to put a field in grass, if in the fall the 

 field should be sowed in wheat or rye, which 

 should be ploughed in and afterwards harrowed, 

 and, though not essential, it will be of service to 

 have the land rolled. The next spring one bushel 

 of clean timothy seed should be sowed upon every 

 ten acres, one bushel of clover seed upon the same 

 ()uantity of land, and half a bushel of blue grass 

 seed upon each acre. This should be sowed in 



March or early in April and I have put calves 

 and sheej) upon the rye or wheat and kept them 

 upon it until the grass began to sprout, when every 

 thing was taken ofll and no stock allowed to go on 

 it again until after liarvest. By the time the clo- 

 ver is going out the blue grass will be ready to 

 take its place. I found considerable advantage 

 from harrowing and rolling in the spring — the 

 harrowing belijte sowing the grass seeils and ihe 

 rolling immediatidy after. The harrowing would 

 appear as if it would injure the rye or wheat, but 

 such has not been the result. If the ground is 

 put into grass with the expectation of breaking 

 It up in two or three years, then the blue grasa 

 should be omitted, as it would not get sutRcienlly 

 strong before breaking up to be of much service. 



As an auxiliary in setting fields in grass, it is of 

 great service to pasture small stock, calves or cnlis, 

 upon the rye or wheat fields during the winter, 

 and feed them with hay that has been permitted 

 to ripen its seed. Some of the best seeded fields 

 I have ever seen has been ellected by leeding 

 stock upon them without adding any other seed 

 than those contained in the hay. In those cases 

 care was taken to distribute the feeding over the 

 field. And the hay used had a mixture of seed 

 in it. 



The usual rotation in out crops is two years in 

 grass, two in corn, and one in wheat, rye or oats. 

 Under this kind of treatment our lands are increas- 

 ing in lertiliiy ; especially where the small orrain 

 has been fed down by hogs. I have one field 

 that has been alternately in small grain, (led ofi' 

 by hogs,) and corn ; this field has also increased 

 in ferlilil}'. 



Whilst the fields are in grass, all the slock 

 Ibdder (a name wiih us of the corn-stalks after the 

 corn has been husked out of the shock,) is led to 

 stock uj)on the grass fields ; this with the dropping 

 of the cattle serves to enrich the field. As a 

 general rule the stock should be fed upon grass 

 lands that will some day l)e ploughed. In this way 

 the manure in made and dropped where it will 

 be wanted to nourish the succeeding crops. 



About the first of March, (two weeks earlier 

 with you,) the slock is taken oH' the grass fields, 

 and put into pens of three or four acres for each 

 kind of stock, and are led in those pens until the 

 grass gets a good start in the spring. The secret 

 of having good grass consists in giving it a good 

 start in the spring. 



Sometimes there are points of srround where 

 the soil has been worn off or washed away. In 

 such cases it is best to haul out a \'ew loads of 

 manure and spread on those barren places, which 

 will make it pro.iuce grass readily. 



Where the points are stony they should be 

 broken up small with a sledge hammer, and if loo 

 abundant, a pari of them removed. Grass will 

 grow well where the surface is covered with lime- 

 stone provided the stone be sufficiently small. 



I preli^r putting gross upon wheat or rye but it 

 will do very well put in with oats. When put in 

 with oats, the smaller kind of oats should be used, 

 or less seed than usual of the larger kinds. When 

 the larger kinds of oats are sowed thick, they 

 entirely emother the grass. 



When the grass is intended to be cut for hay, 

 timothy should be sowed either alone or with the 

 eapling clover. They botii ripen together, while 

 the common red clover is ready to cut two weeks 



