1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



401 



ki.. 





MORGAN DRAFT HORSE CLYDE. 



[Took the First Premium at the New York State Fair in 1852.] 



For the New England Farmer. 



WINTER WHEAT-CHESS GRASS. 

 _Mr. Editor :— Yourself and your readers may 

 think I have exhausted my subjeet long an^o, but I 

 wish you to understand, I am a martvr to the belief 

 that tvUat is a le«;itimate crop of JVew England. 

 My own experience, and my correspondents from 



stony,) and it will make fatlings of five cows ; first, 

 l)ut in wheat, then laid down to a pasture. No soil 

 so good as inverted sod for wheat ; no plow so good 

 as the double Eagle, which le;ives the furrow so 

 pulverized and broken, that the grain is buried deep 

 enough to escape winter-kill, if sown on the fuiTOw, 

 using the cultivator or a loaded harrow. 



your region;confirm me in-ali li;;^'s;;id^;nd ;;;^:h 



raise Jus Head. He ought to know it, from prompt- cs, (on deep ])lowing,) it will scarcely ever wmter- 

 ings of self-mtcrest. Certainly, the products of liis kill on descending Lmds ^ 



farm are the I)ulwarks of his independence. The 

 blacksmith should shoe his own horse, and the cord- 

 wainer should shoe his own children, yet they are 

 often found barefooted. There is an inaptitude to 

 reaUze horne ivanls. Is it not so ? 



_ What a rehef it must be to the former, to go tc 

 Ills granary and measure out his wheat for the mill, 

 instead of going to "the store" and paving out .«il2 

 cash for a barrel of Hour. What an' improvident 

 thing IS all this, while God has given him spring 

 and winter grains, commanding him to "till the 

 ground," witli the sure promise of "seed time and 

 harvest.'' Who will have the hardihood to doubt ? 



The time for sowing winter wheat is nearly at 

 hand._ Be sure not to pass the middle of Se])tem- 

 ber ; if put in the first week, so much the better. 

 Worn-out mowing lands, and old jiastures over-run 

 with low laurel, (killamb,) hardback, thistles, moss, 

 &c., where fifty acres will scarcely keep a cow ; wall 

 ofi" five acres, (pastures are generally good soil and 



Sow 1 )i bushels to the acre ; soak twelve hours 

 in a weak salt jjickle, and rake it in dry ashes. — 

 Ashes _s])read in the spring have a fine effect on it. 

 What is gained in the autumn growth, is so much 

 accomi)lished for the next spring. Root, and 

 strength of blade is secured by early sowing. 



I learn that chess grass has troul)led you. It 

 must have been by carelessness in seeding.' It ac- 

 cumulates wonderfully. It ])roj)erly may be called 

 the "tares" among the wheat. The" remedy is, not 

 to sow it, and if it ai)j)ears, j)ass tlirough the grain 

 and pluck it itp ; it resembles a tuft of oats. We 

 hope to be enlightened upon this chess grass by 

 some of your readers. It seems to l)e wedded to 

 M inter M-heat, as if by matrimonial alliance. 



Again ])ermit me to s;iy, that twenty-five per 

 cent, of your un])rofitablc pasture lands" put uito 

 wheat, would ])roduce grain enough to bread the 

 State of Massachusetts. Laid down to a pasture 

 again with rich feed, the cow returns tea dollars 



