220 



F x\ R M E 11 S ' REGISTER. 



[No. 4 



1 



$16 



835 



#51 

 4S 



i«i3 



plough, 83 00 Stalks, 



To ploiioliing, 3 00 



To 20 loads manure, 20 00 



To I'ollinir, harrow- /■ 



iiiij; and clearing 

 drains, 2 00 



To planting and cul- 

 tivating corn, 6 00 1835. 



To seed corn, grass By 3h tons hny 



seed, and plas- sold in the field 



tcr, 2 50 at SfilO per ton, 



To harvesting, 2 00 



S3S 50 

 1S35. 



To rolling, clearing Balance creditor, 



drains and plaster- 

 ing, 81 50 



To cutting and ma- 

 king two crops hay 

 at 8-1 the cut, 8 00 



9 50 



38 50 



^48 00 



The profit, thus far, if it may be called a profit, 

 is small, but that the land is as thoroughly sub- 

 dued and well fitted lijr future profit, as it would 

 have been, under the usual three years' siege of 

 plougir an(l drag, and at very much less expense, 

 I think will not be questioned. From the most 

 worthless and barren, it has become the most va- 

 luable and productive part of the field, and the 

 crops in two years, to say the least, have paid the 

 expense of the improvement. The crop tlie com- 

 ing year, other things being equal, will undoubt- 

 edly be as profitable as that of the last year, and 

 probably valuable crops will be taken vvith little 

 more than the expense of gathering for several 

 years to come. And when it becomes necessary 

 to turn under the present sod, it can be done at 

 much less than half the expense of the former 

 operation. 



Respectfully, your most obd't serv't, 



WII^LIAM CLARK, jr. 



Northampton, March, 1836. 



07f MIXING OTHER GRASSES WITH CLOVER, 

 TO PREVENT ITS SALIVATING THE HORSES 

 FED ON IT. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Perhaps the following hints on soiling horses 

 with green clover, may be useful to "A Subscri- 

 ber'" in the last No. of tlie Register. That "clover 

 has an inherent property which causes it some- 

 times to salivate," cannot be doubted; what that 

 inherent properly is, I am not sufficiently skilled 

 in chemical knowledge to determine; but from ex- 

 perience, I am convinced its salivating property 

 may be in a great measure if not altogether neu- 

 tralized. Having had an opportunity when on the 

 opposite shore of the Atlantic of seeing the prac- 

 tice of soiling with green clover, and tlie benefits 

 resulting from it as practiced in Great JJritain, 

 where the majority of the farmers are in the con- 

 stant habit of giving it to their working and other 

 Jiorscs during the spring and summer moiil lis, not 

 only without injury, but with great benefit to the 

 teams so fed— from a very free and liberal use of 



green clover in that country, I never knew saliva- 

 tion caused to any serious extent, orfor any length 

 of time, fn this country I have found, and I be- 

 lieve it is very generally admitted, that a very mo- 

 derate use of green clover olientinies bring on sali- 

 vation to an alarming extent. What causes 

 should operate 1o produce this difference in efi'ect, 

 r cannot probably satisfactorily explain. It is not 

 improbable that a ditfcrencc in climate might in 

 some mensxire tend to produce a difference in ef- 

 fect; but from my own observations in the country 

 above alluded to, (and under more than usually 

 litvorable circumstances for such observations,) 

 and from my own experience in this country, I 

 should almost unhesitatingly attribute our want of 

 success in this mode of feeding or soilingourhorses, 

 to our nearly universal practice of giving clover to 

 our teams in a pure or unmixed state, and loo 

 ofien immediately after being cut, and without the 

 benefit of a partial curing. In Great Britain, it is 

 generally considered that clover alone, either in a 

 green or perfectly cured state, is an unhealthy ar- 

 ticle of food for horses; to remedy this, it is the 

 common practice v/hen clover is intended for green 

 soiling or for hay, when sown to be mixed with a 

 large proportion of the seeds of other less succulent 

 grasses. For this purpose, the lulium perenne, or 

 perennial rye-grass, is the grass generally, though 

 not exclusively preferred, sown at the rate of about 

 a bushel of grass seed to the gallon of clover seed. 

 When intended for any length of time for pasture, 

 different sorts of grasses are included in the mix- 

 ture. The above named grass when in a green 

 or growing state, contains nearly as much soluble 

 or nutritive matter, and nearly double the quantity 

 of insoluble matter or extract, that is contained in 

 clover; and the probability is, that the greater 

 quantity of the latter ingredient acts as a correc- 

 tive to the salivating property of the clover. An 

 instance occurred last season within my own know- 

 ledge, which goes far to support the above suppo- 

 sition. On a farm, where I had an opportunity of 

 almost daily observation, it was found absolutely 

 necessary to commence soiling the teams with 

 green clover at a very early period of the season. 

 The clover was pure or unmixed, and the conse- 

 quence was, that the whole of the teams speedily 

 became salivated to an alarming extent. Various 

 supposed remedies were tried without any appa- 

 rent good eflcct. After the horses got much re- 

 duced and had become extremely weak, they 

 were, as a last recourse, turned out to pasture for 

 an hour or two at night, on a piece of ground hav- 

 ing a good cover of grass free from clover, partly 

 mixed with timothy and tall meadow oat grass; 

 and though in the meantime their racks were kept 

 plentifully supplied with green clover, in two days 

 salivation was entirely stopped. A wet spell 

 shortly after occurred, when it was found inconve- 

 nient, or considered imprudent, to tend the horses 

 l!)r that spell after dark, and it was consequently 

 for some nights discontinued, when salivation again 

 relurned, but was again immediately stopped on 

 a return to pasture. A sprinkling of salt on green 

 clover, is generally considered beneficial. Dry 

 wheat straw (that which is sound and sweet,) 

 freely mixed vvith clover used green for soiling, 

 (such as in this section of country is generally 

 used,) I have found atlendod with great benefit, 

 and if properly attended to, would, in my opinion, 

 founded on the present as well as former years' 



