202 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Irom the American Farmer. 



Communicaled fur pvblicalion in the Amtricdn Far- 

 mer, by Oilier 0/ Ike U.uUd Jiifrkullural Sucitliti 



of Virginia. 



Oil Falloxiring/or JVheat — on gathering and clean- 

 ing Clover Seed, 4"C- ^'^^ 

 Dinn Sir, 



I should have replied lo your letter immedi- 

 citely 00 receipt of ii, had not sickness prevent- 

 ed it. I am now better, and shall giv e such an 

 answer to your inquiries as my experience and 

 observation enable nie to do, without promis- 

 ing yon any thing, either new or important, on 

 the subject. 



Your lirst inquiry on the subject oC land in- 

 tended to be f;'.lluwed, is, "whether I think it 

 necessary to introduce the scythe or the hoof 

 previous to the first plouijhin^, or whether I do 

 not think it practicable to obtain equally good 

 crops, from land where the whole mass ol veg- 

 etable matter has been turned under." 



In answer to the first part of this inquiry, I 

 ■will observe that it is not necessary to use the 

 scythe, or to pasture the land previous to 

 ploughing, provided impediments to ijoofi plough- 

 ing do not exist in the soil, such as stones, 

 stumps. &,c. and the mass of grass or other veg- 

 <;table matter is not too rank for the plough to 

 subvert or completely turn under. If it can be 

 effectually buried by the plough, the more veg- 

 etable matter is i>loughed in the better for the 

 succeeding crop, and the more fertilizing to the 

 soil. But when this plan is adopted, it is neces- 

 sary to sow the wheat or rye upon a single 

 ploughing, and harrow in the seed. The for- 

 mer system pursued throughout Pennsylvania 

 and this Valley, is generally exploded, histead 

 of breaking the fallows early in the spring, stir- 

 ing them once or twice during the summer, and 

 again in the fall at seeding time, the more eco- 

 nomical and better jtlnn i*; .nJopfcd, of sufFering: 

 the Held to lie in grass during the summer, eith- 

 er for hay, pasture, or to be ploughed in, in toto, 

 where the land was poor and required such aid. 

 But in this case oare is taken not to disturb the 

 sod or vegetable mass deposited beneath the 

 furrow. The ploughing is done in August or 

 September, and after lying two, three or four 

 week*, to meliorate by exposure to the inlluence 

 of rain and air, the seed is sown and harrowed 

 in lengthwise ; that is in the direction of the 

 ploughing. This is done in order to prevent 

 the harrows turning up the sod. The harrows 

 to be large and weighty, with strong, s/wry), iron 

 teeth. Those I use are H feet square, with 

 24 teeth, 12 inches long, 1| inches square, 

 and projecting below six inches. If a single 

 iiarrowing does not reduce the surface to a good 

 tilth, it may be harrowed again, and the second 

 harrowing may cross the first, if it is found not 

 to disturb the sod. The mass of vegetable mat- 

 ter now buried beneath the surface, and exclud- 

 ed from the inlluence of the air, ivill perish, and 

 soon enter into the incipient state of fermenta- 

 tion, and afford both warmth and fertility to the 

 roots of the grain. 



This system of husbandry is applicable to 

 such soils as are sufliciently loose and friable to 

 crumble before the harrow, fit'teen or twenty 

 days after ploughing. It is not adapted to stum- 

 py or stony land, or such as is so stiff or tena- 

 cious that it cannot be reduced by a single 

 ploughing and harrowing. But as it is a pecu- 



liar property of clover to meliorate the soil, it 

 rarely happens that land clothed with a thick 

 crop of it, two or three years, does not lose its 

 accessive adhes)\ eness, and crumble bel'ore the 

 plough. Few plants so easily enter into a state of 

 decomposition, and disengage so much carbonic 

 acid gas, as clover; but as all plants or grasses 

 do, in a greater or less degree, they must all 

 contribute to the fertility of the soil, if ploughed 

 in. Some of our perennials are subdued with 

 diQiculty, and decompose slowly, and none more 

 so than the blue grass. It is necessary that this 

 grass should be completely turned wider, and not 

 again disturbed by the plough, if intended to be 

 sown in wheat, unless the lirst ploughing had 

 been done during the winter. In that case, stir- 

 ring the land in the spring, and again in the 

 summer, would be advisable. The amount 

 then, of^ what I have said on this subject, is, 

 that the more vegetable matter is turned vnder 

 (/ic/iirrotf, the better; but that it is absolutely 

 requisite that it should be comjiletrtly buried, es- 

 pecially blue grass, and not again brought to the 

 surface by stirring with the plough or cross- 

 harrowing. If the grass is too rank to be 

 ploughed in, (even with the aid of a long chain 

 attached to tlie beam, to prostrate it before the 

 conifer) it will be better to use the scythe. — 

 Clover may be mown in September, when brown, 

 and reserved for feed. In this case it will be 

 unnecessary to sow clover seed the succeeding 

 spring. 



Your next inquiry relates to gathering and 

 preparing clover seed for market. The man- 

 agement of this requires a judicious attention to 

 the order in which the clover i^, when put into 

 the barn or stacks, and the state of the weather 

 when the seed is to be separated from the pug 

 or chaff, which envelopes it. If the clover is 

 moivn, it should be quite brown (or black) be- 

 fore it is cut, and immediately raked into win- 

 nows or small heaps, and suffered to lie exposed 

 to rain or dew, until the sap and juices of the 

 plant have mostly evaporated. It must then, 

 when in a dry state, be hauled into the barn or 

 built into good ricks, and there remain until 

 January or February, when the air is cold and 

 in its driest state. The heads are then to be 

 ' detached from the straw by threshing with flails, 

 ! and using rakes. This is an expeditious part of 

 ' the process, as the heads separate with great 

 facilifj'. These heads are then placed in a 

 ring, on a good tight floor, and tread with hor- 

 I ses until the whole mass is reduced to a tine 

 j powder, resembling scotch snufl'. 



If the seed is good and perfectly dry, and the 

 weather in that state which would make tobac- 

 co crumble into powder, by handling it roughly, 

 six horses may tread out ten bushels in a day ; — 

 but if the weather is humid or evengivy, (as (he 

 tobacco planters term it) this quantity cannot be 

 got out, with the same force of hands and two 

 horses, in two days. Tobacco, in this case, af- 

 lords an excellent hygrometer to ascertain the 

 l)roper state of the air for this operation. To 

 prevent the dust, which rises during the tread- 

 ing, becoming both offensive and injurious, it is 

 proper to keep open the barn doors, and permit 

 a free passage of air. Shovels must be kept 

 employed to throw up the clover chaff, and con- 

 fine it to the ring traversed by the horses. 



The next operation is to pass it through a 

 common wheat fan, turning it very slowly, and 

 preserving the chaff which falls nearest to the 



!iK 



HI 

 ceil 

 Pill' 

 4e 



5B 



gill 

 nil 



if 



riddle, as that contains seed not yet detaclu 

 from the pug. This may be trod a second lira 

 or sown in that state. What passes through tl 

 fan mast now be riddled through a cock 

 ridille, and lastly through a clover riddle, (eas 

 ly obtained in Baltimore or Philadelphia) whic 

 will permit the seed, and that only, to pai 

 through. This last operation will general 

 some dust, which (if the seed is for marke 

 may be thrown olf by passing it once moi 

 through the fan. 



Lut if you use a machine for collecting th 

 clover heads, suffer them to lie in heaps, forn 

 ed like a hay cock, two or three weeks. Da 

 ing this time they will undergo a slight dcgrc 

 of fermentation and heat, (of course.) which, a 

 ter getting thoroughly dry, will greatly facil 

 tate the operation of treading out the seed.- 

 Let this be done, as in the other cas€, in co 

 dry weather. 



I have now. Sir, treated the subject of yon, 

 request pretty diffusely, as it was your wish tha 

 1 should be minute; and if any information i 

 communicated, from which you can derive in 

 struction or advantage, it will afford me plea 

 sure to have contributed thereto. 



I am. Sir, with respect, 

 Your very humble servant, 



R. P. BARTON 



CiF.op.oE E. II.iRRiso.v, Brandon. 



Springdule, Jidy 22d, 1C20. 



From the American Farmer. 



L.Uiccmdte or Tunisian Broad Tail Sheep, are em 

 plwticalty tlie Farmers'' Sheep. 



BL-lmont, near Philad. Jan. 5th, 1C2.' 

 Df.ah Sir, 



1 was mortified to perceive in a late '• Aineri 

 can Fiiriner.''' that you had been unsuccessful ii 

 your pair of Tunis Sheep ; which had neithc 

 answered your expectations as to their capacit' 

 lo pro-create, nor in the quality of the wool.— 

 These forbidding defects, especially the former 

 may tend to discourage our farmers in their en 

 deavours to obtain and multiply this valuable 

 race. Mr. Jefferson's account of his sheep 

 would corroborate the idea that your shee{i 

 were not singular. I should be sorry, indeed) 

 that such opinions .should prevail generally ; al- 

 though I cannot entertain any doubts of the facts 

 you state, 1 must contidentlj' repeat my formei 

 assertions, as to the generative and all other fac- 

 ulties of this race of the Lalicauda-, from my ex- 

 perience of', and personal attention to them, for 

 a period of fourteen years. I never had, or 

 heard of, a similar failure in any of the sheep, 

 whereof I have given an account in our second 

 volume of Memoirs. In my early life, I had a 

 tine flock of English and other sheep — finer an- 

 imals of the kind, I have never since seen. I 

 spared no care or expense in relation to them ; 

 and was then well acquainted with the qualities 

 and modes of treatment ol these valuable parti 

 of our farm stock. I paid, at one time, a sum 

 for four South-Downs, which, although trifling, 

 compared with modern prices, was accounted a 

 most extravagant expenditure. I mention this 

 circumstance, merely to shew my early and long 

 acquaiutance with the subject. I must confirm, 

 without hesitation, all I have said, both as to the 

 qualities of the Tunis Sheep, and the superiori- 

 ty of the wool. Many of my sheep bore fleeces 

 not only far more abundant; but incomparably 



