268 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



A NOBLE HERD AND A NOBLE FARM. 



About the middle of August we had the pleasure 

 of spending a few hours on the farm of James 0. 

 Sheldon, Esq., of Geneva, N. Y. 



The farm is on the western slope of Seneca Lake. 

 The house is situated on high ground, in the center 

 of the farm, and commands a tine view of the lake 

 and of the fertile farms on the opposite shore. The 

 grounds surrounding the house are such as are 

 rarely seen in this country. Noble elms, locusts 

 and other handsome trees give to the scene the 

 appearance of an English park. The farm consists 

 of about 300 acres; only 45 acres of which are 

 under the plow. The crops on them, however, are 

 excellent, and clearly show that if we would adopt 



and have never been re-seeded, they look more 

 like a clover field than an old meadow. At this 

 time (August 14) they are one mass of clover blos- 

 soms, while underneath and amongst them is a 

 thick growth of timothy and other grasses. We 

 would not ask for better hay than this second crop 

 will make. But why is there so much clover? 

 Botanists tell us that red clover is a biennial and 

 will run out on ordinary soils at the end of two 

 years, or at most, even on limestone land, at the 

 end of three years. No seed has here been sown 

 for years, and yet it abounds. 



In our experiments on an old meadow last year 

 with various artificial fertilizers, superphosphate ol 

 lime brought in the clover ; and the present year 



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A SHORT-HORN COW, BRED 



the motto, "more grass and less grain," our average 

 yield would be greatly increased. 



Mr. Sheldon has now 80 head of cattle, 12 

 horses and 200 sheep. This is heavy stocking ; 

 but the condition of the animals shows that they 

 have an abundance of the good things of this life. 

 The first year after Mr. S. purchased the farm, he 

 cut 76 loads of hay ; this year, from the same num- 

 ber ot acres, he cut and has now mowed away 335 

 loads ! In addition to this, he has many acres 

 from which he will in a few days cut a second crop 

 of very heavy and superior hay. He cuts early, 

 while the clover is in blossom, believing that the 

 hay is of superior quality. We have never seen 

 finer grass, and one tiling particularly surprised us: 

 though the meadows haye been down many years, 



BY JAMES O. SHELDON, ESQ. 



there is still more of it on the land having supei 

 phosphate last year; there is also a little wher 

 plaster was sown last year, while there is none o 

 the rest of the field. Mr. Sheldon top-dresses hi 

 meadows with composted manure, plaster, &c, an 

 it may be that to this we must ascribe the clove) 

 Certain it is, that to this is due his magnificen 

 crops pf grass and his luxurious pastures. Nearl 

 all his manure, — and, keeping such a large stock, h 

 has a large quantity of it, — is applied to his gras 

 land in the fall. 



The system of rotation adopted by Mr. S. is as fo 

 lows : Break up a grass field and plant corn ; secon 

 year, oats ; followed by fall wheat. With the whe£ 

 timothy seed is sown, and the next spring two o 

 three quarts of clover seed per acre is sown. Fo 



