183 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[June, 
able, but not so as to injure the horse at all; 
besides tlie draft chiefly comes upon the muzzle 
and not upon the head or neck, as is the case 
■with common halters. 
Stocking Down to Grass, with or with- 
out Grain. 
The notion is prevalent that it is essential to 
the life and growth of young grass to raise a 
crop of some kind of gram, while the tender 
spears are becoming sufficiently rooted to en- 
dure the dry and hot weather. But the shading 
of the ground is not essential to the growth of 
clover or grass, unless the seed be sowed very 
late in the spring, or during the summer, and 
■where the soil is not rich and mellow. On mod- 
erately fertile and mellow soils, though no crop 
of grain be allowed to grow, clover or grass 
seed of any kind will ordinarily succeed much 
better than otherwise. If the soil be quite poor 
and likely to parch during drouths, a small 
quantity of rye per acre will afford the young 
grass the benefit of some shade. Grass needs 
no shade even in dry ■u'cather after it has it- 
self become large enough to shade the ground, 
but is benefited by the sun and air quite as 
much as other plants. Another consideration, 
not to be overlooked, is, that any crop occupy- 
ing the ground, with the young grass, witU- 
dra-ws both nutriment and moislure from the 
soil, which might essentially benefit the more 
important but feebler crop. 
Tliere is probably no better grain than rye to 
sow where a field is to be stocked down to 
clover or grass. "Wheat is second to rye in this 
respect, and is superior to oats and barley, 
which are quite objectionable -when the usual 
(luantity is sown per acre, on account of the 
large leaves and thick bottom growth which is 
liable to choke the young grass, while rye 
shoots upward rapidly, and does not grow thick- 
ly at the bottom. AVere oats and barley sowed 
thinner on the ground than usual for a full crop 
of grain, grass might grow quite as well as with 
a crop of rye. Another point in favor of rye 
is, it usually keeps erect better than either oats 
or barley. On light soils where there is so 
much humus or vegetable mold as to cause a 
large growth of straw, if the grain lodges as it 
often does, almost every spear of grass will be 
killed. As spring rye is often a good crop to 
grow in a four or five years' rotation, many farm- 
ers ■will find it profitable to arrange their rota- 
tion so as to raise spring in preference to 
■winter rye when land is to be stocked down. 
For good farmers, the following directions 
will be of little or no value, and may appear 
quite untimely, but many need the exhortation. 
As most of our grass is cut with horse-mowers, 
it is quite important that the surface should be 
smooth, free from knolls, hollows, dead fui^rows, 
ridges, and clods. And even if it be mowed by 
hand, the surface ought to be smooth, so that 
the grass may be cut close to the ground. 
Where there are knolls and hollows, the most 
expeditious way is to level the knolls with a 
' team and dirt-scraper, either after or previous 
to plowing. When there are ridges formed by 
back-furrowing repeatedly in one place, turn 
back furrows into the hollows, and finish off 
lands with dead furrows where the ridges are. 
By measuring the distance from ridges to fur- 
rows, even where they are not uniform, the dead 
furrows may be made in the desired place. After 
the ground has lieen suiUciently harrowed, if 
there be loose sods aud lumps of earth, Ihrow 
them into the lowest phices, with manui forks, 
and make the surface as smooth as practicable. 
Then roll, and sow grass seed. This will form 
not only a smooth surface to work on when 
harvesting the grain, but will be smooth for the 
mower, horse-rake, and loaded w.agon or cart, 
when cutting and gathering the crops. A few 
hours spent in this manner will not only im- 
prove the appearance of the surface of a field, 
but be a source of much profit wheu harvesting 
the grain. Sometimes driving storms occur 
just before grain is fit to harvest, which pros- 
trates a large proportion of it. Then espeeiall}', 
if the surface of the ground be smooth, the 
grain can be cut much more advantageously 
than if it be covered with bogs, lumps, and sods. 
Management of Barn-Yard Manure. 
It is very often the case that manure is al- 
lowed to accumulate and remain undisturbed in 
the yard during the summer, after which it is 
hauled to the field and applied for winter grain. 
Treated thus, it rots but little, but if forked over, 
it would decay very rapidty. In some instances, 
corn stalks, straw, and stable manure are min- 
gled together, bj' being spread evenly over the 
entire yard, and are pressed firmly together by 
the constant tread of animals. Mr. Isaac Peck, 
an excellent farmer, of Fairfield Co., Conn., re- 
cently related to us his manner of preparing 
barn-yard manure for winter grain. His yard 
is constructed so that no liquids flow from it, 
except sometimes during very heavy raius, and 
this is conducted upon a field, and not to the 
brook or river. His corn stalks are fed out in 
the yard, where the large buts become mingled 
■n-ith refuse straw and stable manure. During 
days in summer when laborers cannot work to 
advantage on the farm, they commence on one 
side of the yard and fork the manure over, 
turning it clear to the ground. If there is too 
much straw or corn stalks in one place, they 
are scattered over a larger surface, so as to mix 
different kinds as thoroughly as possible. By 
forking it over in this manner, the coarse por- 
tions will be fined, and sufliciently decayed by 
autumn to make it possible to spread it evenly, 
and it will be in a far better condition to benefit 
wheat, or any other 'winter grain. Mr. Peck 
usually applies most of his barn-yard manure 
to his winter grain, and by this system he is 
able to raise good crops of wheat where the soil 
was formerly considered poorly adapted to that 
kind of grain. We do not commend our 
friend's way of treating corn stalks — that is, 
fhcding them out whole on the ground in the 
j'ard; but thousands of very good farmers will 
do so, though they lose about half the value of 
the fodder. In regard to working over the 
manure in the yard, however, his practice is 
excellent. If he had muck at hand, and could 
put over a good layer of it, or of sods, every 
time the manure was worked over, it would 
greatly increase the value 'of his manure crop. 
.»-■ M-*^ •-• 
JBveVagement of Red Clover for Seed. 
When the chief object is to raise a crop of 
seed, whether the clover is grazed or mowed oflf, 
it ought always be done in the mouth of June, 
in our latitude, and previous to the full bloom. 
It is not practicable to raise a good burden of 
hay and a crop of seed on the same ground in 
one season ; nor can one expect a full yield of 
seed if the clover be grazed too long. If the 
large, or late kind of red clover be allowed to 
stand until it is in full bloom before it is cut, 
there will be only a small crop of seed. The 
most successful way of managing this kind of 
red clover is, to pasture it until about the 1.5th 
or 20th of June; in New-England, or New- 
York, never later than the 20th of the month. 
It has been our practice to feed it down close 
just before shutting the animals off altogether, 
and if there w.as more clover than they could 
graze off close to the ground in a few days, the 
remainder was mowed, and usually left where 
it grew. The object in mowing oS all the 
stalks that the stock leave, is to have all the 
clover start the second time as evenly as pos- 
possible, grow uniformlj^, and all plants come 
to maturity at the same time, which is very 
essential. The seed on the portions of the 
field where the first growth has not been cut 
ofi', will come to maturity several weeks before 
the greater part of the crop is fit to cut. Con- 
sequently, most of it will shell off and be lost 
before the remainder can be secured. Many 
farmers, in their first attempts to raise the seed 
of the large kiud of red clover, obtain only a 
small crop, simply because the first growth 
was allowed to advance too far. 
In growing a crop of seed of the early, or 
small kind of red clover, the usual practice is 
to make hay of the first growth, though it is 
sometimes grazed off. Those who raise the larg- 
est crops of seed, cut the first time before it is in 
full bloom, They find this essential and aim to 
cut ■when about two-thirds of the heads are in 
blossom. The stalks and leaves will be very 
green at this stage; but every day it is .allow- 
ed to stand after this, tends to diminish the quan- 
tity of seed of the succeeding crop. Conse- 
quentlj'-, when a farmer thinks best to allow the 
first crop of clover to come nearer maturity, for 
the purpose of having a greater burden of hay, 
he must remember that he will lose more in the 
yield of seed than he will gain in the quality 
and quantity of hay afforded by the first growth 
of the clover. If there be any weeds among 
clover, they should all be cut close to the 
ground, so that the clover will get the start of 
them and effectually suppress their growth. 
Planting Broom Corn. 
We have received a series of articles on the 
cultivation of Broom corn, and making brooms, 
from Abram Stokes, an experienced broom- 
maker, of Ulster Co., N. Y.; and ■n'e give his 
mode of preparing the soil and planting the 
seed. He says : " Select a dry, rich, deep loam, 
nearly free from sand, gravel and stones, and 
plow it deep — the deeper the better. A red 
clover, or timothy sod is best ; because it will 
usually be free from weeds. Pulverize the sur- 
face as deep as practicable with a cultivator; or 
it may be plowed the second time, by using a 
plow with a sharp point, sharp coulter, aud 
guage wheel to regulate the depth. In this ■\\'ay 
it can be pulverized more thoroughly than with 
a cultivator. Before plowing the second lime, 
however, the ground should be allowed to set- 
tle after a heavy rain has fallen ; or the sods 
may be pressed down with a roller. Plow the 
second time the same way as the first, running 
the plow as deep as practicable, without turn- 
ing up portions of the sod. Harrow it thor- 
oughly ; and mark the ground one way with a 
small plow for planting in drills. It is better 
to have the rows run north and south, as the 
sun will shine on each side more uniformly. 
I prefer the tall Broom corn, as it has been 
well tested and approved. The dwarf may suc- 
ceed as well on some kinds of soil, where it will 
not grow too slender, which is a fault of this 
