0 
730 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
^arm drconoimj. 
CLOVER FOR AMERICAN FARMERS. 
w. j. fowler. | 
There is no good farming without olover. In j 
a fnw exceptional instances near cities, whore . 
largo amounts of stable manure can bo procured, 
fields may ho and aro CultvAtod for years in suc¬ 
cession without soedlug; but thin iH markot-gftr- 
douing ratlior than farming. *n tho bluo-grain 
regions of tho Houth and Went the grasses aro 
aged for pasturing largo birds of cattle, horses 
otlior stock, and littlo, if any, olovor In Mown; 
but thin in stock-growing and brooding rathor than 
farming. Tho high pride of bin produce, and 
ea*.v acoiiKH to manures now cition, enable tho 
grower of special oropn to diaponno with tho 
cheaper moans of luaiotalniog (ho fortuity of 
hin noil. In tho Far Wont, tho origiual virgiu 
feitiiily of tho land in not yet exhausted and llio 
lmoonnity for any manure in scarcely felt. Ro- 
twoon these extremes in the groat body of farm* 
ere whone oropn will uot pay enough to manure 
their tloldn every year, but who aro under tho 
noooHiity of dotug nouielhing yearly to keep np 
or Incroano tho product! vouch*. of their laud. To 
those, who are, ntrlotly speaking, tho farmorn of 
the United Staton, and who constitute niuoty- 
ntno huudrodtlw of all who till tho noil, clover an 
aronovating crop, in a neoonsity. 
HOW CLOVER HELPS THE SOU. 
Wherovor olovor can bo grown, tbo moans for 
maturing cxhamitod fortuity arc always at band¬ 
it doon thin in many wayn. Ou heavy loamn or 
olayn clover rootn penotrato tho subsoil, opening 
it to the fertilizing influences of air and light. 
They take from tho subsoil tho mamnial ole- 
meats, chiefly miuoral, which have lain dormant 
or beyond tho roach of lean vigoroun feeders. 
Tlie b'urfiioo noil on land long cropped in gener¬ 
ally d (loiciil tn mineral fertilizers. Ai the olovor 
plant in mainly near or above tho surface, what 
i n brought from tho subsoil helps to make the 
surface rlchor. At tho name time another im- 
p irtaut renovating procoHs ih going on. Tho clo¬ 
ver leaven form a mulch, protecting tho surface 
from the heat and rapid evaporation of moist- 
uro which would other wire occur. Under thin 
ahtolo thoro i« Htrong reanon to believe that uua- 
vaitable nilrogou ih traiiHformed Into nitric acid 
or unitoH wilh Home base fotmiug a nitrate, and 
in thiiH made available ah plant-footl. 
I omit, in thin enumeration of tho bonofitH 
from clover, tho advantage which many boliove 
it to poHHOHH of uni Mg atmoHphorio nitrogen by 
absorption through tho leaven. This in a mooted 
question, and, though important, its decision 
dooii not involve that of tho necessityof growing 
clover. If olovor him this power, it in probably 
through the ammonia hold by UewH aud raimi on 
it.H leaven aud ih than helped by tho uho of gyp* 
Hiun or land planter, which often producon re- 
mark able results on tho clover plant. There 
can he no doubt that a growth or clover heavy 
nno gh to form a mulch, adds to tho mlrogouous 
fertility in the Boil. Clover iH rich iu nitrogen. 
In the decay of itH Ioiivoh and rootH it givts tho 
noil Just what is wanted to grow a maximum 
crop of any kind of grain. On tho wheat-grow- 
inr hoIIb of woHtcru Now York fartuorH have 
found by experience tliat growing olovor onabloH 
them to produoo as largo oropn of wheat ilh in 
thu early days when tho virgin fortuity of tho 
noil wan not exhausted. Thoro in oveu an in- 
cronBO in fertility on cropped laud regularly 
Hood ml with olovor. Sumo yearn ago a sucoess- 
ful farmer had occasion to remove a fence be¬ 
tween two ftoldn, throwing both into ono. Tho 
fence wan a crooked rail fence, and had boon un¬ 
moved many years, lie supposed, an a matter of 
course, that Him unoroppod land would prove 
tho riohobt; I ut instead of tliin being tho ohho, 
there was h poor streak throiigli the Dmd whore 
tim fence stood, which wan not romediod uutil 
Hovoral years afterwards, when lie applied a 
dressing of manure to restore equality. The 
oloverod land on either Bido wan without any 
fertilizer excepting clover, and yet it had con¬ 
stantly increased in fertility. 
CLOVER ON SANDY SOIL. 
Tlie uho of clover uh manure lias heretofore 
boon Chiefly on light, saudy noil deficient in 
vegetable matter. Here the soil, when uot in 
oropn, must bo continuously Hooded with it, and, 
oh often ah posHlble, tho entire growth of tho 
" plant irniHt bo plowed under. I mated thiiH, 
Handy soils, which would otherwino become a 
barren waste, aro rendered productive. In hoiuo 
localities aro farms which consist mainly of 
drifting Hand, which uot oven a mortgage will 
hold, and by their aide otlior farms naturally no 
bettor that, by tbo uho of olovor, have boon 
made fertile. 1’ure Hand haw no capacity for re¬ 
taining manure*. Adding vegetable matter, uh 
wo do with olovor, wo may udd whatever oIho we 
choose, with tlie anHuranoo that It. will remain a 
fixed bouetlt. On heavy land clover bouotttB tho 
crop by disintegrating the loo compact mans. 
On hriiI tho decaying clover formB tho noil on 
Which tlie crops must grow. It makes heavy 
Boil lighter and light soil heavier. 
CIOVERI AS A WEED DESTROYER. 
Tho advantages of clover iu cleansing foul 
land have nover boon appreciated. Ah usually n 
grown, iu tbiu BoodingH, it does not have this c 
advantage. Bown ah It should be, at least a c 
peek of Heed per ocro, and allowed to form a t 
deiiHo mat, clover will smother and destroy most 1 
annual weeds, and greatly aid iu suppressing i 
those hardy perennials, thistles and quack- , 
grass. IJnt 1 1 do this effectually, olovor should I 
bo grown with tlie leant possible obook. No pastur¬ 
ing should bo permitted when the ground iH 
moist enough to poach by the foot of cattle or 
hoinoH. Especial core should lie taken of clover 
while young. Tho best farmers now will not 
pasture the flrHt year after seeding. 1 n a reason 
like the present, 1 would make an exception. 
Clover this year blossomod and iu some placed 
Hooded from last spring's Heeding. Bo soon ah 
the bloHsoms began to appear I would pasture 
lightly to keep down the blossoms. This makes 
a rich food for cattle or horses, and, as blossom¬ 
ing is very exhaustive to the plant, light pastur¬ 
ing rather promotes its vigor. Rut tho second 
year no hoof of horse or cow should be allowed 
iu the clover field, except as horses are used to 
out and harvest tho hay. If cut oarly iu June, 
tho second crop will grow more rapidly and tho 
crop of seed will bo generally better. It iH dur¬ 
ing this second growth that the clover roots 
make most progress in penetrating the Hub-soii. 
For this reason, as also because 1 like to food a 
good deal of clover hay, I have as much aH pos¬ 
sible mown every year. 
RLOWINQ UNDER CLOVER. 
The advantages of this practice aro geuorally 
well-known. For many years it was tho only 
recognized rnudo of using olovor iu this section. 
Tho farmer who mowed his clover, and especial¬ 
ly he who grew a Btcoud crop for need, was 
thought to bo "ruining bin laud." Ho ho was 
most undoubtedly, if tho clover hay was sold 
from tho farm. In tho old days of exclusive 
wheat growing, scarcely uny farmer had Btook 
enough to eat ono-l.alf or even one-quarter of 
tho olovor that tho farm produced. Mowing it 
under was in those circumstances almost the 
only mode of using it, and tho result showed 
that tho practice was profitable. It had the ad¬ 
vantage of saving labor and of distributing the 
fertilizer more evenly than it could bo iu any 
other form. Of late years, however, the increase 
of stock necessitates the use of more clover as 
hay. We find that this clover hay makes muoli 
richer manure than wbat we have beou accus¬ 
tomed to got from timothy and natural grasses. 
The grow tli of clover roots from J uno t lU Septem¬ 
ber oftou loaves us much in tho s ill »s w o should 
plow under iu Juno. Iloneo, whenever wo have 
sufficient stock to oonsumo it, olovor may be 
mown without detriment to tho fertility of tho __ 
soli. 
CLOVER AS HAY. 
The old idea that clover hay Is Injurious to 
horses has been pretty thoroughly exploded. 
Dusty hay is hurtful, and clover from its huocu- 
leucy and the difficulty of properly curing it, is 
most apt to be dusty. Clean, bright clover hay 
is never injurious to any horse. Caro must bo 
used iu feeding it. Horses aro so fond of olovor 
that, if allowed all they can cat, they will dis¬ 
tend tlioir stomachs aud thus hurt themselves 
fur traveling. Clover is rich food, aud if given 
in small quantities with grain, horses will work 
and travel on this food us well as on timothy. 
The advantage Which timothy has is that it is so 
hard and tasteless that few horses will till them 
selves with it; hence with grain they are in the 
‘best possible condition for work or travel. 
. StfOINQ WITH CLOVER. 
Glover seed in all northern climates should bo 
sown in early spring, with some grain or . 
Wheat or rye is much tho host. Hpriug grain 
iH apt to make too large a growth and smother 
tho young plant.. If sown on winter grain the 
ground should bo harrowed thoroughly to make 
a mellow seed-hod. This practice is also benefi¬ 
cial to the grain crops, thus socuiiug a double 
advantage. All the attempts i have soon to 
bow clover seed without grain, have been fail¬ 
ures. The young clover is benefited by tho pro¬ 
tection of tho grain leaves iu early spring, be¬ 
fore summer heats come, it has, or should have, 
a root deep enough to withstand ordinary 
droughts. 
MANURES FOR CLOVER. 
In my own practice no manures, excepting 
gypsum and superphosphate, aro used for 
clover. The latter is applied with tho grain 
i crop, and only benefits clover as a secondary 
consideration. No coarse manures should bo 
thrown ou clover at any time, as they will do- 
i Htroy the plant. Tho free use of gypsum in¬ 
sures u good growth of olovor on ordinary boiIh, 
or, if additional fertility is uoodod, It Is all tho 
, hotter if the manure lias boon applied to oilier 
crops a year or two previous, and thoroughly 
incorporated with tbo soil. Ou sandy land 
i clover is often greatly boat filed by a liberal 
i dressing of ashes. The lack of potash is, on 
many soils, a reason why clover fails to catch, 
i aud sorrel or other weeds take its place. 
VARIETIES. 
Writing of clover ns a farm crop, reference 
has naturally been had chiefly to tho common 
red olover, Trifollum pratonse, which is the best 
adapted to all farm purposes. Whito clover, 
Trifollum ropons,lis a email variety, but makes 
an exceedingly Hwoot and rich pastarago for 
cows. Whore improvement of tbo Roll is tho 
chief end desired, and especially if the crop is 
to bo plowed under iu hulk for that purpose, tho 
largo red olover .commonly called l‘ear vine olover, 
is worthy of attention. Tlie experiments with 
Alslko olover have not proved it as valuable as 
tho older and tnoro generally cultivated kinds. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
(ff.btuiMfrt. 
Jam topics. 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
__ I 
con. f. n. cuims. 
I 
TnK sight of thirteen Duroo nud Victoria 
breeding sows, with a host or young pigs, led 
Esquire Davidson to exclaim, "If 1 had so 
many hogs I should go crazy!" It does tsko 
considerable to food such a lot of hogs, but tho 
keeping is not expensive when one lias made 
calculations beforehand. Our pigu now llvo en¬ 
tirely on raw pumpkius, and uiauy of them are 
fat enough to butcher, before being fed pump¬ 
kins, they ran in the orchard and fed on the 
apples whioh dropped off aud on grass. Rofpro 
the apples began to fall, thoy had nothing but 
ibo gra«H. Ab soon a* the pumpkins are fed 
out, ono of the corn-fields will bo cloared of 
corn, and they will all go iu there to pick up tho 
scattered card nnd to cat tho turnips whioh 
wore sown amongst tho corn. Ry tho time tho 
corn-fields aro stripped the root-ground will ho 
ready for them, and hero they will thrive quite 
into tho winter, eating tho tops aud refuse. 
All this timo tho old hogs will not bo fed any¬ 
thing extra, but tho young pigH aro taught to 
go into an iuolosuro where they cau get all 
tbo ooru they want. Mangels and sugar-beets 
will constitute tho bulk of tho winter food, with 
a change to apples and a light food of oorn. 
The turnips in tho oorn lots aru now growing 
fast, and what tho pigs do not eat will make 
rich manure. A pound of turnip seed costs this 
year sovouty-five oouls, and sown broadcast on 
the surfaoo, required no labor but that of sow¬ 
ing. The first shower works tho need iu, and 
tho crop Ih started. It needs no attention after¬ 
wards. Counting the cost aud labor, there is no 
crop whioh will pay hotter, and with lotH of 
turnips and other roots, forty sows and pigs 
will not worry ns, but, on tho contrary, afford a 
satisfactory prospect. 
The girl says tho ohickous, when she drosses 
them, aro bloody inside. This is bcoauso their 
nooks have been wrung. If tho heads had been 
cut off, thoy would have bled freely and the 
bodies would have boon emptied of blood. 
Wringing tho uecks tears the veins and arteries 
in two, and allows the blood to coagulate readily 
and thus stops the How. A clean out would not 
do this. This is the reason why, in castrating 
an animal, tho cords should uot bo out off, or 
tho umbilical cord on tho young, but both 
Hliould he scraped apart and thou scarcely any 
blood will How. 
We are shipping our apples to Now York by the 
canal, it ousts lifloou cents a barrel to send 
them from Hchoiioctady, ICfi miles, and ten cents 
to have them suld wlnm thoy arrive. Tho bar¬ 
rels cOHt fifteen oonts and wo pay ten cents to 
havo tho apples picked. This foots up fifty 
cents cashout for each barrel with no charge 
for barreling and hauling. If they net ns #1 a 
barrel wo shall lie satisfied. This year we have 
picked the apples and placed them in small piles 
under the trees, where thoy remain until put 
into .the barrels. Home of tho neighbors have 
barreled them up and left thorn iu tlie orchard 
until tho cold weather oomos. It is uot a good 
plan to put them in heaps Inside of a building, 
as thoy will boat, and rot. An old fruit-dealer 
used to bend them up iu the orchard as noon os 
picked, and then Htow litem away lu the cellar 
until wautod. lie Hold this wuh tho best plan. 
He was careful to have all tho barrels dry, aud 
his theory was that the barrels absorbed tho 
moisture from the apples and kept them in just 
tho right condition, Apples are ripening earlier 
than usual this year, and if people aro uot oaro- 
ful, they will Ioho a great many on this account. 
Many Greenings are now tit to oat, and this Is 
two mouths sooner than they often aro. The 
hot, dry weather has hastened their maturity. 
W® shall leave our apples out of doors uh long as 
possible, bolieving they will keep bettor than if 
housed; anyway it will bo loss trouble to look 
them over. 
Wo are going to take oourago for tlie future, 
as not a single pear tree has blighted among a 
thousand. Perhaps there will bo another thirty 
years’ interval before blight comes again. 
The big, lieavy-bodled fowls are apt to bruise 
tho bottoms of their feet, oansiug blind ulcers, 
which make them very lame. Wo never had 
ono get well, although wo have applied lini¬ 
ments. A Dorking rooster had these bumble* 
feot or ulcers on two of his toes. We cut tho 
toos off and seared the ends, lie is getting well. 
The ulcers wool vo killed him. 
FLORIDA NOTES. 
The health of most parts of Florida Is good' 
Wo have had no oasos of yellow fever excepting 
a few at Key West, which wore brought thoro on 
vessels calling at that port. Crops of *11 kinds 
were excellent before the storm that lately swept 
over the Peninsula. Thin lasted three days and 
nights, and prostrated a great deal of sugar-cane, 
damaged the cotton crop very much iu some 
places, and laid low a good many banana stalks 
and blew off a great many oranges, etc. More¬ 
over, the floods in tho southern part of tho Htatc 
drowned much stock of all kinds and destroyed 
crops, fonooH and buildiogs. 1 have boon travel¬ 
ing over two years lu tho Land of Flowers, moHt 
of the time over what is known as tho Peninsula 
Of Florida; and for tho benefit of thoso who 
contemplate moving from tho frigid North to 
this delightful climate, 1 can cheerfully recom¬ 
mend what is known as the Lake Region for 
orange aud fruit culture, as woil as for health, 
good water, and pleasant situations for homos. 
This Lake Region embraces a belt of land 
about one hundred miles In length, and twenty 
or thirty miles in width, from which the water 
flows into tho Gulf and Atlantic, so that it is the 
highest land in tho State. This belt is tho homo 
for tho Orange arid the wholo oltrun family of 
fruits, tho trees having suffered less from tho ex¬ 
ceptionally cold weather, two years ago, than thoy 
did two hundred miles south of here. This was 
owing to tho numerous lakes aud elevations 
hereabouts. Most of thoso lakes arc of pure 
spring water, abound with tho finest of tho tinny 
tribe, and nature could uot have formed moro 
beautiful situations for orange groves, or for fam¬ 
ily residences, thau those winch surround many 
of thorn. This romui k is especially true of Clsy, 
Putnam and parts of Bradford counties. Tho 
people in thoso counties are becoming much 
elated with tlie prospect of a railroad being built 
to run from Palatka on tho Ht. John’s River, or 
from tho Halifax River, by way or Palatka and 
the Lake Region to Lake City in Columbia Go. ; 
this would give all of tho country ou tlie Hali¬ 
fax and Indian Rivers, aad all of tho upper Ht. 
John’s River, an outlet for freight and passen¬ 
gers. There is also a prospect of a ship-canal be¬ 
ing built from Matanzas Inlet, on l ho Atlantio, to 
Fort Waller at the mouth of tho Huawanee River, 
on tho Gulf coast. This would afford the short¬ 
est route from New York to Now OrloaiiH, bo- 
ing over one thousand miles loss than tlie route 
now sailed. Moreover, all those dangerous roofH 
around tho southern coast of Florida, would by 
tbls route, be avoided, saving millions of dollarn 
annually iu tbo way of shipwrecks, extra insur 
aiicu and freight, besides the loss of time and 
many lives Incurred on ilio outside route. 
Tn. Pknoyk.ii 
- -— 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
orlca.no Co., Vi. sept, in, ibtr. 
I have had the Lady Elgin in fruit for several 
yeaiH; tho trees wore received direct from Dr. 
Audrows. It is of good flavor and keeps pretty 
well, but it never becomes soft, and it is too 
small. Tho Marengo is another railuro hero— 
so complete that it is difficult to make anybody 
who sees it believe that it can bo good anywhure. 
The Van Wyok Hwoot—trees from Maxwell Pros. 
—UiiH fruited wilh mo this year. The fruit is 
good and or good nizo, but in neither respect 
superior to l’riuglo’s Hweot, wliilo tho troo is 
much inferior in point of hardiness indoud it is 
too tender for our HovoroHt wiutors, and proba¬ 
bly will prove a total failure lu Minnesota and 
the colder parts of Wisconsin. There is quite a 
number of Hwoot Grabs: RoftCho'H Hwoot of 
Minnesota has not yet fruited with mo, but it is 
highly recommended. ChuBo’s Winter Hwoot is 
or fair size and quality, and keeps as woll as 
Tolmau Hwoot. I have tried over 100 Hiborlans, 
and tho best of them all is Meador's Winter, 
figured seven or eight years ago 111 tho Rural, 
and described by F. It. Elliott. Hoo out, 728. 
1 n. 
Kanawha Co., West Va., Nov. 0. 
We need at least a thousand copies of tho 
Rural in this part of the country. If tho peo 
pie would get them, road them, aud follow their 
i suggestions when applicable to their oiroutu- 
i stances, there would soon bo a groat Improve¬ 
ment in all branches of agriculture hereabouts ; 
i but, alas! wo are half a century behind tho 
j times. We have laud that waH good fifty yoarH 
. HK o ; it has been planted with ooru or whoa 
every year since then and still Home of it yields 
80 bushels to the acre of corn ; but most of it is 
, badly vvoru out. Wo have everything, except a 
i progressive spirit, to make a good farming ooun- 
r try—coal, timber, irou, a flue climate, a healthy 
location. Rut uot one-flrth of our hill luids is 
cleared yet, and good hill laud can bu bought foi 
s from <EJ to $10 per aero. 
1 JHiiekman. Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Nov. &th. 
The llvst snow of tbo season fell hereon Octo- 
- her 33d, but it was only a sprinkling. Tho 
i> weather this fall has been fine, indeed. Farmers 
havo hud a golden opportunity to do fall plowing 
and ot k Corn whs a good crop ; but we 
