1871 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
spring. Iu 1867, mowed the clover for hay, 
and the second crop for seed. In 1868, mowed 
it again for hay. After the hay was off we 
plowed half the field, and allowed the other 
half to produce a second crop 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 plowed 
under . 
The next spring (1870) the whole field was 
cultivated, but not plowed, and sown with bar¬ 
ley. I could see no difference in the growth of 
barley on the part plowed immediately after 
hay harvest, and that when the clover was al¬ 
lowed to grow and then plowed under. After 
the barley, the field was plowed and sown to 
winter wheat. So far, I can see no difference 
in the color or growth of the wheat. 
There was no more labor expended on the 
one part of the field than on the other. The 
only difference was, that one was plowed be¬ 
fore the clover commenced to grow, and the 
other after the clover had attained its growth. 
The presumption is, that notwithstanding the 
fact that a large growth of clover was plowed 
under, there was no more nitrogen or other 
plant-food in the soil on one part of the field 
than on the other. The plant-food organized 
in the clover was simply taken out of the soil, 
and was merely returned when plowed under. 
Had the part of the field plowed immediately 
after harvest been harrowed, cultivated, and 
then plowed again in the fall, and otherwise 
exposed to the decomposing influences of the 
atmosphere, I believe more plant-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 plow¬ 
ing under clover. 
A young man in Wisconsin has a farm of 150 
acres, 45 acres cleared, and the rest what was 
called oak openings, but the young trees have 
grown up thickly. He asks a number of ques¬ 
tions, which I will give in the Agriculturist in 
hopes of drawing out the opinions of those 
who have had more experience on the points 
than I have, 1st, “What kind of grass would 
do to sow under fruit-trees, so as to make pas¬ 
ture?”—There is no grass which will afford 
much nutriment when grown in the shade. I 
should try Kentucky blue grass. 2d. “ What 
is the best treatment for blind staggers in pigs ?” 
—Let the pigs have cool pens, clean troughs, 
fresh water, the run of a good clover pasture, 
and a moderate allowance of cooked meal, 
either of oats, barley, or corn. A gallon or two 
of water, sprinkled over each pig every day in 
hot weather, is also excellent. In case of a 
violent attack, give a tablespoonful of castor- 
oil for a 100 lb. pig, and if there is much 
prostration, give from two to three table¬ 
spoonfuls to half a pint of whiskey, according 
to the size of the pig and the urgency of the case. 
3d. “ What books on the horse, cow, sheep, 
pig, poultry, would you recommend for general 
uses; also on manures, crops, etc. ?”—The best 
general work for a young farmer is the new 
edition of “ Allen’s American Farm Book.” 
Youatt’s books on the horse, cattle, and sheep, 
are all good [as is “ Harris on the Pig.”—Ed.]. 
On sheep, especially fine wools, “Randall’s 
Practical Shepherd ” is the best work in the 
English language. I do not know much about 
the poultry books. But I suppose “Wright’s 
Practical Poultry Keeper” is as good as any. 
We have no book on manures. “Boussingault’s 
Rural Economy ” treats the subject with great 
ability, and is otherwise worthy the study of 
every intelligent farmer. 
4th. “ Are Norway oats and Alsike clover, 
humbugs? or are they worth trying?”—Better 
first try to get your farm clean and in good con¬ 
dition, and then if you have time, energy, and 
money to try new things, do so. 
5th. “ Wlrat shall I do with my woodland, so 
that I can keep it as woodland, and yet get grass 
on it ?”—Thin it out to let in the sun. Sow 
on some timothy and blue grass seed. Let the 
cattle brouse the young under-brush. I imagine 
the result will be inferior grass and inferior 
timber. But I have no experience. 
6th. “Will farm machinery pay at first?"— 
I should buy as little machinery as possible. 
In my experience, with a few exceptions, it 
costs as much, with ordinary hired help, to do 
work by machinery as by hand. I asked a 
farmer who has had considerable experience 
with machines, if they paid ? “If bought with 
good judgment,” he replied, “and used with 
great care, I think they do.” A farmer can lose 
more by using a broken, one-tined fork, a dull, 
rusty hoe, a worn-out ax, and a battered-up 
spade than he can save by using a machine to 
saw wood or a reaper to cut his grain. A small 
farmer had better hire the work done with a 
machine than to buy the machine himself. 
Our correspondent in Missouri is not satis¬ 
fied with our answer to his question about 
curry-combs. He says: “ I encourage the 
rolling of my horses and mules, and as soon as 
the harness is off, they always take a good roll 
in the stable-lot. But they sometimes select 
places to roll where I do not wish them. In 
my pasture there are some clay banks, and 
whenever they can, they prefer to roll there; 
and when the ground is wet, they get a coat of 
clay on them which all the straw in the country 
cannot rub off, and which, when it gets dry on 
their backs, will be so hard as almost to pull 
the hair out if you try to curry it off. I gener¬ 
ally wash them clean, but am always afraid of 
their catching cold.”—I do not see how I can 
help him. I think I should scrape as much of 
the mud off as possible before it got dry, and 
then remove the remainder after it was dry with 
a curry-comb. It seems to me, however, that 
if the horses were well curried and cleaned 
every day, they would not be so much inclined 
to roll on the wet clay. A Welchman, who 
went into Shropshire to work during harvest, 
was much surprised at finding that an English¬ 
man combed his hair every morning. “Why,” 
said he, “ I only comb mine once a week, on 
Sunday, and it is an awful job. I don’t see 
how you can find time to do it every day.” 
The Chester White breeder in Iowa, who 
thought I was “grinding my ax” in recom¬ 
mending Berkshire pigs, has written another 
letter in reply to our remarks, which exhibits 
more candor and courtesy. He claims that 
“ the Chester White, or Magie pigs, will pro¬ 
duce wore pork, and as good pork, at six months 
ora year old, according to the amount of food 
consumed , than cither the Berkshire or Suffolk 
pig.”—Possibly this is true, though I should 
hardly expect it. But this is not the point I 
make. We have some thirty million pigs in 
the United States. They are kept for the pro¬ 
duction of pork and lard. Confessedly, there 
is great room for improvement. Of these thirty 
million pigs, 29.975,000 are what may be called 
“ common pigs.” They are of no distinct 
breed. Now, we have to select from them this 
fall—say 5,000,000 sows to breed from. I do 
not know how it is elsewhere, butiu this neigh¬ 
borhood, if I wanted to get a score of sows to 
raise pigs to fatten, I should have no difficulty 
in finding just what I wanted—vigorous, healthy 
sows of fair size, that would probably prove 
good breeders and good milkers. Now, having 
got my sows, what breed shall I cross them 
with ? My object, mark you, is simply to raise 
pigs for the pork barrel. Shall I use a Chester 
White, a Magie, or other large, coarse breed? 
or shall I use a small, highly refined, thorough¬ 
bred boar? I advocate the latter course. It is 
in accordance with well-established principles 
of breeding, and confirmed by general experi¬ 
ence and observation. “But why do you make 
this point,” asks our Iowa correspondent, “ when 
you admit that the thorough-bred is preferable 
to half-breeds or grades?” I never have admit¬ 
ted anything of the kind, when pigs are raised 
solely for the butcher. For producing pork, I 
should never dream of keeping thorough-breds, 
A thorough-bred boar is of great value for im¬ 
proving our common stock, and that is all. 
This Chester White breeder seems to think 
that I am “prejudiced” against this breed of 
pigs. It is not so. I wish they were far more 
common than they are. If I was obliged to 
raise my own sows from which to raise pigs for 
the butcher, I think I should get a Chester 
White boar and a Magie sow; and the sows 
from this cross I would put to a thorough-bred 
Yorkshire or Berkshire boar. If the offspring 
was not fine enough, I should select some of 
the best sows and mate them with a thorough¬ 
bred Essex boar. I think this last cross would 
give me the perfection of pigs for the butcher. 
And after that I should merely have to repeat 
the process. Such pigs I should expect to fat¬ 
ten more rapidly (because they would eat 
more), and to be in every way more profitable 
for the mere purpose of raising pork than any 
thorough bred Essex, Berkshire, or Yorkshire. 
Horses in Summer.— Farm work during the 
hot summer months, requires only the lightest 
harness. Wooden collars are now used with 
great comfort to the horse. Iu the city of New 
York the harness worn by the street railroad 
horses is as scant as is consistent with the work 
they have to perform. No breeching is used, 
and hip-straps are dispensed wilh. Teams may 
often be seen plowing in the hot days of July 
and August, in the same harness they wore dur¬ 
ing the winter. This is unnecessary, nay some¬ 
times it amounts to positive cruelty. Remove 
every superfluous strap, take away the back- 
strap and crupper-band and let the air circulate 
freely around the body. At night when w'ork 
is over, wash the sweat and dust from the legs 
and thighs of the horse ; a dash of water on his 
flanks would be grateful to him. Let his stable 
be airy and clean, with a bed of clean straw. 
