1851. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



159 



mence this very season. If too late to sow the seed, 

 or to transplant younp- trees, take up those that you 

 may find coming up from last year's seed, about the 

 fields. Remove them, with a little clump of earth, 

 to a sunnier place, and let them groio. 



U you would save our country from becoming a 

 desert, plant and cultivate trees, and preserve those 

 you have from an unnecessary waste. 



If you would increase the present and prospective 

 value of your lands, plant and cultivate trees. 



If you would contribute to the beauty and health- 

 fulness of your country, plant and cultivate trees. 



If you would benefit yourselves, your children, and 

 posterity, plant and cultivate trees. H. — Doum 

 East, May, 1851. 



SUMMER -FALLOWS FOR WHEAT. 



Messrs. Editors: — Summer-fallows are too expen- 

 sive for me, taking two or three plovvings and from 

 three to six harrowings, and after all having to wait 

 a year for the pay. I go for plowing but once for a 

 crop ; yet, if land is rooty or stony, fallowing must 

 be resorted to, in order to fit it for a crop. 



Now, as I have charged fallows with being expen- 

 sive, it lies upon me to show a plan which is cheaper. 

 It is this : Plow clover sod as deep as it can be well 

 turned over, and sow with oats ; and as SQon as they 

 are harvested, harrow the land in order to start the 

 scattered oats to growing, and when growing suffi- 

 cient for the plow to destroy them, plow again and 

 sow with wheat. Now, this I have tried, with some 

 slight variations, for two or three years, and that 

 without manure, and I find my wheat crop is nothing 

 behind what it was when I fallowed for it. My oats 

 also were fully an average crop. Here are two crops 

 with but little more than the one raised on the fal- 

 lows, which I have described. 



There is another good way of raising wheat, 

 which is cheaper than fallows. Plow clover sod as 

 soon after harvest and as deep as possible. Prior to 

 this, the clover may be either mown or pastured. — 

 Two or three weeks after it is plowed, take the har- 

 row, or what is better, the cultivator, and pulverize 

 the soil completely, and sow your wheat. 



These plans are not entirely new, but have been 

 practised by some for many years ; yet a great major- 

 ity of farmers, in this neighboorhood at least, raise 

 their wheat on fallows. I have commenced to prac- 

 tice a four course shift, which is — first year, oats and 

 corn on clover sod, with ten or twelve two-horse 

 loads of manure per acre ; second year, wheat and 

 clover ; third year, clover mown ; fourth year, the 

 same pastured. J. W. P. — East Brook, Pa., 1851. 



House Beans — ( Vicia fabia.)^T\ie ash of this 

 kind of beans as recently analyzed gave 2.660 sul- 

 phuric acid ; 36.099 phosphoric acid ; 25.456 potash ; 

 20.675 soda; 2,101 common salt; 3,065 lime; 

 9,861 magnesia ; 0.061 oxide of iron ; 0,032 silicic 

 acid. This analysis by T. J. Hrrapath, shows 

 that phosphoric acid, potash and soda, form over 82 

 per cent, of the earthy matter in horse beans. 



Judging from the results of the last analyses of 

 tlie ash of rye, common salt and lime will operate 

 very favorably on this crop. It contains 20 per cent 

 of soda and over 11 of lime. 



Among the natural causes which affect vegetation, 

 the influence of temperature is the most obvious. 



•TO DESTROY SORREL, &c. 



Messrs. Editors, — There are some farmers in Mich- 

 igan troubled with sorrel, growing in their fields. 

 They have solicited the Editors of the Michigan 

 Farmer to tell them how to kill it. He told them 

 sorrel only grew on poor land, and if they would 

 make their land rich, sorrel would cease to grow. 

 Some of his correspondents refuted the Editor's the- 

 ory and showed that sorrel grew on rich as well as 

 poor soil. My opinion is that all land where sorrel 

 grows is more or less sour. Young clover plowed 

 under previous to blossoming contains perhaps 75 per 

 cent, of sap or water, and has a tendency to create 

 acid in the soil ; plowing under sorrel has the same 

 efl^ect. But plowing under sorrel when in full bloom 

 will kill it ; still, in my opinion, the diseased state of 

 the land remains the same. The soil is sour, and to 

 cure this disease after the ground is plowed, spread 

 a sufficient quantity of caustic lime on the surface to 

 neutralize the acid, and then, vvith the harrow or cul- 

 tivator, mix it well with the soil. This will improve 

 the land, and, I think, will stop the further growth of 

 sorrel. Now I have given my views on this subject, 

 and I hope that the "Farmer" will correct my theory 

 if erroneous, and, at the same time, you would render 

 a kindness to some of your Michigan subscribers who 

 are troubled vvith this pest, if you would inform them 

 how to get rid of it and cure the land, if diseased. 



I perceive by reading your correspondence, that 

 the farmers of the Empire State are badly annoyed 

 with Canada thistles, pigeon weed, and other obnox- 

 ious plants. We do not grow any such hard cases, 

 in the shape of weeds, in Michigan. June grass is 

 one of the worst pests we have had. To depend upon 

 it for hay orpasture, our cases would be almost hope- 

 less. Red and white clover, mixed with timotliy, 

 makes a favorite pasture for cattle and horses. Our 

 mowing ground, well stocked with clover and timo- 

 thy, turns off" in ordinary seasons two tons to the 

 acre. Every season, in March or early in April, our 

 pasture fields and mowing grounds receive one bushel 

 of plaster per acre. The grass and hay feed the 

 stock, and the manure feeds the crops. 



Since I have been a resident of this State, I have 

 visited Western New York several times, and have 

 been surprised to see how barren the face of the coun- 

 try looks, compared with Michigan. We have had 

 plenty of rain since the middle of May. All our 

 crops look fine. Our wool brings, at our doors, 35 

 to 42 cts, per lb. Michigan can't be beat in grow- 

 ing good wool, and good sheep. We are now break- 

 ing up a field of 14 acres for wheat. ■ We have used 

 it for a meadow more than twelve years, and it 

 scarcely ever failed in producing two tons of first 

 rate hay per acre. We plow but once, ten inches 

 deep, and finish with a cultivator. Last season we 

 broke up a field only two weeks before seeding time, 

 that had lain about ten years as a pasture field. We 

 plowed once, ten inches deep, and covered the seed 

 with the cultivator, and from its appearance now, it 

 will yield 40 bu. per acre. We applied no manure 

 to either of these fields, except the droppings of cat- 

 tle and sheep when at pasture. A Subscriber. — 

 Ann Arbor, Mich., June, 1851. 



Sorrel is a perenial, and prefers a poor soil. Plow- 

 ing while in blossom will destroy it, and liming and 

 deep plowing will prevent its growth. The sour 

 taste in the weed is caused by the binoxalate of 

 potash. 



