1870. 



NEW ENGLAiH) FARMER. 



573 



correspondent have been carefully examined. 

 They are all well worth digging, and carting a 

 mile, for use on the farm. Sample No. 1 is the 

 most highly decomposed, and undoubtedly the 

 most valuable of the three ; but even this, upon 

 wetting and rubbing it between the fingers, is 

 found not fine and unctuous to the touch as peat 

 is often found. It is sufficiently fine, however, to 

 be used in any compost. The samples two and 

 three, would be excellent for the barn yard and 

 pig stye; or for bedding under cattle; or as an 

 absorbent in the trench behind them. 



A thorough analysis of peat would require a 

 somewhat long and expensive process. This is 

 not essential in your case, nor in that of most far- 

 mers, as you cai^experiment wiih all the varieties 

 of peat Tou may have, upon small plats of ground. 

 Be careful, however, that the peat is not mixed 

 with other substances, or if it is, made all alike, 

 and put it all on the same kind of soil. Leave a 

 space of a rt;d or two between the plots, and cul- 

 tivate one plot as much as the other. Such tests 

 will show the value of the peat. 



INTERCHANGE OF VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES. 



I value the New England Farmer, as it is so 

 good a medium fir farmers to interchange their 

 thoughts and experiences. Wtien I am in want of 

 instruction io aeri^ulture, I seek it through the 

 columns of the Farmer. I like also to read the 

 reports of weather and crops in diflTerent sections. 



Remarks.— Thanks for your favorable expres- 

 sions of the Farmer. If sound information can- 

 not be gained from the scores of its intelligent and 

 practical correspondents, it will scarcely be found 

 anywhere. 



PLOUGHING and SOWING TO KILL BUSHES IN A 

 PASTURE. 



I have a side hill in my pasture, which I wish 

 to plough to kill the bushes. Now what grain is 

 the best to soiv for feed, and when the best time 

 to sow it,— early in August or early in the spring ? 



Remarks. — It is somewhat perplexing to deter- 

 mine what is best to be done with such a pasture 

 as you describe. If there are many bushes, the 

 usual way is to cut and burn them, and if not too 

 stony, plough and plant potatoes one year before 

 seeding to grass. If not very stony, and thor- 

 oughly burned over, perhaps a good harrowing 

 would prepare the surface for grass seed and grain 

 to be sown together early in the spring. "We have 

 not known this process tried, but it seems feasible, 

 and if successful would save the cost and delay of 

 ploughing. We should be glad to learn the result 

 of such an operation. Sow oats, rye or barley, 

 and cut green for fodder. 



ALSIKE AND COMMON CLOVERS. 



I also want information, concerning the Alsike 

 clover. How much seed is required to the acre, 

 and what is the cost per pound, and will it be good 

 to stock down a pasture ? I am almost discour- 

 aged with the common clover. Fitty years ago 

 my father would seed to clover, and I have known 

 it to produce a good crop the third year. Now, on 

 1*^^"*" '"'"'' I '"'" ' clover the second year, 



and yet I get larger corn than my father did. Can 

 you tell the reason that clover dies so quick now ? 



Remarks.— The Alsike or Swedish clover we 

 have not seen growing, but learn that it promises 

 to become very useful. Only about four pounds 

 of seed are sown to the acre. The foliage is said 

 to be more abundant than our red clover, and does 

 not turn dark to the same extent when the plant 

 has matured. The flowers are very beautiful, of 

 larger size than white clover, of pinkish color and 

 very fragrant. 



If our common red clover is cut before the seed 

 ripens and falls, and what grows the second time 

 is fed cfif or cut off before the seed ripens and falls 

 to the ground, the clover crop will at once die out. 

 But with such re-seeding it will continue for many 

 years. 



DROUGHT AND ITS EPFECTS. 



Here the drought has been severe. I do not 

 think the oldestpeopleever knewits like. Streams 

 that commonly supply ample water for mill pur- 

 poses are now almost dry. We have not had a 

 rain to thtroughly wet the soil Mnce early in 

 April. Corn and potatoes have sufft;red badly in 

 dry soils; to the extent of one-half in some fields. 

 S )me years I mow ten tons of rowen ; this year 

 al)out half a ton. And yet at Ashfield, less than 

 twenty miles distant, soulhwesttriy, no er-DS have 

 been injured by the drought. Elijah Gunn. 



Montagus, Mass., Sept. 19, 1870. 



APPLE POMACE. 



Is there any value in apple pomace formanurial 

 or other purposes ? What is it worth per ton ? 

 Marlboro', Mass., Oct., 1870. Subscriber. 



Remarks. — Pomace is usually thrown from 

 cider mills into the highway, streams and else- 

 where as though it was generally thought to be 

 worthless. Srill we have seen cattle nibbling at 

 these piles, which would seem to indicate that 

 "unerring instinct" detected value in the ma«s. 

 A friend says that he knows one man who buys 

 all he can get for feeding purposes. But how 

 much he pays, or how he feeds it, our informant 

 could not tell ; probably, however, in small quanti- 

 ties, and perhaps as a relish or seasoning for other 

 food. 



Applied in large quantities, in its crude state, 

 apple pomace is not unfrequently fatsl to vege- 

 table life, in consequence of the superabundance 

 of acid (tartaric) which it contains. Elder bushes 

 and bushes even more tenacious of life than the 

 elder are often completely deadened in a single 

 season by covering the soil around the roots by a 

 layer of pomace four or five inches deep. But 

 after this acid is neutralized, by quick lime, it 

 becomes a valuable manure, especially for apple 

 orchards, and is highly prized for that purpose in 

 France. Where lime cannot be easily or cheaply 

 obtained, the pomace may be deposited in some 

 low place where it will not be liable to wash away, 

 and what wood ashes is at hand mixed with it, 

 with five or six times the amount of pomace, of 

 old, well-dried meadow-muck. Let it lie at least a 

 year, turning the mass over two or three limes, 



