314 



NEW ENGLAND FARiCER. 



July 



wise of the furrows. When the oats come up they 

 have the aiipcarance of having been sowed in 

 drills. In this way he says good crops are ob- 

 tained. If the soil is heavy or moist, the Black 

 oats do the best. Have you or any of the readers 

 of the Farmer ever tried this method of raising 

 oats. 



MILLET, 



If a good crop of oats can be obtained as above, 

 why not a good crop of Millet ? I have a field of 

 five or six acres, good strong land, part of whiih 

 is rather moist and late, that was ploughed last 

 fall. Now if I sow millet on this land when it is 

 dry enough to work, without manure, can I rea- 

 sonably expect a fair crop ? Perhaps for millet, it 

 might be well to pass the harrow once over the 

 field, crosswise, before sowing the seed. If any 

 have had experience in this kind of husbandry, 

 let us have the facts, • J. R. 



New York City, March 22, 1870. 



Remarks. — The foregoing was received with 

 other papers, and having been laid aside with 

 them, appears later than it should have done. 



alsike clover, 



"Within the past two or three years, the attention 

 of bee-keepers has been directed to the cultivation 

 of honey-producing plants, to afford pasturage 

 for bees in poor seasons, or when natural forage 

 fails, and to add largely to their usual stores in 

 favorable ones. 



Albike clover is the best, everything considered, 

 and is rapidly working its way into public favor. 

 The statement has been made by some, that if 

 every farmer would put one-half of the land now 

 seeded to grass into Alsike clover, bees might be 

 very profitably multiplied in our country one hun- 

 dred fold, and each hive furnish many times its 

 present profit, and quite as many cattle be sustained 

 as at the present time. 



Our experience confirms the favorable opinion 

 thai has been expressed by others, of this variety 

 of clover. It not only yields a large quantity of 

 honey and of good quality, but is a profitable crop 

 for farmers to grow for stock, or seed, or for both. 

 It grows ntarly or quite as large as the common 

 clover. The fetulks are finer and not as woody. It 

 has many brancnes, consequently alTords a multi- 

 tude of blossoms which are very fragrant, and is 

 much enjoyed by the bees. It does not blossom 

 as early by a week as the red clover, and remains 

 in bloom about four weeks. It is particularly 

 adapted to moist ground. The roots being fiorous, 

 are not liable to be injured by the frost heaving the 

 ground. It is prolific in seed, yieldmg from six to 

 eight bushels per acre. 



As this clover has a two fold value, we antici 

 pate that the time is not far distant when it will 

 be more generally grown, and thereby the thrift of 

 stock ana the resources of honey will be greatly in- 

 creaseii throughout the country. C. B, Biglow, 



Perkinsville, Vt., April, 1870, 



FARMING IN VIRGINIA. 



In May, 1S69, I left Maine, and after looking 

 about in itie South, purchased a farm of 500 acres 

 one mile northeast of Manassas Junction and vil- 

 lage, which is on the Orange, Alexandria and 

 Manassas railroad, thirty-five miles south of 

 Washington. I moved here with my family in 

 November last. My farm is on the Centreville 

 road, two miles from Bull Run, and about four 

 miles Irom the battle-field. Soon after the war 

 commenced, the confederates took possession of 

 this place and fortified the town. Fort Beauregard 

 is within a half a mile of me; Fort Johnston a 

 little further off. The house on this farm was 



taken possession of and used as the head-quarters 

 of Gen. Jos. E. Johnston ; and the house opposite 

 was the quarters of Gen. Beauregard. At a later 

 period, the Union armies got possession of this 

 place, and their generals occupied these houses as 

 their head-quarters also. When the Union army- 

 evacuated, they burnt all the buildings on this 

 farm to keep the supplies from falling into the 

 hands of their opponents. This whole country 

 was overrun alternately by the armies, and nearly 

 all the buildings, wood, orchards, fences, &c., 

 were destroyed. Since the close of the war, the 

 village has been rebuilt and is fast growing in im- 

 portance. The town has two hotels, two small 

 churches, six stores, a grist mill, a foundry, a 

 brick manufactory, with blacksmith, tin and other 

 shops, a weekly paper, &c. 



Land can be purchased in this, "Prince William" 

 County, at from #5 to $50 per acre, by the farms, 

 except close up to the villages, &c. The climate 

 is splendid, the water good, and markets near. 

 There is room for fifty thousand small New Eng- 

 land farmers to locate in the one hundred coun- 

 ties of this State. 



I cannot see why this State, with her railroads 

 and water communications, her central location 

 and fine climate, is not destined to be one of the 

 best and most desirable States in the Union to live 

 in. I shall be happy to give all the information in 

 my power to such as may visit this section. 



Jonas Greene, 



Manassas, Va., April 9, 1870, 



raising corn, 



I regard corn an important farm crop and have 

 given it considerable attention and propose to re- 

 late a little of my experience. I do so not because 

 I raise very large crops, but because I obtained a 

 better yield than I have seen by so economical a 

 mode of cultivation as I adopt. 



First, plough the ground once about six inches 

 deep in autumn or spring, according to conven- 

 ience, as well as it can be ploughed. I use none 

 but a swivel plough, and I would not have my 

 ground ploughed into dead furrows and ridges if 

 done for nothing. I intend to have every foot of 

 the ground turned over. 



About the middle of May, or soon as the fields 

 will do to work, spread on fifteen loads of thirty- 

 three bushels each cf strong stable manure to the 

 acre, and harrow in the manure w'cU wiih a Geddes* 

 Harrow, lengthways of the furrows. When the 

 ground comes into condition furrow out the field 

 three and one-half feet apart each way, and lay a 

 moderate shovelful of stable manure in the hill, 

 which will require ten to twelve loads to the acre. 

 This manure should be well worked over and in 

 somewhat advanced state of fermentation. Plant 

 on the manure five to six kernels of corn to the 

 hill. When the corn is about five inches high 

 hoe it well with a moderately elevated hill, and 

 thin out to four plants to the hill. When about 

 twenty inches high, hoe the second time, still with 

 a moderately elevated hill, and no more huting 

 except to destroy the weeds. I have seen no ad- 

 vantage whatever in hoeing corn too small. 



I once saw a field of corn hoed when but just 

 out of the ground and nearly covered up in the 

 operation ; then it was hoed the second time when 

 scarcely large enough for the first hoeing and 

 nearly covered up again ; then, the third time, still 

 nearly coveiing it with the earth. Tnc result, was 

 the corn never grew to any size, and the crop was 

 almost a total failure, though the field had a fair 

 dressing of manure. 



I use twenty-five or twenty-six loads of manure 

 to the acre to raise sixty to seventy-five bushels of 

 corn. I have seen lorty loads of manure spread 

 on an acre, and none in the hill, and a smaller 



