82 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SOWING GRASS SEED IN MARCH. 



When the land is well prepared the previous fall, 

 March, as soon as the ground is bare, is a very favor- 

 able time for sowing grass seed. Those farmers who 

 sow herdsgrass and red top late in August and 

 early in September, omit sowing clover till March, 

 as it is liable to be winter-killed if sown at the time 

 of the other grass. 



Some soAv nearly all their grass seed in March, 

 preferring it to all other seasons. But when the land 

 is ready for sowing late in summer, or eaiiy in fall, 

 that season is preferable, as the grass will get a start 

 and yield a larger crop than if sown in March. Yet 

 when the land is not prepared till late in autumn, 

 the most favorable time for sowing is March. If the 

 land bo in good condition, the crop will be pretty 

 good. We have sown seed in the middle of March, 

 and had a crop so large that some of it lodged. 

 When sown at this season, no harrowing, brushing, 

 or raking in of the seed is necessary ; and these 

 operations on the wet land, would be far worse than 

 useless. The seed falling on the wet soil is sure to 

 vegetate before it is warm enough to dry the surface 

 of the soil. 



We have been astonished at the amount of water 

 the seed would sustain, not only without any injury, 

 but with the best success. We have sown grass seed 

 in March, when there were puddles of water that we 

 could not drain off, as the ground was frozen. We 

 sowed seed on the water, supposing that it would 

 vegetate after the water disappeared ; and it has 

 often vegetated the earliest and best when sown on 

 the water, which shows the haidy nature of the seed 

 as well as of the grass. 



OSAGE ORANGE FOR HEDGES. 



Some of our friends have made inquiries as to the 

 value of the Osage orange for hedges. It has Ixjon 

 tried in the west and highly recom.mended. As we 

 have seen at our exhibitions fruit of this plant, it has 

 doubtless been tried in this section, and we should 

 be pleased to learn whether it is hardy in this climate, 

 and whether plants are for sale . sufficiently low for 

 the use of hedges. We copy the following article 

 from the Prairie Farmer, an excellent paper, pub- 

 lished at Chicago, Illinois. 



Having watched with some interest the experi- 

 ments made with different shrubs for hedge, (which 

 have generally failed,) I am highly pleased with a 

 large nursery of the Osage orange belonging to Mr. 

 Young, of Jcrscyville. It looks to me more like 

 material for a live fence than any thing I have ever 

 before seen. And although rather incredulous, 

 (having never paid a dollar for multicaulis, Rohan 

 potatoes, or Baden corn,) I have engaged four thou- 

 sand trees for next year's planting. They are to 

 be set about one foot apart, in the fence row, and 

 are to be ploughed or hoed till they get a good start. 

 One advantage possessed by the orange, is, it is thickly 

 set with remarkably short and stifl' thorns ; and, un- 

 like all other thorn, it is of a rapid growth, and will 

 make a fence in three or four years sufficient to turn 

 any thing, from a rabbit up — growing from six to 

 eight feet in one summer. It has a straight tap-root, 

 and, like the hickory, never sprouts from the root, but 



always from the stump when cut or broken down ; it 

 will stand very thick in the hedge, and if a patch is 

 killed by fire or any other means, its durability is 

 almost equal to live oak, and will stand a dead thorn 

 bush, that nothing Avill touch, until plants can be 

 raised in their place. Mr. Y. will sell them at one 

 dollai" per hundi-ed. 



WHEAT AFFECTED BY MANURE. 



Tlie following article, from Colman, shows very 

 different qualities in wheat, produced from the use 

 of different manures. Whether literall)'- correct or 

 not, there is no doubt that this, IDte many other 

 analyses, approaches near the truth. It is well 

 known by bakers that there is a great difference in 

 the qualities of wheat raised on different soils. 

 Those who use paste of wheat flour find that wheat 

 raised in some sections is superior for that purj^ose, 

 as it contains a large amount of gluten. 



Quality of Wheat. — That the qualities of wheat 

 grown depend to a considerable degree upon the 

 kind of manui-o employed, there can be no doubt. 

 Some experiments in reference to this matter, made 

 by a German farmer, may be interesting to om 

 readers. 



Wheats manured as underneath, produced as fol- 

 io'*^' '• ~ Gluten. Starch. 



1. With human urine, . . . 35.1 . . 39.3 



2. " oxen's blood, . . . 34.2 . . 41.3 



3. " human excrements, . 33.1 . . 41.1 



4. " dung of sheep, . . 22.9 . . 42.8 



5. •' dung of goats, . . 32.9 . . 42.4 



6. " " " horses, . . 13.7 . . 61.6 



7. " " '• pigeons, . . 12.2 . . G3.2 



8. " " " cows, . . 12.0 . . 62.3 



9. Soil not manured, ... 9.2 . . 66.7 



It is impossible to say how far these experiments 

 are to be depended, on ; and how far they have been 

 confirmed by other experiments made with the same 

 intention. Two things are quite remarkable in re- 

 spect to them ; the one is the different qualities of 

 grain grown with manures of the greatest efficacy, 

 and that grown without any manure, being a differ- 

 ence of nine and thu'ty-live ; and the comjiaratively 

 low result of pigeon's dung, which is generally rated 

 VGi-y highly, and supposed to take its place with 

 guai-.o. The manner in which the animals whose 

 manure \vas used for the experiments were fed, is a 

 cncnmstanc.e which may have materially affected the 

 result ; for the qualities of the manure of the same 

 anmials, uadcr difibrent courses of feeding, may be 

 expected to b<j composed of difFei-c,nt elements, and 

 so to give different results ; so complicated necessarily 

 are all experiments of fhis kind. 



WOOD AND COAL ASHES. 



Mr. Franklin Wiggin, of Stratham, N. H., innuirea 

 for something more definite in regard to the experi- 

 ment of Dr. Shurtlcff, in raising potatoes, and using 

 ashes in the manure, as published on the twenty- 

 third page of this volume. In regard to the coal 

 ashes, we would answer, that the term is applied ex- 

 clusively to the ashes of anthracite and bituminous 

 coal, not to charcoal dust. Anthracite is hard coal, 

 and bituminous is soft coal, as named in the article 

 referred to. As Mr. Wiggin wishes to know the 

 proportions of coal ashes, wood ashes, and horse 

 manure, in Dr. Shurtleff's experiment, he will much 

 oblige us by answering the inquiry. 



