358 
“Walks and Talks” Correspondence. 
Underoraining.— “ W. H.,” Wentworth Co., Ontario, 
■writes: “ Does sandy loam generally need underdrain¬ 
ing, or only that which has a clay subsoil ? It is very 
easy to tell whether land needs underdraining. Dig 
holes three or four feet deep, and leave them open. If 
water comes in from below and remains there a week or 
ten days, the land needs draining. Frequently low por¬ 
tions of a farm are kept wet from springs in the high 
land adjoining. If the upland was drained, the low land 
might not need it. This is the case, to a great extent, 
on my own farm, and also on the farm of John Johnston 
and Mr. Swan. 
Subsoiling or Deep Plowing.— “ W. H.” also asks: 
“In plowing deeper is it better to put three horses on 
to a jointer plow, or to do real subsoiling? It will de¬ 
pend upon the land. If the subsoil is a rich loam, bring 
an extra inch or two to the surface. If it is a raw, cold 
clay, it would probably be better to break it up with a 
subsoil plow, and not bring it to the surface. You can 
plow deep without using a jointer. The only object in 
using a “jointer” or “Michigan double plow,” is to 
cover up the sod or weeds by turning them into the bot¬ 
tom of the furrow... .1 plowed seventeen acres of sod 
land last fall with a three-horse jointer plow. I did not 
plow it again in the spring. The harrows and cultiva¬ 
tors made it in good condition for peas and barley. The 
sod was buried so deep that the cultivator teeth did not 
tear ic up. When land is to be plowed again in the spring 
I am not sure that there is any special advantage in using 
a jointer. 
Preparing Land for Root Crops.— “ W. H.” pro¬ 
poses to cultivate a wheat stubble immediately after har¬ 
vest, harrow and roll and sow white turnips. These he 
will eat off on the land with sheep. The land is intended 
for roots in the spring. “ Now, after feeding off the 
turnips,” he writes, “ shall I plow the land deep with 
three horses, or shall I plow shallow and follow with a 
subsoil plow ? ”—It will depend on the land. On my 
land I should plow deep this fall, and in the spring plow 
it again twice, not so deep, and either ridge it for the 
mangles or turnips, putting the manure in the ridges, or 
else I should spread the manure broadcast and work it 
thoroughly into the soil and then drill in on the flat. 
Good deep fall plowing is an essential point in raising 
roots. 
Loss op Clover.— Mr. H. C. Loose, Md., has a thirty- 
acre field on which the clover has missed, now f>r the 
second time. “ I wish,” he writes, “ to re-seed it with 
clover without putting in a grain crop. Do you think it 
would do to sow clover on it this fall, say from the first 
to the middle of September, harrowing the ground first 
with sharp heavy harrows and then sow the seed and 
harrow again afterwards in the opposite direction?”— 
I would harrow again twice in opposite directions before 
sowing the seed. Much of the success of the operation 
will depend on the thoroughness with which the soil is 
harrowed. Sow as early as possible, say six quarts clo¬ 
ver and four quarts timothy, or eight quarts clover alone, 
or better still, if you want the field for pasture, sow eight 
quarts red clover and two quarts white clover. Mow the 
field next summer for hay, or if you pasture it, keep out 
the stock until the clover has got well established. In 
your climate I should expect clover sown in the fall to 
do well. 
High Farming in Illinois.— “ A. D.,” Du Quoin, Ill. 
who has read Walks and Talks, writes: “ Nothing excites 
my attention and sympathy more than the recital of your 
woes and ‘ blues,’ ‘ poor prospects for wheat,’ 1 failure of 
corn,’ 1 clover frozen out,’ etc. We have been there," he 
says, “ and though we complained but little, we felt and 
thought a good deal.”—He then says he has underdrained 
at much cost, and manured at the rate of 110 good loads 
of rich manure per acre, kept the weeds down, and the 
result is more failures than successes. “ My wife says,” 
he remarks, “to read Walks and Talks, one would think 
all one had to do to get rich, was to haul out manure, of 
which I can get all I want for the haulinga mile distant, 
and so I have hauled summer and winter, in snow and 
rain, in heat and cold, and am not yet rich, and cannot 
tee that the manure has ever yet on the average paid me 
twenty-five cents per load. On land thirty years in cul¬ 
tivation without much rest, rotation and manure, and 
which had become so reduced as not to grow corn more 
than from ten to thirteen feet high, I undertook to bring 
this farm up with manure and good cultivation. Have 
salted, plastered, ashed, coal dusted, and cindered with 
no visible effect, nave put on slaughter-house refuse, 
hair, cracklins and bones, cooked to powder, at the rate 
of 8,000 lbs. per acre, besides the 110 loads of fine manure, 
and could see no effect of the refuse. Am this year try¬ 
ing bone dust on everything in alternate strips. Can see 
any improvement only on lettuce and grass. It killed 
out my onions. But with butter at 37J cents per lb the 
year through, skimmed milk cheese 18c. @ 20c., all we 
VMEKIOAN AGrKIC ULTURIST. 
can make ; corn, 50c. @ 75c. per bushel ; potatoes, $1.00 
per bushel; cabbage, 10c. @ 15c. per head ; cucumbers, 
25c. @ 40c. per dozen ; onions, $2 per bushel ; beets, 2Jc. 
each, all we can raise; the prospect looks encouraging, 
and I have ‘ faith in farming,’ though I am not rich, and 
though I have not made it a success.”—I suppose A. D. 
means what he says, but I have never recommended this 
kind of farming. Over a hundred loads of fine manure 
per acre, and four tons of animal matter, is too much of 
a good thing, and we should not call land which will pro¬ 
duce corn ten to thirteen feet high, very much run down. 
It is not often we are called upon to give such advice, 
but I think A. D. wants a larger farm. He should draw 
all tlie manure he can get for the hauling, but he should 
spread it over more land. 
Sheep in Montana. —“ R. P.,” writes me an interest¬ 
ing letter from western Montana. They have an abund¬ 
ance of bunch grass, and common sheep brought from 
Oregon, some years ago, are remarkably healthy and 
hardy. He wants to raise stieep principally for their 
wool, and asks what kind ol' a ram he should get to cross 
their common ewes with. He wants to know about 
Cotswolds. My own experience with Cotswold grades, 
lias been in raising them for mutton as well as wool. 
For wool alone, I think I should prefer to get good im¬ 
proved American Merino rams, and cross them with 
common ewes. 
Sowing Rye among Corn. — J. B. Van Eaton, 
Greene Co., Ohio, asks if it would be a good plan to sow 
rye among corn in the fall, to be fed off afterwards with 
sheep ?—I have never tried it. But have been thinking of 
doing so. The chief objection is that our seasons are so 
short, and the rye grows so rapidly, that we should not 
be able to feed it for more than two or three weeks. 
Still even this would often be a great help'in the spring. 
Wool From Grade Cotswold Sheep.— “ I. B. V.,” 
asks, “ How many pounds of wool per head can a flock 
of grade Cotswold sheep be made to average ? I keep 
from 35 to 40 head of sheep, and I can not get more than 
5 lbs. per sheep, which does not satisfy me.”—A good, 
well fed flock of grades, with from one to three crosses of 
pure Cotswold blood, starting with common Merino ewes, 
should average 7 lbs. of washed wool. But a good deal 
will depend on the feed, and also on the kind of ram 
used. The mistake usually made, is in selecting a large 
ram. Generally the best wooled Cotswolds have not the 
largest carcass. The English have been breeding for 
mutton. We should pay more attention to purity of 
blood, and select those of good form, good constitution, 
and good wool. 
Should He Keep More Sheep? —The same corres¬ 
pondent says, I have a farm of 140 acres, 110 acres clear¬ 
ed. I raise 35 acres of corn, 40 acres of wheat. Cut 1G 
acres of clover, pasture 16 acres of clover, keep five 
horses, 50 Poland China pigs, 4 cows, and 40 grade Cots¬ 
wold sheep, and try to feed out everything on the farm, 
raise no oats, but summer-fallow for wheat. Do yon 
think I ought to carry a larger flock of sheep ? ”—I think 
so; I do not quite understand the rotation adopted, but 
suppose the 16 acres which are mowed for hay, and the 
1G acres pastured, are plowed up and planted with corn. 
Then, as soon as the corn is off, the corn stubble is sown 
to wheat. This is seeded down and kept in grass only 
one year, and is then plowed again for corn. Here our 
farmers would think this was too much corn and too little 
clover. I am myself so much of a pig man, that I should 
probably keep as many hogs as I. B. V. does, and I 
should tiave to raise as much corn. The change I 
should make, would be less wheat and more clover. 
I should keep my land two years in clover and grass, 
pasture it the second year, top-dress it with manure in 
tlie fall, and plow in the sprihg for corn. 
Sheep in Eastern Tennessee.— Mr. S. F. Gettys, of 
Tennessee, writes that he has “a grade Cotswold ram 
lamb, dropped February 15, weight at birth, 12 lbs. At 
40 days old, 45 lbs. ; 60 days old, lbs. : 78 days old, 
SOlbs.; 06 days old, 07lbs. This lamb’s mother is a common 
mountain ewe, weighing 85 or 90 lbs.”—This is a very re¬ 
markable gain. “The sheep,” he adds, “ had a bite of 
grass all winter, good rye pasture, and a small allowance 
of grain after lambing—and this, by the way, is a great 
advantage of our climate. With proper management, 
we can have pasture for the ewes the year round. Or¬ 
chard grass and winter rye I now think, will prove best.” 
White Wheat.— “J. W.,” Ontario, wants to get some 
more Soules’ Wheat. It was raised largely in this section 
fifteen or twenty years ago. It was one of the best varie¬ 
ties of white wheat we ever had. But when the midge 
came, it was so much injured that our farmers abandoned 
it, and went back to the red Mediterranean, which ripen¬ 
ed a week earlier, and was not so liable to injury from 
the midge. I do not now know a farmer who raises 
Soules wheat. We have been raising the Diehl, but our 
farmers are now giving this up, and Clawson is to-day the 
popular white wheat of western New York. I presume 
it will he advertised in the Agriculturist. 
[September, 
State, County, and other Fail’s for 1875. 
State, fi*r«vis«cial, etc. 
Alabama.Selma.Oct. 2G-Nov. 1 
American Pomological..Chicago. Sept. 8-10 
California.Sacramento.Sept. 15-25 
Cincinnati Industrial.. .Cincinnati.Sept. 8-Oct. 9 
Colorado.Denver.Sept. 21-25 
Connecticut.Hartford.Oct. 5-8 
Georgia.Macon.Oct. 18-23 
Germantown Hort.Germantown. Sept 7-9 
Illinois.Ottawa.Sept. 13-18 
Indiana.Indianapolis.Sept. 9-Oct. 2 
Iowa.Keokuk.Sept. 27-Oct. 1 
Kansas City Exhibition.Kansas City, Mo.Sept. 13-18 
Louisville Industrial....Louisville, Ky.Sept. 1-Oct. 16 
Maine.Portland.Sept. 21-24 
Maine Pomological.Wiscasset.Sept. 21-24 
Manufact. & Mecli. Ex..St. John, N. B....Sept. 7 
Maryland.Baltimore.Sept. 14-17 
Massachusetts Hort'l... Boston.Sept. 21-24 
Mechanics.San Francisco.. .Aug. 17-Sept. 17 
Michigan.East Saginaw.Sept. 13-17 
Minnesota.St. Paul. . .Sept. 14-17 
Montana.Helena.Sept. 27-Oct. 2 
National Exposition_Rome, Ga.Oct. 4- 9 
Nebraska.Omaha.Sept. 21-24 
Nevada...Oct. 4- 9 
New England.Manchester, N. H_ Sept. 7-10 
New Jersey.Waverley.Sept. 20-24 
New York. ..._Elmira. Sept. 27-Oct. 1 
Ohio.Columbus. Oet. 6-10 
Oregon.Salem.Oct. 11-16 
Pennsylvania.Lancaster.Sept. 27-29 
Rhode Island.Providence.Oct. 5- 7 
Sr. Louis Association..St. Louis, Mo.Oct. 4- 9 
Virginia.Richmond . Oct. 26-30 
Washington Ter... Oct. 18-23 
West Virginia. Clarksburg.Sept. 7-9 
Wisconsin.Milwaukee. Sept. 6-10 
County and Town Fairs. 
MAINE. 
Androscoggin.Lewiston.Oct. 5- 7 
Aroostook.Honlton...Sept. 23-24 
Cumberland. West Cumberland.Oct. 5-7 
Franklin, North.Phillips.Sept. 29-30 
Franklin.Farmington.Oct. 5- 6 
Hancock West.Bucksport. Oct. 6- 8 
Kennebec.Readfield Corner.Oct. 5- 7 
Lincoln.Waldoboro.Oct. 12-14 
Oxford. South Paris.Oct. 5-8 
Oxlord West.Fryeburg. Oct. 12-14 
Piscataquis West. Monson.Sept. 29-30 
Sagadahoc.Topsham.Oct. 12-14 
Somerset Central. - Skowhegan.Sept. 29-30 
Waldo.Belfast.Oct. 11-13 
Washington.Pembroke.Sept. 29-30 
NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
Contocook. .Hillsboro’ Bridge.Sept. 21-22 
Conn. River Valley.Claremont.Sept. 14-16 
Coos and Essex.Lancaster. Sept. 28-29 
Grafton ..Plymouth. Sept. 14-1G 
Maseoma Valley...Sept. 14-16 
Oak Park Association.. Greenfield .Sept. 15-16 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
Barnstable. Barnstable.Sept. 21-22 
Berkshire. . Pittsfield.Oct. 5- 7 
Bristol.Taunton.Sept. 28-30 
Bristol Center.Myrick’s.Sept. 15-17 
Deerfield Valley.Charlemont.Sept. 23-24 
Essex . .Danvers. Sept. 28-29 
Franklin.Greenfield.Sept. 30-Oct. 1 
Grafton.Grafton.Sept. 16 
Hampden. Springfield.Oct. 5- 6 
Hampden, East.Palmer.Sept. 23-24 
Hampshire.Amherst. ;_Sept. 28-29 
Hampshire, Franklin, 
and Hampden.Northampton.Oct. 6- 8 
Highland.Middlefield.Sept. 16-17 
Hingham.Hingham.Sept. 29-30 
Hoosac Valley.North Adams.Sept, 21-23 
Ilousatonic.Great Barrington.. Sept. 29-Oct. 1 
Lunenburg.Lunenbnig.Sept. 22 
Marshfield. .Marshfield.Oct. 6- 8 
Martha’s Vineyard.WestTisbury.Oct. 5- 6 
Middlesex.Concord. .Sept. 28-30 
Middlesex, North.Lowell.Sept. 29-30 
Middlesex, South .Framingham.Sept. 21-22 
Nantucket..Nantucket.Sept. 29-30 
Norfolk.Readville.Sept. 30-Oct. 1 
Plymouth .Bridgewater.Sept, 22-24 
Union.Blandford. Sept. 22-23 
Worcester.Worcester.Sept. 23-24 
Worcester, North.Fitchburg.Sept. 28 
Worcester, Northwest..Athol.Oct. 6- 6 
Worcester, South.Sturbridge.Sept. 9-10 
Worcester, Southeast. .Milford.Sept. 29-Oct. 1 
Worcester, West.Barre.Sept. 30-Oct. 1 
RHODE ISLAND. 
Washington*..Kingston. Sept. 15-16 
Woonsocket.Woonsocket. .. Sept. 14-16 
CONNECTICUT. 
Danbury.Danbury.Oct. 5- 7 
Guilford. Guilford.Oct. 6 
Middlesex.Middletown.Sept. 28-Oct. 1 
New Haven.Meriden.Sept, 22-24 
New London.Norwich.Sept. 14-16 
Ridgefield.Ridgefield . Sept. 7-10 
Union. Falls Village.Sept, 8-9 
Watertown.Watertown.Sept. 29-30 
Windham...Brooklyn.Sept. 21-23 
VERMONT. 
Caledonia.St. Johnsburg. Sept. 21-23 
Chittenden.Essex Junction.Sept. 7- 9 
Dog River.Northfield.Sept. 28-29 
Franklin.Sheldon. .Sept.- 
Orange. Bradford.Oct. 5- 8 
Washington.Montpelier.Sept. 30-Oct. 1 
White River Valley — Bethel .Sept. 21-23 
