22 



Brief Hints for August. 



Vol. II. 



Rappahannock, and Roanoke, and in many 

 other sections of tlie siate that might be de- 

 signated with e({ual propriety. In most of 

 these places, the lands are so valuable that 

 there is now a great deficiency of timber; 

 and, from necessity, they are therefore al- 

 most exclusively devoted to grain. Along 

 the lines of canals also, where permanent 

 fences are obliged to be maintained, there 

 would be a great advantage in planting 

 hedges at once. The idea that, when fairly 

 established, they will never need removal, 

 would inspire a degree of security which 

 cannot be felt by those persons who are in 

 the habit of patching up decayed fences, and 

 calculating the value of a rail in resisting 

 the denredations of stock. 



T. S. P. 



Goochland county, Va. 



Brief Misitsfior August. 



The pressure of work which farmers are 

 obliged to attend to through haying and har- 

 vestuig, often causes them to neglect the 

 extirpation of weeds at this time, when they 

 are about going to seed. This should be 

 carefully avoided. 



After tlo second hoeing of corn, the weeds 

 among the crop, of which there always spring 

 up more or less, are suffered to have undis- 

 turbed possession, and tiie ground becomes 

 completely seeded with them by another 

 year. A little seasonable labor would prevent 

 this evil. We observed a piece of ground 

 which was kept clear of weeds last year, and 

 another which was but imperfectly cleared 

 of them ; the consequence was, that the crop 

 this season (field beet) which grew on the 

 latter piece, was literally hid with a dense 

 growth of weeds, while the other was com- 

 paratively free. 



Canada thistles, must in no instance what- 

 ever be allowed to ripen their seed. 



Thistles, mulleins, burdocks, &.C., in pas- 

 tures and fence corners, must be destroyed 

 without fail. 



Root crops, as rutabaga, and mangel wurt- 

 zel, are liable to be too much neglected afler 

 one or two hooings; they should be kept all the 

 season perfectly clear from weeds, and the 

 benefit they derive from this, and from stir- 

 ring the earth around them, amply repays the 

 expense of the labor. 



With a little pains, it is as cheap to raise 

 a good crop, as a crop of noxious weeds; 

 and seed now selected should be therefore as 

 perfectly freed from foul stuft' as possible. 

 If clean wheat is always sowed, we may 

 expect on clean ground, a clean crop ; but 

 land will become more and more infested 

 with weeds so long as we sow the seeds with 

 the grain. 



Chess being almost universally the worst 



weed among wheat, no pains should be 

 spared to separate it. It may be done by 

 means of brine, first made strong, and then 

 weakened till the wheat will just sink in it, 

 when the chess, being lighter, floats and is 

 skimmed from the surface. A basket should 

 be used, to let the brine run off the more 

 freely. The wheat should then be spread on 

 a barn iJoor, two or three inches thick, and 

 about one-fifteenth part of air, slacked lime 

 sifted over it and well stirred. This assists 

 the drying, and destroys the smut. 



A good fanning mill will clear most of 

 the chess from wheat by passing it through 

 a few times. 



No seed wheat should be considered clean, 

 until by repeatedly spreading handfuls of it 

 on a table, no chess can be found. There is 

 not much of what is termed very clean seed 

 that will endure this test. 



Underdraining should be performed during 

 the dry season, and those farmers who have 

 wet spots of ground in cultivated fields, 

 should no longer delay this simple mode of 

 rendering such land productive. Open 

 drains should never be made but to carry off 

 surface water. No drain for any other pur- 

 pose should be much less than three feet 

 deep, but an open one this depth, must be nine 

 feet wide to prevent the banks sliding, and 

 this is an enormous waste of land. But a 

 covered drain occupies no ground. The ex- 

 pense of digging, from this cause is also much 

 greater in case of open drains. 



Covered drains may be filled with stone or 

 brusli. The stone may be laid so as to leave 

 a small open channel at bottom ; or if they 

 are quite small, and the quantity of water 

 passing off not large, such channel is not 

 necessary. Brush drains are filled by placing 

 tlie branches of trees, freshly cut and with 

 the leaves on, in a sloping direction in the 

 ditch, the leaves upwards, and then covering 

 them with earth. The spaces between the 

 branches below allows the water to flow off. 

 This method of filling is best in sandy ground 

 where stones are scarce. 



In cutting off" underground channels of 

 water, particularly those which ooze out of the 

 surface of sloping ground, by means of covered 

 drains, the mode of operating should be adapt- 

 ed to circumstances. The common error 

 is to cut in at the wet spot ; whereas, the 

 proper place is a little above, before the 

 current reaches the surface. The judgment 

 and close examination alone can direct the 

 proper course and situation for the drain in 

 such cases. 



Horses often suffer from slobering during 

 the latter part of summer, especially when 

 they feed in succulent pastures. The best 

 remedy is dryer food. 



Fruit trees are frequently injured in col- 



