522 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



it run as long as it will yield abundantly and 

 tbe wild grasses keep out. This method, or 

 systeui, works admirably on moist, natural 

 grass lands and reclaimed meadows. I could 

 cite many instances from my farm record 

 where by applying top-dressing the yield of 

 hay has been doubled for three successive 

 years, when the crop before the application 

 was not more than a ton to the acre. I can 

 in this way obtain four times as much profit 

 from the same (juantity of manure as I can by 

 planting corn ; my land, however, is better 

 adapted to grass than corn. 



Care of Grass Fields. 



All rubbish should be picked from grass 

 fields in early spring, and a sharp watch kept 

 to destroy large, coarse weeds, as they take 

 room and nourishment from the growing grass 

 and dilute the hay. 



Fall Feeding. 



Feeding mowing lands in the fall is an in- 

 jurious practice ; if there is any amount of 

 growtli it is better to mow it, and keep stock 

 out of the fields entirely. When they are fed, 

 the droppings of the cattle should be beaten 

 fine and well scattered in the early spring. 

 No good farmer will allow his fields to be 

 touched with a hoof when the ground is soft 

 in the fall or spring. Feeding mowing fields 

 in the spring ought not to be mentioned ; the 

 farmer who practices it cannot be a thinking 

 man, has not capacity of judgment enough to 

 discern his own interest, and could not appre- 

 ciate a better way if he was taught it. — Ad- 

 dress of O. F. Beede, Fremont, N. H., in 

 Mirror and Farmer. 



PLOUGHHSTG UNDER CLOVER. 



In 1864, I ploughed up a field of clover and 

 planted corn. In 1865, planted corn again, 

 and used the cultivator very freely both years 

 to kill the weeds. In 1866, sowed barley, 

 followed by wheat, and seeded down into 

 clover in the spring. In 1867, mowed the 

 clover for hay, and the second crop for seed. 

 In 1868, mowed it again for hay. After the 

 hay was olT we ploughed half the field, and 

 allowed tlie other half to produce a second 

 cro}) of clover. It was a wet season, and the 

 second crop of clover grew splendidly. I 

 think it would have made a ton of hay per 

 acre. This clover we plnnr/Jied under. 



The next spring (•1870) the whole field was 

 cultivated, but not ploughed, and sown with 

 barley. I could see no difference in the 

 growth of barley on the part ploughed imme- 

 diately after hay harvest, and that when the 

 clover was allowed to grow and then ploughed 

 under. After the barley, the field was 

 ploughed and sown to winter wheat. So far, 

 I can see no difference in the color or growth 

 of tlie wheat. 



There was no more labor expended on the 

 one part of the field th3,a on the other. The 



only difference Avas, that one was ploughed 

 before the clover commenced to grow, and 

 the other after the clover had attained its 

 growth. Tlie presumption is, that notwith- 

 standing the fact that a large growth of clover 

 was ploughed under, there was no more nitro- 

 gen or other ])lant-food in the soil on one part 

 of the field than on the other. The plant- 

 food organised in the clover was simply taken 

 out of the soil, and was merely returned when 

 ploughed under. Had the part of the field 

 ploughed immcdiatel}' after harvest been har- 

 rowed, cultivated, and then ploughed again in 

 the fall, and otherwise exposed to the decom- 

 posing intluences of the atmosphere, I believe 

 more ])lant-food would have been developed 

 from the soil than on the part where the clover 

 was allowed growth. This probably would 

 not be the case in poor, sandy land ; but I 

 have no doubt that clay loams, which abounded 

 in latent plant-food, would become richer from 

 being worked and exposed to the atmosphere 

 than from the mere growth of clover. If 

 there is any evidence to the contrary, I would 

 like to have it produced. 



I believe In clover. No one has written 

 more in its favor as a renovating crop. We 

 cannot grow too much of it. But it should 

 all be consumed on the farm, and in addition, 

 the clay-land farmer should "fall-fallow'' as 

 much land as he can. I am satisfied, though 

 I admit the evidence is not conclusive, that 

 fall-fallowing is more in accordance with the 

 facts of scientific farming than the practice of 

 ploughing under clover. — J. Harris, in Anver- 

 ican Ayricultiirist. 



HOME-MADE RE3PRIGERATOR. 



I want to give the readers of your valuable 

 and interesting paper the benefit of an idea 

 about preserving ice in a cheap and conven- 

 ient maimer. Nearly all persons who cannot 

 aiFord a nice zinc-lined refrigerator or ice- 

 chest keep their ice in sawdust, straw or some 

 such non-conducting material, which is very 

 inconvenient and wastes the ice. We had al- 

 ways done so until last season, and I am satis- 

 fied that there are thousands of families who 

 think they can dispense with a refrigerator, 

 but not with ice. 



Last season I took two wooden boxes — the 

 first large enough to contain the second and 

 and leave a space of a couple of inches all 

 round, top and bottom, then I bored a hole 

 (one or one-half inch is large enough) , in the 

 bottom of each for ventilation and drainage, 

 then made a lid with hinges (leather ones in 

 my case) for each box, placed some slats in 

 the bottom of the larger and placed the smaller 

 box on them, put some pieces at the side to 

 keep the smaller in place, and the refrigerator 

 was done. 



This year I improved upon the old one, by 

 making a zinc lining for the inside box out of 

 an old sheet that had done service under a 



