1868. 



KEW ENGLAI^D FAKMER. 



415 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



"With me, as with many of your correspondents, 

 "Extracts and Replies" are usually "looked over 

 first; and scarcely any one, unless his attention 

 has incidentally lieen called to the fact, is aware of 

 the amount of varied, practical and speculative in- 

 formation contained in this particular column in a 

 year. 



Next in order, and sometimes first, with me the 

 book list and notices are sought, and in those pub- 

 lications which have no Extracts and E,eplies de- 

 partment, the book list and reviews come first. 

 But the point which is sought at this time is : — 



Why are there no more notices of agricultural 

 books, papers, periodicals and works which inci- 

 dentally belong to this class in our publications 

 specially devoted to agriculture ? 



Beginning about the middle of November, it is a 

 continuous stream of holiday and juvenile books 

 till fully up to February, in nearly all kinds of 

 publications you may take up, and oftentimes, with 

 so few other book notices, that one fairly dreads 

 to look them over. 



These, and such books, are good iji their appro- 

 priate place, no doubt, but in agricultural publica- 

 tions it seems as though more prominence should be 

 given to its own special and kindred literature. 



Give such works as the New England Farmer 

 Monthly, I'ound, Coiintry Gentletnan, Americati 

 Agriculturist, and many others not heard from, 

 once a year, appreciative notices without overlcjok- 

 ing the many valuable books which belong with 

 them, and get them on to the table of the farmer, 

 in lieu of so much trash as is sent broad-cast 

 through the kindly notices and reviews of our ag- 

 cuhural press. Just compare our agricultural 

 books and annuals with — well, I don't care — with 

 the original Motiier Goose Melodies, hifalutin boys 

 and girls' hooks, novels, &c., and see if you do 

 not say, with me, that agricultural papers are giv- 

 ing an undue prominence to the latter. 



One of our i-eligious papers, in speaking of one 

 of the best of the juvenile class of books, very 

 truly says : "Its style is somewhat inflated, and 

 it has a general tone of boyish exaggeration 

 throughout, which we suppose was the intention of 

 the author, as he wrote it for boys. This, however, 

 we cannot approve ; for we think the youth of 

 America pick up these ideas easily enough without 

 having them put before them as examples in books 

 intended for their use." 



More is already written than was intended, and 

 yet the subjecj; is just beginning to well up. All 

 probably have heard of the painter who wrote the 

 name of the animal he had drawn under the picture, 

 lest it should be mistaken for some other creature, so 

 lest the reader may not divine the purport of this 

 article, I will inform him that it was written for 

 the good of agriculture and agricultural literature, 



Farmington, Me., 1868. O. W. True. 



Remarks. — In case of the painter alluded to, we 

 suppose there was danger that the picture under 

 which he wrote "horse" might otherwise have 

 been mistaken for a cow. We don't think there 

 was any danger of friend True's "drawing" being 

 thus misinterpreted. We regret that he did not 

 dip his bucket a little deeper into the "well" of his 

 subject. As it is, hotvever, he has given us a word 

 in season, — a word that parents, as well as the 

 conductors of agricultural papers, may well heed. 

 The mind as well as the body craves food; but 

 are stimulants less dangerous to the one than to 

 the other ? 



Our correspondent probalily knows why white 

 sheep eat more hay than black ones. And a glance 

 at any book-store or publisher's catalogue must 

 suggest the reason why notices of new books on 

 agriculture are less frequent than of those on mis- 

 cellaneous subjects— including histories, biogra- 

 phies, travels, juveniles, liction, &c. Still the in- 

 crease of agricultural publications has been very 

 great during a few years past, while the improve- 

 ment in quality is even greater than in number. 



SUMMER FALLOW. 



I have a piece of run grass land, but no manure. 

 I think of trying a little "newspaper farming" on 

 it, by way of ploughing, summer fallowing, and 

 seeding down to clover in the fall, to l»e turned 

 under next season for the improvement of the 

 land. Now I would like your opiryon as to the 

 best way of doing it, and whether you think it 

 would pay. t. s. f. 



Felchville, Vt., June 16, 1868. 



Remarks.— We invite the opinion of the far- 

 mers in New England on this subject. In Eng- 

 land and in the Western wheat growing States, 

 clover is more generally used and more highly 

 valued as a fertilizer than it is in this section. It 

 seems to be especially valuable to precede wheat 

 in a course of rotation. We understand that our 

 correspondent proposes to keep his land in grass. 

 And the question is, can a crop of elover be eco- 

 nomically grown and turned under as a fertilizer 

 of grass land ? 



The Country Gentleman gives the following ac- 

 count of the way in which clover is used at the 

 nurseries in Geneva, N. Y., as a substitute for ma- 

 nure in preparing the soil for the growth of trees. 



"The comparatively small quantity of manure 

 furnished by the village rendered the mode of en- 

 riching by clover an absolute necessity, and the 

 excellent, healthy and vigorous growth of the 

 young trees proved its great value. The crop is 

 ploughed under when in full blossom ; if done 

 sooner, there is too much succulence and not 

 enough substance ; if later, the stems have become 

 too hard and woody, and do not become so well 

 pulverized in decay, nor diffused through the par- 

 ticles of the soil. Before ploughing, the crop is 

 well harrowed, which not only lays the plants fiat 

 on the ground, but draws them in the same direc- 

 tion as the course of the plough, allowing the sod 

 to carry its own crest of plants when inverted. 

 A log chain attached to the forward part of the 

 plough, and to the right handle, and hanging in a 

 loose loop between these points, and draggrng on 

 the ground, assists in completely turning under 

 the otherwise straggling plants. It is thought best 

 not to turn them under with a very deep furrow; 

 and rolling the furrows flat immediately after- 

 wards, prevents the drying of the leaves and stems, 

 and hastens decay and intermixture. As young 

 trees requiry a good depth of soil, the sod is again 

 inverted with a larger plough, or to a greater depth, 

 after the lapse of several weeks. 



Clover is generally too thinly seeded. There is 



