342 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 2 
March and April. They had good warm sheds at night 
and during bad days. When it is fine they had the 
run of a large Blue grass pasture. Shearing them in 
March rid them of every tick before the lambs were 
born, hence no “ticky ” lambs. If all farmers would 
do likewise for a few years, the sheep tick would b3 
nearly or quite exterminated. They do not occupy 
much more than half the room in the shed when 
shorn. This is quite an advantage. They can feed 
better at the hay racks. Their condition as regards 
the development of pregnancy is much more easily 
noted. Their state of thrift is evident at a glance. 
Many a poor sheep is concealed beneath a rounded 
fieece. When their lambs come, and they are turned 
out together in the pasture, ewe and lamb will be on 
something of an equality as to covering—so that when 
the rain falls, the ewe will hasten to shelter. This is 
one most important reason. I tried the scheme last 
year and it worked to my satisfaction, .r, k. aving. 
Woodside Farm. Ohio. 
Scarlet Clover. 
A REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 
A NEW PI.ANT COMBS TO THE KESCDE. 
[EDITORIAL CORRESPOXDBXCB.] 
Scarlet Clover as Cow Feed. 
Last week I spoke of the use of Scarlet clover for 
ensilage. It will be remembered that this clover 
ensilage is fed only during the summer. In the fall, 
the empty silos are again filled with corn which is 
grown on the clover stubble. Mr. Bancroft buys large 
quantities of cotton-seed meal and gluten meal which 
make a balanced ration with the corn ensilage. Dur¬ 
ing the summer, when fed on the clover ensilage, the 
cows have but little grain. 
“ Why do you not feed the clover ensilage in win¬ 
ter ?” I asked. 
“ We do not have it—I wish we did. At present we 
cut considerable of our Scarlet clover for the seed crop. 
A good deal of this is in the orchards where we cannot 
conveniently cut it out for hauling to the silo. Again, 
the price of seed is now such that an acre of it will 
bring S30 or more for seed alone. The seed crop, too, 
gives us more stubble to plow under. When the time 
comes that I can have a full supply of clover ensilage 
through the winter I shall be able to get more butter 
and sa^e half my present grain bill.” 
Something of this sort might perhaps be done by 
sowing Scarlet clover in the spring on land from 
which a crop of the same had just been cut. This 
would give a fall crop for the silo and leave the land 
free for another sowing in the fall. The question is 
whether this summer crop of Scarlet clover would give 
more fodder than a crop of ensilage corn or cow peas. 
The fact is, the possibilities of this crop are not by 
any means yet understood and its new uses and values 
are a constant surprise to those who grow it. 
“ Have you used the clover for hay 
“ No,” said Mr. B.; “all that 1 have cut for fodder 
has been put in the silo or fed green as a soiling crop. 
Those who have cut it for hay tell me that it is better 
than the Red clover. The straw or haulm from the 
seed crop is, of course, too hard and dry for first-class 
hay, yet I find that it makes excellent feed for horses 
and mules. I would much rather have it than second- 
class Timothy. In fact, the only dry forage we have 
is this clover straw, oat straw and Alfalfa. This 
clover straw makes splendid bedding, or it may be 
spread over the orchards and small fruits. The chaff 
makes good feed or it may be used for seeding.” 
“What did you do before you grew the Scarlet 
clover ?” 
“ We didn’t do—at least not as we do now. Since 
introducing this new crop, our dairy herd has more 
than doubled. With Scarlet clover I can keep more 
than one head to the acre and, as you see, this is not 
naturally dairy land either. Not only that, but our 
land is improving all the time in spite of the fact that 
our crops are heavier. Once get Scarlet clover started, 
and you can improve any land. Take, for example, a 
poor knoll or bare spot. By the use of potash, you 
can start the clover in the fall. The next spring cut 
it for ensilage or hay, plow the stubble and plant 
corn. Cut this for the silo and again sow Scarlet 
clover, and so on year after year with two fodder 
crops each year. You can put the manure back on the 
land for the corn or you can use potash and phosphoric 
acid and save the manure to pat on other parts of the 
farm. In any event, the land will grow better with 
each year and you can easily see how much more 
fodder can be thus obtained in a series of years than 
where the slower growing Red clover is used.” 
How Scarlet Clover Saves the Fertilizer. 
“ I understand you to say that you do not buy any 
nitrogen ? ” 
“ Not a bit except in the form of grain for the 
cows. What is the use, with such a crop as this to 
get it for you ? ” 
“ Still you use some chemicals ? ” 
“Yes, acid South Carolina rock, and muriate of 
potash. Through our Granges, we are able to get good 
acid rock at $10 a ton, and muriate at §40. That is one 
advantage of cc5peration. We use a mixture of 300 
pounds of muriate to a ton of acid rock—all the way 
from 200 to 600 pounds per acra applied in the fall. 
This, with the Scarlet c’over and our rich manure 
gives us all the nitrogen we need in our farming. We 
grow mostly fruits, tomatoes and asparagus, and the 
manure goes mainly on the two last named crops. 
This saving in the cost of nitrogen is something enorm¬ 
ous on a farm of this size.” 
“ Is the clover of any value in the asparagus crop ?” 
“ It could be made so. By sowing between the rows 
in the fall and plowing lightly under early in the 
spring, and using kainit heavily, it would add much to 
the soil. In our farming we grow apples, pears and 
asparagus together. That isythe asparagus beds are 
made and then apple and pear trees are set out at the 
proper distances apart. Thus the asparagus can be 
cut for a number of years while the fruit trees are 
growing to bearing.” 
“ Now there is a peach orchard with a heavy crop of 
Scarlet clover in it. What will be done with that ?” 
“ There are two ways of handling it—plow it all 
right in, or let it mature and cut it for seed. The first 
would be tried if the land were poor or for some 
reason we thought the trees needed extra food. See 
that orchard where the entire crop was plowed in ? 
Notice how many of the heads are uncovered—left 
standing up from the furrow ? It looks like a very 
poor job of plowing, but it was done purposely. 
Every one of those plants will continue to grow and 
mature its seed and the result will be that the whole 
field is re-seeded—a new crop will spring up and so it 
might go on year after year seeding itself with noth¬ 
ing done but poor plowing.” 
“ That is good for green manure, but how about the 
seed crop ?” 
“ To get that we would let the seed mature and cut 
and hull it about the same as Red clover seed. This 
a 
1 
Fork 
i hay \ 
5 ^ 
las- 
A Short Cut for a Hay Fork. Fig. 93. 
will be in ample time to plant late corn, cabbage, 
tomatoes, etc., on the sod if we wish. Or we can leave 
the field alone and grow another crop of clover by 
working it up with plow or harrow. In this case 
again, it will seed itself with what is shelled out in 
cutting and handling the crop.” 
“ How much seed do you use per acre ?” 
“About 14 pounds is right. A s with Alfalfa, one 
good plant to each square foot of ground will make a 
heavy crop.” 
“ How long have you been using it ?” 
“ About five years now. Most of us begin with it in 
a very small way. A small patch at first is used as an 
experiment. This shows the possibilities of the crop 
and also furnishes seed for an increased acreage. For 
example, on that farm over there are probably 150 
acres of Scarlet clover. That man started by sowing 
a little seed on the road in front of his farm—between 
the track and the fences (these fences, by the way, are 
grape vines on wire trellises). That gave him a start 
and an idea of what the plant could do and led him 
gradually to seed all available land on his farm. Just 
think what that acreage means for seed alone !” 
“ I see patches of it scattered all over these fields— 
where it evidently never was sown.” 
“ Yes, it spreads like a weed and gets into a man’s 
farm whether he wants it or not. Just think what 
this plant would mean to a cotton farmer at the 
South. It could be handled in the cotton crop just as 
we handle it in corn. There is no estimating how 
much it would reduce the cost of a bale of cotton.” 
“ How far north do you think it will thrive ?” 
“ That remains to be settled. Knowing what I now 
do of it, I would try it if I lived anywhere in New 
Yoik State. You see what it does for us. If it would 
thrive in the North, it would do still more for farmers 
there. At any rate, it would grow as a spring crop 
though with us the fall-sown crop is far more valuable 
because it does not interfere with any other. I notice 
that some experiments in Northern States are reported 
as failures because the clover showed a very poor 
stand in the spring and was plowed up. My belief is 
that if it had been permitted to grow longer it would 
have made a better showing. The crop grows so 
rapidly that what looks like a poor and scattered 
growth often covers the ground at last.” 
A Substitute for Red Clover. 
Mr. E. G. Packard, of Dover, has a “farm full” of 
Scarlet clover—grown largely for seed. He said in 
speaking of the plant: 
“There appears to be a general complaint of the 
failure of this spring’s seeding of Red clover. The 
freezing weather of the last of March proved too much 
for the tender young plants, and while some re-seeded 
at once, the majority failed to do so, and the result 
means a short hay crop next year, or no hay at all.” 
“ Would you advise the use of Scarlet clover in such 
cases ? ” 
“ Certainly; it may be sown in fields of corn, toma¬ 
toes, beans, peas, etc., at the last cultivation any 
time in July or August. I have sown it with good 
success in millet, also. If sown thus so that it 
gets a good strong root before winter sets in, it is 
perfectly hardy and in no more danger of winterkill¬ 
ing than wheat.” 
“ Do you use this clover for hay ? ” 
“ Yes, indeed ; on May 18 1 finished housing the hay 
from a field of this clover which was sown in July 
last, at the last cultivation among a growing crop of 
Soja beans. This field was mown May 11. The 
clover was in full bloom, and varied in height from 10 
to 36 inches by actual measurement. It was lightest 
among peach trees, and had no manure. About an 
acre on one side where there were no trees, had a 
dressing of stable manure a year ago, and on this 
acre the clover was so heavy that it stopped the mow¬ 
ing machine repeatedly, although it was drawn by a 
pair of heavy horses. There was so much cloudy 
weather after cutting that it took a week to cure it, 
but the hay is in perfect order, with the leaves all on 
and of a green color ; it is as good clover hay as one 
need wish for. All the expense to produce this crop 
was for the seed at $1.50 per acre, and the crop is 
matured and harvested in time to plow and fit the field 
for corn or any summer crop. I have the satisfaction 
of knowing that my mow is filled with this excellent 
and cheap hay, and my horses are getting fat on it, 
while some of my neighbors who don’t grow it are 
paying $16 per ton for baled hay to feed their horses 
until haying.” n. w. c. 
(To be continued.) 
SHORT WALK FOR FARM TEAM. 
Last year Mr. Chapman told us of a device arranged 
by John McGowan, for shortening the distance a team 
must walk in unloading hay. The diagram then given 
is reprinted at Fig. 93. A is the car; b the rope, and 
c the pulleys. E is an iron bar placed firmly in the 
ground, with a 13-inch roller running on it. To un¬ 
load a forkful of hay, the team is driven out to and 
around the bar, and then back to the barn. Thus 
when the car has reached its destination, the team is 
back at the barn instead of being the full length of 
the rope away. The rope can be unhooked, and the 
car runs back without waiting for the team. 
A TALK ABOUT HAY. 
How to Get the Best Quality. 
WHEN AND HOW TO HANDLE THE CROP. 
Get an Early Start this Year. 
The wise farmer will get all tools used in haying in 
perfect repair long before the time to begin. On 
farms adapted to their use, tedders and hay loaders 
ai*e practical. River bottoms and level fields, that are 
easy to haul over and yield heavy crops, may require 
the hay tedder, and the loader saves lifting. The hay 
loader will keep two men busy loading, as it takes it 
from the windrow, but is said to be hard to draw on 
hillsides. I do not think the hay of so good quality 
when not sweated out in cock. A hay dealer of ex¬ 
tended experience says : “Jefferson County hay brings 
$1 or $2 more per ton, and is sought by buyers and 
consumers because of its quality. This quality is ob¬ 
tained by cocking the hay and covering it with hay 
caps. These caps prevent the sun scorching, and 
retain the aroma of the hay.” 
The mower should be free from rigging, and have 
a tilter to catch lodged grass. The later makes have 
long cutter bars, some of them six feet. Four and a 
half to five will give better satisfaction on stony or 
rolling land. They draw easier, and the team can 
walk faster. The rake should be a self-dump, so that 
a boy or girl can easily do the raking. It should not 
tear up stones or sod, or roll up the hay, but push it 
together. When raked with the swath, each bunch 
is free from the others, and is flat. When cocking, 
there is no pulling and tugging to get the forkfuls 
apart. This saves time and muscle, and enables one 
to make a better bunch. The rake should be of a 
width to just finish an even number of swaths. 
Putting the Hay in the Barn. 
The double harpoon fork is light to handle, durable, 
cheap and efficient. The whole outfit, including ropes, 
pulleys and hooks, can be purchased for $5 or $6. Hay 
