480 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



THE EYE CKOP. 



ARMERS generally consider 

 the latter part of August 

 the best time for sowing 

 •winter rye. If put in at this early 

 period, it has time to germinate, 

 TTv"^ and to root so strongly as to resist 

 'vfi^^ being thrown out by the frosts of 

 ^ winter, or to perish by lack of mois- 

 ture, if the autumn should prove a dry one. 



It is too often supposed that any poor, 

 sandy soil is fit for the production of rye. 

 That such land will frequently bring a fair 

 crop of this grain, is true, but that does not 

 prove that it will not be more economical to 

 sow it upon a much better soil. 



A soil made up of about 80 per cent, of 

 sand, 18 or 20 per cent, of clay, and two per 

 cent, of humus, (peat,) is as poor as should 

 ever be devoted to a crop of rye. Such 

 lands lack lime in some form, muck and clay, 

 and would be greatly bene6ted by ploughing 

 in green crops of rye itself, clover, buckwheat 

 or something else of their nature. Where 

 blue clay can be had conveniently, 30 or 40 

 two-horse loads to the acre would be worth 

 more than a usual dressing of manure. 

 Vrhether it be clay or green crops, the whole 

 should be most intimately mingled with the 

 soil. 



Very fine crops of rye are frequently raised 

 on granite soils, and even on alluvial lands 

 that are not overflowed. 



The idea does not yet seem to have taken 

 possession of the farming mind, that living 

 and dead plants contain the same elementary 

 matters — that dead plants afford the proper 

 aliment for living plants, — and that, conse- 

 quently, the fertility of a soil will be increased 

 or diminished in proportion to the quantity 

 of dung or organic matter which is returned 

 to it, compared with the quantity which is ta- 

 ken from it by cropping. 



No complaint is so common among farmers 

 as that of a want of manure ; if they had that, 

 they could raise all the usual crops at a profit. 

 And yet, we are not left without the means j 

 of helping ourselves in this particular, in a j 

 very considerable degree. There are sandy ( 

 acres within a gun-shot of many a farmer's ' 

 door that are barren now, and seem doomed j 

 to perpetual barrenness in all the future. ! 

 There are other sandy acres, in similar locali- 



ties, that teem annually with rich crops of 

 grass, grain and roots. If such lands can be 

 brought into a state of fertility in one instance, 

 they can in a thousand. 



It is important that all lands near the build- 

 ings should produce abundant crops. Travel 

 and transportation of manure and crops is 

 then comparatively inexpensive ; they are also 

 where they will be constantly overlooked, and 

 thus more likely to be well tended, while the 

 rich surroundins^^s of the buildings will give 

 the farm an increased money value. 



A little capital and a little skill is what is 

 required to bring some of these barrens into a 

 fair state of fertility. If the capital is small, 

 begin with an acre, or a fourth of it ; plough 

 at any time and sow any seeds that will bring 

 vigorous plants, and when they have attained 

 their growth to the blossoming period, plough 

 them under, never allowing the plants to seed. 

 Continue thij through an entire spring, sum- 

 mer and autumn, and so go on, from year to 

 year until the soil will bring a crop of clover, 

 little or much, then turn that under, and the 

 land will probably be in condition to yield 

 a fair crop of beans or corn. The capital 

 thus invested will be chiefly in the labor of 

 man and that of the team, and -will not be felt 

 like an investment of money. In this way, it 

 certainly is possible to get sandy lands into a 

 condition of profitable fertility, and perhaps 

 save much cost in travelling off to cultivate 

 distant fields. 



Some persons delay sowing winter rye until 

 September, and it often does well seeded 

 early in that month. But old Cato's maxim 

 is a safe one: — "Get in your harvest two 

 days too soon, rather than two days too late." 



AQKICUIiTUKAL FAIRS. 



Now that we have got through the season 

 of College Commencements and School Ex- 

 hibitions, the "Fairs" are fast approaching. 

 Some idea of the great number which are to 

 be held this fall in all the States of the Union 

 may be formed from the imperfect list we 

 publish of those in New England alone. In 

 Massachusetts there are thirty or more county 

 societies and perhaps a greater number of 

 town and local organizations which hold Fairs. 

 In the other New England States the propor- 

 tion of fairs to population is probably about 

 the same as in Massachusetts. To the man- 



