18G3.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
363 
wind-break, and after it is 9 or 10 years old, and 
periodically thereafter, will furnish a large 
amount of good firewood or durable fcuce- 
rails ; 5th. That if the plow be run once every 
year or two at a distance of a few feet from the 
fences, the roots will not interfere materially 
with the culture or products of the soil ; 6th. 
That the roots will not send up sprouts either 
before or after the removal of the tree or stump. 
In regard to planting and subsequent care, I 
consider it indispensable to plow several deep 
furrows each side of where the cuctings are to 
be set, to remove all weeds and grass, to let but 
two or three stems grow upon each plant, to 
keep the ground open and well tilled the first 
year, and to see that cattle do not browse it. 
There is no doubt of the fact that animals will 
eat it, though we saw no hedges especially pro- 
tected from cattle, nor damage done by them, 
nor did we hear complaint in this respect, but 
this ought to make no one less careful to prevent 
damage to his young fences from such cause. 
While I do not say that, of the many quick- 
growing trees and hedge plants, which are 
used for timber-belts, shelter-belts, wind-brakes, 
fences, etc., on the prairies, the white willow is 
certainly best for each of the purposes of 
fence, wind-break, firewood, and timber, I now 
believe that it will be found to combine them 
better than any other yet brought before the 
public. Where the willow is kuown, and among 
those who have visited that part of the coun- 
try where the fences may be seen, I have not 
been able to find a man who did not regard 
its claims to the favorable consideration of 
prairie farmers at least well founded. 
There were many miles of cuttings set at 
the West last Spring; we saw some of these 
which had started well, but had died during the 
drouth, and heard of many more such. In my 
own opinion the failure of many cuttings last 
season militates no more against the use of the 
willow on the prairies, than the almost total 
failure of a corn crop does against its con- 
tinued use. The drouth was extreme; corn, 
sorghum, tobacco, and grass, were much affect- 
ed, and the early frost destroyed much of what 
had withstood the drouth. M. C. Weld. 
Breaking Up Prairie Land. 
Several have written in response to an in- 
quiry on this subj ect in the American Agricultu- 
rist, and most of them agree on the main points. 
We give here two communications which in- 
clude the more important particulars, and 
coincide with the opinions we have heard ex- 
pressed with great uniformity by prairie farmers, 
during our trips West. — Mr. John E. Darby, 
Muscatine Co., Iowa, writes : " The first point 
of importance is the season of the year for break- 
ing. This may vary slightly in different years, 
but as a general rule, the very best is the month 
of June. The operation may be commenced as 
soon as the young grass is sufficiently started 
for pasturage, and be continued until harvest. 
This gives a range of time from the middle of 
May until the middle of July. If clone earlier, 
weeds sprout up through the sod ; the grass 
also comes up and renders it tough to work the 
next year. If later, the sod does not rot suf- 
ficiently for wheat, though it generally lies 
clean and brings good corn. I can see no 
difference in the rotting, whether left smooth or 
rough, but it is far pleasanter working smooth, 
and a plough laying a smooth furrow runs 
jghter. New sod is good for almost any field 
crop, and gives the surest chance for spring 
wheat, which is never or rarely injured by 
chinch-bug or rust, and less liable to smut. 
Wheat is sown on the sod as soon as possible 
in the Spring, always without stirring, but thor- 
oughly harrowing, which is easily done if the 
sod has been properly broken, and at the right 
time. For corn, the sod must be re-plowed in 
the Spring. This is easily done, if the sod is 
well rotted, and it generally will be if broken in 
June ; but if the sod is a little tough or raw, a 
rolling cutter is of great use. Plow an inch or 
two deeper than the breaking, and proceed as 
on sward in the East. Another thing of im- 
portance is, to break as shallow as possible ; 2£ 
to 3 inches is sufficient, the sod rolling better 
than when broken deep. In "roughs" or bushy 
land, it must necessarily be broken deeper. 
"Another point is, to have the land freshly 
burned, if possible : mark it off, burn the old 
grass, and break immediately. If the grass gets 
too high, the sod does not rot so well. 
"A word as to mode. Breaking prairie was 
formerly almost exclusively done with ox- 
teams, from 3 to 6 yokes to a plow, the plow 
cutting from 18 to 28 inches. This made it 
necessary to employ regular " breakers," as not 
every one could afford to keep such a team ; 
but now, smooth prairie is frequently broken 
with two or three good horses — if three, worked 
abreast. A plow of 10 to 12 inches cut, and of 
sharp wedge-like form, is used, and some prefer 
this kind of breaking. I have done consider- 
able in this way, and with two medium horses 
can break from 1 to 2 acres per day. A poor 
man can thus make a farm with little expense 
beyond his own labor." 
Mr. John W. Barrett, Pierce Co., Wis., writes : 
" The best time, or I might say the only time 
to break up prairie land, is from the 1st day of 
June to the 20th of July. The reason is, that 
broken before June, the grass does not get a 
good start, and it will turn and grow through 
the breaking. If it is done in June and July, 
the grass has a start, and when broken with a 
hot sun on it, is sure to rot. Have the sod all 
turned over, and let it be as rough as possible 
to make it, as when in this condition, it is more 
easily torn up and prepared for seed harrow- 
ing in the Spring. Wheat is preferable for the 
first crop, and also for the second. My own 
practice is to break my land in June, then sow 
turnips or rata baga seed, which usually paj's 
for the breaking. The following Spring I use a 
large cultivator, dragging it over twice, then 
sow wheat and drag twice again, which is suf- 
ficient, if the land is broken at the right time. 
The sod rots better when rough than when laid 
smooth and even." 
"Why will not 'wild' prairie sod rot like 
that of ' tame' grasses at the West and East ?" 
is a question we repeatedly asked, and received 
the response that the roots of wild grasses and 
weeds are so tenacious of life that they can not 
be effectually killed, and the sods made to de- 
cay, if turned under deep. In opposition to this 
view we have a single fact to present, and 
our prairie readers may draw their own con- 
clusions. Mr. Theodore Gennert, of Living- 
ston County, 111., (the same of whom mention 
was made in the September number of the 
American Agriculturist, (page 270,) as testing on 
so extensive a scale the question whether sugar 
may profitably be made from the beet, in this 
country,) plowed the land for his beets, and for 
a considerable corn-field, to the depth of 10 or 
12 inches, the latter being reached whenever 
practicable. Double Michigan plows were 
used, and the top paring of sod was covered 
with 9 inches of mold. Mr. G.'s beets were the 
only good field crop we saw in Northern Il- 
linois in October, and his corn, though "sod 
corn," and somewhat damaged by the frost, 
was by far better than any corn raised on old 
land which we saw, in that region. It stood the 
drouth well, and a large portion of the crop was 
so far matured as to be uninjured by the frosts 
of August and September. " Sod corn"— that 
is, corn planted immediately upon the sod — is 
seldom worth harvesting, as we understand it, 
except by cattle and hogs, and this year we saw 
none which appeared to have paid for planting. 
To Prevent the Flavor of Turnips in Milk. 
D. McM., of Ulster Co., N. Y., writes to the 
Agriculturist that he has fed turnips to cows for 
over 30 years and has never been troubled by 
any unpleasant taste in the milk. He cuts the 
turnips by means of a root cutter and spreads 
the pieces in a layer two or three inches thick, 
upon the floor of the barn or other convenient 
place, where they remain for 24 hours before 
they are fed out. He considers that by this ex- 
posure the flavoring principle is dissipated, and 
the turnips may be fed without risk of impart- 
ing much taste to the milk. This is certainly a 
very simple plan and is much to be preferred to 
the use of saltpetre, and other drugs of doubtful 
efficacy, which have been recommended as a 
preventive. A gentleman who has had much 
experience, informs us that he never found any 
bad taste in the milk, if the turnips were fed 
after the morning milking, but that it was al- 
ways bad flavored if they were fed at night. 
How Farm Laborers Live in England. 
The Agricultural Gazette (England) reports 
upon the condition of the agricultural laborers 
in Norfolk County. Two closely printed col- 
umns are filled with statements like these: 
"A man, his wife, and seven children occupy a 
small place not large enough to be called a room, 
being, in fact, the place between the ceiling and 
the roof. Here we find the man, his wife, a daughter 
aged 20 years ; girl, 16 ; boy, 13; girl, 11; boy, 8) 
a girl, 6; and a girl, 3; the only ventilation and 
light are by one square of glass 11 in. by 9 in." 
" A dilapitated old cottage unfit for human hab- 
itation, neither wind nor water tight ; two bed- 
rooms, one occupied by a man and his housekeeper, 
and the other by his five children. The windows 
are stuffed with rags, and the floor full of large 
holes, with large cracks in the walls. The lower 
floor is pulled up ; pieces of wood stretched across 
the rooms to support the roof; a disgraceful place 
used as a privy, without any door, and drainage run 
into an open ditch." 
Let our farm laborers read the above, and be 
thankful that it is different with them. No 
wonder that laborers are ready to leave a 
country, the social system of which subjects the 
tillers of the soil to such degradation. In the 
same paper we find it stated that a similar con- 
dition of things exists in Hampshire. 
Salt Cattle Begularly and Uniformly. 
— A correspondent thinks he has traced several 
cases of cows slinking their calves to their hav- 
ing eaten inordinately of salt. Either salt 
cattle regularly and uniformly in the manger, or 
let a lump of hard rock salt be accessible at all 
times, which is the better plan. 
An Absurdity. — A young man compliment- 
ing his sweetheart by telling her that her breath 
has the sweetnes of roses, without shame that 
his own has the stench of whiskey and tobacco. 
