36 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



AUGUST 19, 1835. 



SAYIJVG CI-OVER SEED. 



The two great objects to be attended to, ia rais- 

 ing clover seed \yitli profit, are — First, to secure 

 the production ol" as large a crop to tlie acre as 

 practicable — and secondly, to harvest the crop in 

 such a manner, as to bring as large a portion of 

 the seed into the liaru and to leave as small a ])or- 

 tion of it as possilile in the field. 



To attain the first object, that of securing a largo 

 product, we have in our preceding number:^, in ob- 

 servations on the culture ofckver, given the neces- 

 sary dk'ectioua, we will now only repeat, that the 

 main things to beadended to are the following: — 

 1. That the land be fertile. 2d. That it be well pre- 

 pared before sowing the seed, as heretofore di- 

 rected. 3d. That a sufllcient ((uantity of seed be 

 sown to the acre. 4lh. That it be evenly distrib- 

 uted over the ground. 5th. That whenever the 

 land requires, its aid, gypsum or plaster be sown 

 on the clover — and 6th. That it be not injured by 

 injudicious or excessive grazing. If these par- 

 ticulars be well atteaded to, an acre of ordinary 

 land vvill produce three bushels of seed in a com- 

 mon season, often more. 



We now come to speak of the more difficult 

 and laborious operation of safely and economical- 

 ly harvesting and securing it. This requires care 

 and .tttention. The great objects to be aimed at 

 are, to cut the seed at the period when there is 

 the largest portion of ripe seed on the ground, in 

 that stage of maturity, which will i,idmit of its 

 being collected into the bam, and so to handle it, 

 as 10 prevent the seed from being shattered off 

 and left on the field, while straw or haulm only is 

 collected in the barn. It is, v.e believe, to the 

 improvident and ruinous neglect of strict atten- 

 tion to these two latter objects, that most farmers 

 may attribute their failure in making clover seed. 

 Wo will lay before our readers the results of our 

 own oltservation and experience, on these impor- 

 tant points, hoping that those of our patrons, who 

 may have discovered a better n)ode of efiecting 

 these objects, than the one recommended, will yet 

 commiinicate to us their practice in time to ena- 

 ble lis to laj' it before the public in our next 

 number. 



TIME OF CHTTING. 



As the clover seed, from the time the first 

 heads ripen, until the close of the season, ai-e 

 daily arriving at maturity, the great desideratum 

 is, to ascertain the precise period when there is on 

 tlie ground the greatest jiortion of ripe seed, in a 

 .state which will admit of its being collected and 

 brought into the barn. If the clover be cut be- 

 fore this Jieriod, there must evidently be a loss 

 sustained, from the immaturity of too large a por- 

 tion of the seed. If the cutting be deferred be- 

 yond this period, an equal, and perhaps a grer-ter 

 loss will be sustained, from the impossibility of 

 saving the seed first ripened, generally the best, 

 on account of its being so easily shattered off. 

 We would recommend, as the most eligible lime 

 lor cutting, tlie ]ieriod when about t^vo thirds of 

 the he.nds have become ripe and assumed a black 

 color, many of the others, at this time of a brown 

 color, will ripen after cutting. 



MODE OF CUTTING. 



Where the clover has not lodged, and is high 

 enough to admit of it. by far the most expe- 

 ditious, and in every jioint of view the most eligi- 

 ble mode of cutting, is to cradle it as we do grain, 

 only throwing it into double swarths, that is lay- 



ing the clover cut from two lands in one swarth 

 if the grass be so short as to require it, a strip of 

 linen may be fastened on the fingers of the cradle 

 so as to prevent the Tieads falling through them. 



MODF. OP CHRINB. 



If this crop be not heavy and the weather 

 be good, the swarths may lie undisturbed for sev- 

 eral days, until the hay be perfectly cured, it 

 should then, in the morning or evening while suf- 

 ficiently moist from the dew, to prevent its shat- 

 tering off too easily, be gently raked into small 

 bunches, such as can be conveniently raised with 

 a fork and laid on the wagon. When not too 

 damp, these bunches should be hauled to the barn, 

 and cither stowed away ui mows, or which is beat 

 threshed off, and either immediately cleane<l, or 

 e'se the heads stowed away in a room prepared 

 for the purpose imtil winter, to be then threshed 

 or trodden out. But should there be rain on them 

 or should they be suffered to remain in the field 

 any considerable length of time after being raked 

 up, these bunches must with a fork be gently turn- 

 ed bottom upwards, and laid in a new place, after 

 every rain to which they may be exposed, and 

 after every two or three days they may have lain 

 in the field in fair weather. This is necessary to 

 prevent tlie seed from being injured by the heat 

 and moisture to which they will have been expo- 

 sed, from the sun, the rain, and the moisture of 

 the earth. After being sufBciently cured, while 

 dry, let the seed be gentlj' laid on the wagon or 

 sled, and hauled to the barn, using every necessa- 

 ry precaution to ensure, that as little of it as j)Os- 

 sible be left in the field or scattered along the 

 road. 



MODE OF CLEANING. 



Various methods are practised, for cleaning the 

 seed from the chaff. The only two as far as we 

 know, used in this country, are treading it out 

 with horses, or cleaning it in a threshing machine : 

 The first is tedious, laborious, filthy and unwhole- 

 some both to man and beast, the latter is far jire- 

 ferable in every respect, but as all are not provid- 

 ed with threshing machines and as therefore 

 many must still continue to tread out their seed 

 we will submit a few observations on the mode of 

 performing this operation. Having covered the 

 barn floor with seed in the chafi' to the depth of 

 from 12 to 18 inches, put on the horses and tread 

 one day, the next morning run the chaff through 

 a fan, much of it will have been beaten to dust 

 and will be blown away, as will also the light 

 chaff having no seed, and that from which the 

 seed has been separated, but much the larger 

 portion of the seed, still enveloped iu the chaff 

 will be found in the rear of the fan, tlii.s, 

 having been separated from the cnipty chaft' ad- 

 joining it, must be again spread on the floor and 

 having added another portion of untrodden chafl', 

 the horses must be again put on and made to 

 tread it another day, when it should be again run 

 through the fan as before ; the produce of this 

 will far exceed that of the first day's treading, but 

 still, much good seed will be found immediately 

 in the rear of the fan not yet separated from the 

 chaff — this must be again spread on the floor, and 

 a new addition be made of untrodden chafl", and 

 this process must be repeated until the whole crop 

 is trodden out. The seed, after passing through 

 the fan, should first be run through a sieve, 

 sufficiently co.nrse to permit the clover seed to 

 pass through, but retaining all larger seeds and 



trash. — It should then be again run through a finer 

 sieve, retaining the clover seed, but permitting the 

 passage through of all smaller substances ; by 

 these two jiroccsses, the clover seed will be thor- 

 oughly cleansed from all kinds of filth and pre- 

 pared for market. The only advantages derived 

 from cleaning the seed rather than sowing it in 

 the chaff are tlie ascertaining with greater cer- 

 tainty the quantity sown and the ensuring a more 

 equal distribution of the seed — where therefore, 

 a sufficient quantity can be afforded to insure the 

 desired thickness in every part of the ground, 

 sowing in the chafl', will not only do as well, but 

 is to be preferred, as it is believed more likely to 

 come up and to stand. 



In reply to our correspondent's 3d quere, as to 

 the time of ploughing under clover for wheat, we 

 would recommend that it be done so soon as a 

 considerable portion of the seed has become ripe 

 — the wheat should then be sown and well har- 

 rowed in, but the laud should by no means be 

 again ploughed, until the wheat has been taken 

 oft: 



As to briars and sedge grass, we refer our sub- 

 scriber to what we have said in former numbers, 

 and in the present — the sedge grass, he will find 

 easily subdued, if the ground be ploughed and 

 harrowed in the winter; pasturing and dee|i 

 ploughing are the otdy effectual modes we have 

 tried for extirpating briars and sprouts, we liave 

 much confidence however in the efficacy of the 

 mode described in the receipt published in this 

 number. 



Harmon's threshing machine will thresh out, if 

 properly attended to, from five to ten bushels of 

 clover seed, and from 150 to 200 bushels of wheat 

 per day. This machine will cost about fifty doll- 

 ars, exclusive of the house and mill Wright's work ; 

 this is the only machine for cleaning clover seed 

 used in this part of the country — of which we 

 are apprised ; we have used it for two years past 

 with great advantage especially in cleaning clover 

 seed. — Tennessee Farmer. 



SWEET POTATOES. 



This excellent vegetable would be more exten- 

 sively cultivated but for the great labor of plant- 

 ing and cultivating them in the usual mode, and 

 for the difficult}' of keepmg them in the winter. 



To obviate this difficulty, I have for about 

 twent}' years, ceased making hills altogether, and 

 planted in ridges. I break up the ground well, 

 and if necessary, harrow it — then, with a bar- 

 shear or carey plough, throw three furrows to- 

 gether. To complete the ridge, take a weeding hoe 

 or fine rake and draw the dirt up first on one side 

 and then on the other, to about the height po- 

 tato hills are usually made. Open a trench on 

 the lop of the ridge and drop the slips five or six 

 inches apart, cover them with the hand about two 

 inches deep. 



This mode is attended with several advantages, 

 requiring less labor in preparing the ground, less 

 iu cutting the seed roots, less in bending ridges 

 than hills, and greatly less in digging. The last 

 operation is mostly with the plough. After clear- 

 ing off the vines, run a furrow along the ridge, 

 taking down about two fifths on the one side, re- 

 turn and throw off as much on the other side^ 

 leaving about one fifth in the middle, nearly full 

 of jotatoes, which can be easily torn to pieces 

 with the hand. A hoe will be necessary to move 



