242 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



is preferable, even in clay land, being easier of 

 good execution, li^jhter in draught, and requir- 

 ing less widlh of slice than even the lapped style, 

 and th 'rofore making a finer tilth of the clay. 



SrrnBLE or Old Ground Plowing. — The 

 annexed cut shows you the ])roper style of stubble 

 or old ground plowing. The furrow slice should 

 have a short, decided twist, be raised high in 

 turning, for the more effectual covering in of the 

 stubble and other trash, and be turned quickly 

 and strongly so as to force the soil all over to an 

 inverted position, breaking it fine in the act, and 

 leaving a clean channel for the reception of the 

 next furrow. This is the kind of stul)ble plowing 

 you want. I have seen stubble plows at work of 



such construction — raising the earth so high, 

 turning it so forcibly, and withal, in such a sort 

 of spray from the rear of the mould board — that 

 you might lay down a full-sized bundle of straw 

 or stalks, and passing by it with the plow cover 

 it entirely out of sight with a single furrow. You 

 can readily see on comj)aring the cuts, that the 

 long, gradual, ea«y twist of the greensward fur- 

 row-slice is not adapted to good stubble plowing, 

 nor is the short abrupt twist of the stubble fur- 

 row-slice at all suitable for easy, handsome and 

 effective greensward plowing. Each requires its 

 own peculiar form of plow to produce the best 

 effect. 



You next ask how to cultivate after plowing, 

 and in short, what plan of im]5roving husbandry 

 you shall pursue to make ihe land productive. 

 After the deep plowing, and just before planting 

 time in spring, spread your cv)mpost manure up- 

 on the j)lo\vcd surface and turn it in four or five 



inches, deep with a light plow gauged 

 to the right depth by a wheel on the 

 beam. Plant the land with corn or 

 other hoed crops. If you have leisure 

 after harvest in the fall, and if not, 

 then in early spring, run a heavy har- 

 row over the field, once in a place, and 

 straddling a corn-row each time, pull- 

 ing down the corn-hills and scutning 

 the stubs so as to facilitate their com- 

 plete burial out of the way. Plow the 

 ground preparatory to seeding it, turn- 

 ing it an inch or two deeper than you 

 did in ])lowing in the manure, so as to 

 bring the manure near the surface, and 

 still with an inch or so of earth above 

 it to protect it from loss. Then stock 

 the land to grass, with grain. Wheat 

 ! and barley are the best grains to seed with, as 

 the grass is less liable to be smothered by those 

 I crops than with oats. But if oats are a more 

 j profitable crop to raise, then stock with that 

 : grain, sowing, however, not to exceed two bush- 

 els of oats per acre. They will then tiller out 

 enough from the root to grow all the seed-bearing 

 j stalks you need for a good crop, or that will be 

 well for the young grass, and yet there will be 

 room on the surface of the ground for the grass 

 to get a sure foothold. I have repeatedly seen 

 from five to fifteen stout seed-bearing stalks grow- 

 ing from one seed oat, where not more than two 

 bushels of oats per acre were sown, and have 

 raised large crops of this grain from thin seed- 

 ing — the oats exceeding the standard 

 weight two to five pounds per bushel. 

 Rut however that might be, it is an 

 important object to obtain a good 

 catch of grass, and quite a money loss 

 to fail in that particular. 



If you would like to improve more 

 land annually than you care to plant, 

 and can devise means for enriching 

 more, then plow up grass land with a 

 deep furrow in August, manure on top 

 of the furrows with fine rotten com- 

 post, harrow in the compost, and seed 

 at once to grass, with or without a 

 crop of winter wheat or rye, as may 

 appear to you best. 



If the land is not subject to stand- 

 ing water at any time, and is a little 

 rolling withal, you may perhaps succeed in raising 

 a fine crop of wheat. If a grain crop is to be ta- 

 ken off the land, spread a heavier coat of manure 

 than if grass seed alone is sown. Fifteen to 

 twenty loads of manure for grass alone, will be 

 as good to the land as twenty-five or thirty loads 

 if a grain crop is taken off. Sow only herds 

 grass and red-top in the fall or in August, and 

 put on clover early the next spring 



In connection with your abundant supply of 

 muck, you will find your account in making all 

 the manure you can profitably to mix with it, 

 thus increasing the compost heaps. Study to 

 find ways for feeding out the products of the soil 

 upon the farm, so as to get about as good re- 

 turns for them in the growth and improvement 

 of stock, the wool, meats, dairy products, Szc, as 

 though they had been sold off for cash. Thus 

 you Avill give back to the farm the manure its 

 crops can make, increased withal two or three 



