543 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9 



the correctnepR of it; nay, I may say that howe- 

 ver pelt-evident a Irutii may be, tliero will never- 

 theless be unbeliff ia llie niimls of some, and an 

 attempt to controvert. }t is still however, not a 

 little surpri^^in^jf to hear the cloveririg oi' lands de- 

 nounced by some as a useless, and worse than 

 useless expense — and moreover, a crop oi' St. 

 John's weed, or a crop of narrow leafed plantain, 

 considered not less desirable than one of elover. 

 For the ho.iorof Rockbridire, however, this seirri- 

 ment, I liave no reason to believe, belongs to her; 

 nor do I believe that, such a sentiment can ever 

 find a lodjirnent any where, to be nursed into more 

 than an ephemeral existence. 



Havin^r before mo to-day, many who are exper- 

 imentally acquainted with clover and its benefils, 

 they arc doub less ready to respond to the truth of 

 the adaL''e, as old as true, that the beet proof of the 

 pudding is in the eating ; and many boih present 

 and absent, will sustain me in the assertion, that 

 it is ever}' man's interest, in this region of country, 

 to clover for the sake of his land and its immedi- 

 ate benefit to his crops, as well as on account of 

 the many and great collateral advantages derived' 

 from such a system. Clover seed, it is true, is an 

 expensive article, but is, to some extent, witliin 

 the reach of every man. Seldom is any important 

 revolution of any sort, effected except by some ef- 

 fort and expense, and never was a change so im- 

 portant to the farming interests of a country, as 

 that produced by clovering, effected at a less ex- 

 pense. Kvery man can buj^ some seed — if he 

 cannot get much, he can get a little, and with that 

 little, work his way gradually into more. As he 

 BOWS, so shall he reap, and after one proper sow- 

 ing, and an occasional visit from his hand-maid 

 plaster, taking care that we do not subject it to 

 the loo free operation of teeth and hoofs, the differ- 

 ent parts of a farm will have soon swaJIoweil seed 

 enough to perpetuate the clover, provided that a 

 system of firming judicious in olher resjiects, be 

 pursued. With such a system we slia!!, by and 

 by, have turned under clover and enriched our 

 land so that we may, with propriety, pasture some, 

 whilst the land is si ill in a state of progressive im- 

 provement. The cireat misfbrlune is however, 

 that few can resist the powerful temptation to pas- 

 ture premalurely, a luxuriant clover field. IJav- 

 ing undertaken to imjK'ove thin land by clovering, 

 and well aware that the earth cries out for a full 

 Khare of the growth to be relurned to her b}- 

 ploughing in, we would fiiin yield to a request so 

 reasonable, thus modifying and improving our 

 soil. We resolve with all manliness not to yield 

 to the temptation to eat it down, but will plough 

 it down. Our resolution holds out well for a lew 

 weeks, whenlo! oncoming out in the morning, 

 we see in the corner of yonder fence, a breathing 

 skeleton of a cow, scarcely able to maintain her 

 legs, while her scanty yield of milk is extracted 

 li-om her— and, on gointr a little farther, our ears 

 nre saluted with the wailings and lamentations of 

 Bome half famished hogs whose every look and 

 inotion bespeaks our kind attention. Our feeliiiiis 

 of humanity are tlius taxed, and that to a degree 

 more than we can well bear, so that our good pre- 

 vious resolution softly gives [)lace to the more be- 

 nevolent feelings of the heart. The cows and 

 hogs are mustered, and in due form the attack is 

 made upon the clover field, th« stock of horses 

 bringing up tiie rear, and thus ends the clover sys- 



tem. Not having pursued it long enough to de-" 

 rive its many benefils, it is let go and we relapse 

 into our Ibrmer state. No more conmion error ex- 

 ists, than that of pasturing prematurely, and the 

 plan most likely to relieve us fiom this ditficidty, 

 is in my opinion, to reduce our stock to a number 

 barely sulficieni for present purposes, and remove 

 I he division fences. We may pasture slill, it is 

 true, but it will not then be clover alone that is 

 pastured. V/hen, however, the farmer's face is 

 set like a flint for the imfirovement of his land, in 

 rotation clovering and plastering his fields, leav- 

 in<x them undisiurbed by his stock, tilings soon as- 

 sume a new and fVesh aspect. Those gullied hills 

 so lonirclad in their habiliments of mourning, and 

 valley's v/here desolation had so long reigned, are 

 now clad in verdant green, and wear tne aspect 

 of joy and gladness — thorns and briers having 

 given place to "grass with leeds and rushes." 

 The stock of cows no longer resemble Pharoah's 

 lean kine, but are fat and fruitful, and the milk- 

 maid bends her cautious footsteps homeward la- 

 den with her delicious treasure. Now the faithful 

 hors-^e, when released from his toils, regales him- 

 selfupon the sweet and tender clover, and is nerv- 

 ed afl'esh for his accustomed task, asking nothing 

 more of his master in winter, when not at work, 

 than clover hay. Now the wailings of the poor 

 neglected hog are no longer heart!, but he finds 

 in the florid clo\'er heads a remedy for all his 

 cares, and hastens on to that rotundity which fits 

 him for the knife. 



To my mind, it is peri'ectly clear that it is the 

 interest of every man, in a region of country like 

 this, to adopt a system of clovering for the benefit 

 of his land, and of his more prominent crops ; and 

 It is certainly equally clear, that with this system 

 generally in practice, the country will, with entire 

 ease, raise its own pork. Here, indeed, lies one 

 of the most slrikini; benefits of clovering, and one 

 to which the experience of the last year or two in 

 the pork marlcet, should steadliisily direct our at- 

 tention. 'J'he attention once directed to it, and 

 the experiment iully rr.ade, my word for it, there 

 will be no looking back, or sighing tor former hab- 

 ifs. In ihe spring season the hoirs enter the clover 

 field and there remain unlil alter harvest, at which 

 time they are introduced, in good order, to the 

 stubbles, fattening last upon the shattered grain, 

 and, when done with this, return again for a short 

 season, to the clover. The hogs for the slaugh- 

 ter, being already in good order, have a speedy 

 transition from the clover field to the pen, and a 

 comparative easy one, as regards the owner's corn 

 crib, from the pen to the hands of the butcher. 

 The stock hogs, after having used up the shattered 

 grain, and whatever mast may be in our enclosure, 

 (the frost having now closed the clover season,) 

 are assembled in or near the farm yard, and thus 

 entering the winter in good order, will be carried 

 through it with very little expense, provided the 

 stock of hogs be judiciously selected. I have rea- 

 son to believe, moreover, that lor hogs closely 

 penned, clover hay cut somewhat green and salt- 

 ed, v/ill of itself be sufficient to sustain them pretty 

 well through the winter. 



There are those present to day, who have tast- 

 ed and fried the various streams of comfort flow- 

 ing out of ihir^ system, and where is the man wlio 

 after having fi'.irly tried it, is ready to give it up '? 

 As soon almost would the right hand of that man 



