THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



107 



the farming community than offering a Jiand- 

 some premium, to stimulate experiments with 

 the various grasses, to test fuliy their adapta- 

 tion to our climate, their nutritive qualities, &c. 



Orchard grass may be sown alone, or with 

 grain, in the, Fall or Spring — if in the Fall, not 

 later than 15th of October ; after this time it 

 is liable to be thrown out of the ground and 

 destroyed. I have had a good stand when 

 gown the last of October, but frequently failed. 

 It should be put in the ground with the wheat, 

 rye or oats, unless these should be ploughed in, 

 when it should be sown directly after, on the 

 fresh ground, before a rain, and put in with a. 

 harrow. If sowed on wheat in the Spring, I 

 prefer the month of March, and running a peg 

 roller over it sufficient to put the larger portion 

 of it in the ground, or by driving cattle and 

 sheep over it regularly, as I have done with my 

 clover-seed also, when I could not use my 

 horses or oxen for rolling. 



If the grain should be put in with a drill, it 

 should be sowed before the drill. In Clarke 

 and Frederick counties, where it is extensively 

 grown, I am informed they sow it in February 

 and March, early enough to be covered by the 

 action of the frosts. If one could not put it in 

 the ground, I would certainly recommend the 

 adoption of the above plan. 



To sow it with regularity it should be 

 thoroughly moistened With water several hours 

 before the time for sowing, then plaster or 

 ashes, (the first the best,) added sufficient for a 

 small portion to adhere to the seed. 



For a permanent pasture lot, which your 

 friend wishes to make, the addition of a peck 

 of timothy seed, to the grasses recommended 

 for a meadow, will, I am confident, ensure him 

 fine grazing if his lot is as rich as it should be. 

 As timothy rarely stands well when sown in 

 the Spring, sowing in the Fall will be prefer- 

 able; if a failure in one or all of the grasses 

 occurs, another trial might be made in the 

 Spring without breaking the land again. 



While the orchard grass, rye grass, and 

 clover seeds should be slightly covered, timothy 

 succeeds best when sown on the top of the fresh 

 ground — if we attempt to put it in, a great 

 many seeds will be buried too deep. A great 

 recommendation in favor of orchard grass, is 

 its capacity of resisting the attacks of the 

 chinch-bug. Several Springs my timothy sown 

 with it was almost entirely destroyed, and it 

 was but little hurt. For sheep pasture, I know 

 of no grass superior to it. I have now about 

 one hundred cots wold sheep on a field of one 

 hundred and fifty acres, a portion of which is 

 tolerably well set in orchard grass. They are 

 now good mutton. This field has had upon it 

 not only these sheep, since early in the Spring 

 up to this time, but at the same time upwards 

 of one hundred head of hogs and some cattle 

 and horses, till late in the Fall. Though grazed 

 down, it springs up rapidly and affords a good 

 bite for sheep, if not covered with snow, or the 



weather not intensely cold. For sowing gene- 

 sally on the farm, a half bushel of seed, with other 

 grasses, may answer. As the purchase of seed 

 entails a heavy expense, the farmers should 

 sow a few acres of strong land alone, very thick, 

 two bushels to the acre, and save their own 

 seed ; which should be saved as wheat is, and 

 not be permitted to stand till entirely ripe, but 

 cut when the heads are generally white, the 

 straw green. This will prevent shattering, to 

 a great extent. It can be threshed out with a 

 threshing machine, or on the floor of a barn, 

 ■on rainy days, with the flail, or by striking the 

 bundles against a rail. An objection, also, to 

 purchasing seed in the market, is the fact that 

 it is often cut too green — for hay — hence the 

 seeds have not sufficiently matured to germjnate. 



I have written the above in very great haste, 

 for the morning's mail — have scarcely time to 

 look it over — hope at least it will meet the 

 wants of a subscriber. 



Truly and faithfully vour friend, 



JOHN R. WOODS. 



Harrowing 1 Wkeat. 



In July last we addressed a letter to the 

 editor of the Tennessee Farmer, on the subject 

 of harrowing wheat, which, that paper stated, 

 had been practised successfully by Ool. Thos. 

 B. Johnson of Davidson County, Tennessee. 

 He very kindly obtained the desired informa- 

 tion from Col. Johnson and published it in 

 August last. As February is the time for 

 that operation, we have deferred publishing 

 Col. Johnson's letter till now. 



Will some enterprising gentleman please 

 perform this operation on a part of his wheat 

 in February or March, just as the wheat begins 

 to take its Spring growth, and state the result 

 at the proper time to the public through our 

 columns. 



Suppose our friends of the Fauquier and 

 Albemarle Clubs order such an experiment to 

 be made by some of their members. 



As our own land is somewhat "mortary" 

 about that season, we cannot promise to try it. 

 But a plenty of others may ; and they may 

 take our word that no more useful experiment 

 can be made. 

 L. P. Williams, Esq., 



Dear Sir: — In compliance with your re- 

 quest, that I should answer a note now before 

 me, addressed to you by F. G. Ruffin, Esq., 

 Editor of the Southern Planter, inquiring for 

 the weight and dimensions of the harrow used 

 in cultivating my wheat crop, of which you 

 made some mention in your report of the 

 notice of my farming operations, taken by the 



