55Q 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9 



clover ley wiih deep plnnghin,? and efficiont drain- I 

 itig, as a preparation for corn, let me say that my 

 predecessor told me after the ahove mentioned re- j 

 Fult was ascertained, that the same field, when I 

 became possessed of it three years heibre, would 

 not Iiave yielded more than five barrels per acre. 

 He too is a manager of high reputation ; but had 

 not enjoyed (having been an aLi'ent) the advanta- 

 ges of clover and its indis'jiensable adjunct, plas- 

 ter. These, vvi'h the exception of a thin top-dress- 

 ing of stained straw on, perhTiis, two acres of 

 land in the same field (which had been abraded 

 by firsheis,) wItmi it was in wheat, corisiituted the 

 only manaringof the field. Ahhough this teem- 

 ing production cannot justly be char; ed, in \he first 

 roimds, to the three-field course, it certainly speaks 

 loudly in favor of the rotation of corn alier clover, 

 particularly, when the succeeding wheat crop (of 

 this year) was better than has been generally ob- 

 tained this season. As to the result of a'fiir ex- 

 periment of the systerfi, I can onlj' saj', "twws 

 verrnnsj'''' but must be permitted to add, that the- 

 same practiced for 11 jears on James River, on a 

 farm less kind in proportion to lijriility, exhibited a 

 reirular improvement. 



iJef()re taking leave of this branch of my sub- 

 ject, I must insist on the importance to a jz'reat 

 product, of a close and regular distribution of the 

 corn stalks— one only in a place — to prove which, 

 I will give the result of one of the many experi- 

 ments I have made. A frost occurred in this 

 counixj in the spring of 1834, wlii<'h cut down the- 

 corn below the surface of the earth, and appeared 

 to have totally destroyed it. Field No. 3, was in 

 that crop, 80 acres of which had been nicely 

 weeded out with hoes and ploucrhs. I caused 3 

 intermediate rows to be laid off and planted in 

 rare-ripe, makmg6 on a bed of 14 feet width. A 

 genial shower having occurred in the course of a 

 week, the six rows came out together most beau- 

 tifully. The first planting of course had the pre- 

 ference : but of the rnre-rip,e, five rows were left 

 in the richest, cortuc?i?e/)< part of the field. One 

 corner, confaininfr 4,000 square yards, lyinc in 

 euch shape as to be measured wilhaccuracy, (the 

 corn no better than the balance similarly planted) 

 yielded 14 barrels of fine ears. 



You, Mr. Editor, as well as j"our readers, are 

 (doubtless heartily tired of No. 1., but in justice to 

 the three-field system, 1 must be allowed to dis- 

 pose of the remainder of it. The tobacco and 

 corn land being done with, that portion of the 

 field requiring cleansing of pests, is put in oats: 

 the fairest crop of clover — that is, that which is 

 rnost_ clear of pests, which is generally on the 

 hills in each field — is reserved forfidlow in August 

 and September. Thus, as regards the clover fil- 

 low, mine is a modified three-field course. The 

 whole field having been sown in wheat this fall, 

 will be laid down in clover ahd other grasses, ac- 

 cording to quality of soil and other circumstances, 

 from the first of" .Tanuary to the middle of April, 

 always apjilying f)laster where t he young clover as- 

 punies three leaves— which depends on The season. 

 I will here remark, that I have succeeded best with 

 clover sown in January. The open comliiion of 

 the earth, from the eflect of fi-ost, takes the seed 

 in deep enough not to be operated on by a sud- 

 den thaw which might crmse them to vegetate on 

 the eurliice, thus exposed to frost, and '^that still 

 greater enemy to clover, drought : whereas, when 



buried more deeply, the seed vegetate at a later 

 and more regular season, and are protected a- 

 iXainst being thrown out by the former, or killed 

 by the hitler enemy. Vvith all spear grasses, 

 (under which I class tlicse in -most cemnmn use 

 with us, that is, timothy, herds, and orcliard 

 grass.) I iiave found most success, (after the 

 months of August or middle ofSeptember,) when 

 sown Irom the 15 h March, tolhe same date in 

 April, because of the [;eculiar liability of these to 

 be thrown cut by fi-ost, and therefore, their re- 

 quiring good roots to resist it. 



When the li)rm-pens are broken up in March, 

 the whole of (he manure from iher.i, as well as 

 that which has been made in the stables since 

 the winter top-dressing on wheat, is hauled out 

 and ploughed in on tobacco, corn, and oat lands, 

 which being in clover, require light and partial 

 manuring. Afer that period, all that can be 

 m^ide by littering stock of every description libe- 

 rally, is reserved lor top-dressing at the timie of 

 sowing wheyt, if there is leisure, (which I rarel}' 

 have,) and during the frozen spells of winter. I 

 find the sl.-fble manure best for winter dressing, as 

 il goes fiirther, being little more than well stained 

 straw — and fi'om i's warmth, separates more ea- 

 sily in frozen weather than otbiers. I also top- 

 dress very liberally with wheat straw, thinly scat- 

 tered on poor or galled spots of the wheat field, 

 for which there might not have been a sufficiency 

 of manure. The croj) of j'oung clover is insured 

 by such dressing — as 1 have found plaster to act 

 most efficiently on unrotted manure, I consider 

 all top-dressinir more or less iiijurioc.s to wheat (un- 

 less harrowed in at the time of sowing, and in that 

 case thoroughly decomposed,) as it afiords a nur- 

 sery lor insects during winter, which prey on the 

 crop in early sprin<r. 



Let me here take a passing notice of the mod- 

 ern system of reserving all the manure of a 

 fiirrn, lor surface vanvring. Among ihe objec- 

 tions to this plan, these strike me as most promi- 

 nent, [n the first place, the loss to the land 

 which it is destined to enrich, of the fermenting 

 process under furrow — this I consider material. 

 Then the waste in the manure itsellj Irom evapo- 

 ration, and 'cery often, the total destruction of it 

 H'om Jirefang. Suitable spells for applyinnr it in 

 winter, are precarious — and if ihe whole ofi'al of a 

 farm, as well as the leaves of woodlands conve- 

 nient, are converted into manure, it will be found 

 that the ordinary force of a well regulated, and of 

 course, profitable firm, cannot accomplish the 

 haulinir and scattering of the whole stock. 'J'here 

 are other seasons at which the teams and hands 

 of a fitrm, on which due attention is paid to the 

 division ol' labor, cannot be profitably employed un- 

 less in hauling and collecting manure or materials 

 for it. Few apjilicatiuns of manure are more pro- 

 fital)Ie, I consider, than that of covering the thin- 

 ner parts of a clover field, after that portion intend- 

 ed for cultivation has been attended to. In these, 

 the clover shoots ihroutrh the covering before the 

 scorching suns of summer occur, mid protects the 

 manure fiom evaporation, while the plant is ge- 

 nerally repaid by ihe nourishment it receives. To 

 conclude this chapter, let me pay a just tribute to 

 ihat mvltvm in parvo, plaster of Paris. Removed 

 from the benefits so provideniially given to the 

 tide water country, in the. abundance of marl and 

 lime at command, we should feel that our region 



