THE BUBAL MEW-¥$BKEB. 
iipt 
fiHfr Crops. 
Fall or Spring Plowing for 
Corn? 
Spring Plowing of Sandy Soil 
and Clover Sod Advo¬ 
cated by All. 
Difference of Opinion as to 
When to Plow Clay Soil 
and Timothy Sod ; but 
Spring Plowing Gen¬ 
erally Preferred. 
An Important Discussion. 
The following letter is from a young farmer 
in New Jersey: 
“I have a piece of sod land that I want to 
plant to corn next year. It is a little damp, 
and is on a gentle slope over which consider¬ 
able water runs during winter. Now one good 
farmer says ‘Plow it this fall; let it stand till 
spring, and then work it up with a harrow 
and plant.’ Another equally successful 
farmer says: ‘It pays to plant corn as soon 
after plowdng as possible. Don’t plow it till 
spring, then turn the sod over and plant at 
once.’ One claims that the action of the air 
and frost of winter on the soil, will be as good 
as manure. The other says the freshly turned 
sods will help the corn more than anything. 
It is the old story of fall or spring plowing! 
Which should I do?” 
FROM DIRECTOR I. P. ROHERTS. 
If the land is a somewhat tough sod and not 
very sandy, by all means, he should plow it in 
the fall, opening all dead furrows so it will 
be quickly relieved of over flow. In the spring 
the land will warm and get dry early, when a 
good harrow—the Acme and the Spring-tooth 
are very good for the purpose—if liberally 
used, will put the land in the best possible con¬ 
dition. If the land is a clover sod, it would 
be quite as well to defer the plowing to the 
last moment possible before planting. Grass 
rcots—as those of Timothy and Blue-grass— 
decay slowly and give up little nutriment for 
the corn crop till late in the season; they also 
bind the soil together, and prevent, to some 
extent, its becoming warm early in the season 
when corn needs both .warmth and fertility in 
our cold, backward springs. Corn, too, needs 
plant food re adily available in the early stages 
of its growth. By fall plowing tenacious sod, 
by the action of the elements and by the better 
preparation of the soil, we may obtain most 
easily and certainly the necessary conditions 
for the best results. On the other hand, clover 
tends to make land friable; it decays very 
quickly, and where abundance of water is 
present, and no living plant upon the soil, the 
nitrogen set free is likely to be seriously di¬ 
minished by leaching; so the less time which 
can elapse between plowing clover sod and 
planting, the better. If the clover can make a 
start of two or three inches in the spring be¬ 
fore it is plowed under, the mass of nitrogen 
ous matter in the leaves and roots, which de¬ 
cay very quickly, perceptibly elevates the 
temperature of the soil, thereby hastening ger¬ 
mination and growth. The tendency of vege¬ 
table matter in sandy land is to decay too rap¬ 
idly, so a sod should never be plowed any great 
length of time before the crop is planted upon 
it where the land is already too loose and 
admits air too freely, as too rapid decomposi¬ 
tion and loss of nitrogen will ensue. I suggest 
that a part of the field be fall, and a part 
spring-plowed, and that the results be noted 
and given to the Rural for publication. 
FROM HENRY STEWART. 
This question is of great importance and has 
two sides which require careful consideration, 
These two sides are very well put in the state 
rnents of the two farmers, and these represent 
the opposing views of a great many good farm¬ 
ers. There is much to be said on both sides. 
Let us consider the first view presented, which 
is favorable to fall plowing. There is a sod 
which, if it has not been pastured, will now, 
or very scon, bear a considerable amount of 
most valuable fertilizing matter equal in every 
respect, both as iegards quantity of plant food 
and availability for use by rapid decomposi¬ 
tion, to the best of manure, and a kind of 
food which corn has shown by its invaria¬ 
ble success upon it, to be most congenial to its 
growth. 
This sod is turned under some time in Octo¬ 
ber when it is in luxuriant condition 
and not injured by frost. We will admit that 
the land is turned in the best manner, so as to 
put the vegetable matter where it will do the 
most good; that is, under the well-pulverized 
soil, where it is covered in and committed to 
the action of a porous soil which quickly pro¬ 
duces oxidation and the development of the 
nitrates which are contained in it. The au¬ 
tumn and winter rains fall upon the land. 
They either flow over the gentle slope, carry¬ 
ing with them whatever is soluble to the foot 
and perhaps on to some other field below it; it 
may be a neighbor’s field; or they sink in the 
soil, percolating through the sub-soil and pass¬ 
ing into underground reservoirs or into 
springs,but anyway escaping beyond any possi¬ 
ble reach of the corn crop which will be look¬ 
ing for this lost food next spring. For it must 
not be forgotton that this succulent herbage 
will decay very quickly, and before the corn 
is planted in the spring will have disappeared 
wholly or in great part. Some of its insoluble 
matter will remain in the soil, no doubt, but 
all that has become soluble will have gone. 
But the soil itself has been acted upon by 
frost and the atmosphere during the winter 
and has been pulverized and plant food has 
been developed in it. This depends upon cir¬ 
cumstances. If the land is a heavy clay, the 
effect of fall plowing will be unquestionably 
very beneficial, unless there should be heavy 
rains by which the clay will be melted down 
and run mto an air-tight paste which will 
most effectively seal up the soil and prevent 
any good effects, and, what is worse, the 
washing of the soil by the rains, will carry off 
a large amount of valuable plant food already 
existing in the land. But lighter soils are 
well known to suffer from exposure to the 
winter because they are not benefited by be¬ 
ing broken up fine and made mellow and por 
ous, for this cannot be done; they are porous 
enough and aie quickly washed and leveled 
and all the hoptd-for results of the plowing 
have vanished long before spring. We see 
there are serious risks to run and what might 
be gained under favorable circumstances is 
all lost and more goes with it, leaving the soil 
actually poorer notwithstanding the valuable 
sod plowed in, and all is thrown away by 
some untowai’d accident. Can any farmer 
afford to run these risks when nothing is to be 
gained, but, as I firmly believe and am con¬ 
vinced by abundant experience, something is 
lost under the most favorable circumstances ? 
Now let us consider the other view pre¬ 
sented. The sod continue growing until the 
frost checks it. But the growth is not stopped. 
The roots are busy at work growing and 
gathering and concentrating in their tissues, 
ripening for another year’s work a great deal 
of valuable plant food. The stubble and de¬ 
caying leaves fall to the ground, cover it with 
a mulch, protect it from injurious washing, 
collect the water and cause it to sink into the 
ground, carrying with it whatever is 
soluble in the surface which is at once filtered 
out and held by the mat of the roots in the 
soil. The plants are not dead but sleep; and 
like a sleeping animal they are carrying on 
nutritive functions all the winter, ready to 
burst into active, useful life in the spring. 
Nothing is lost in the winter if nothing is 
gained. The sod is there; the roots are there; 
and the soil is subjected to all the influences of 
the air quite as much as if it were turned 
over. But something is gained. The land 
will not be plowed for corn until late in April 
or early in May. By that time the sod will 
have made a new growth which will fully 
double its quantity and value, and this new 
growth has not been at the expense of the 
surface soil. It has come from below that, 
and what has been gained has been brought 
into a most available and effective form. 
This sod is then turned, w r hen the warm sun 
and spring showers cause the soil to exert its 
most active forces to reduce the vegetable 
matter into plant food. The mellow soil full 
of the most congenial subsistence for the corn 
causes a rapid growth. Every farmer knows 
how the corn luxuriates in a fresh sod newly 
turned under, whicn furnishes food at once to 
the first hungry little rootlets, and keeps up a 
steady supply all through the growth of the 
crop. Thus nothing is lost to the soil, but 
much is gained. 
Once, about 25 years ago, I had the very 
same thing happen to me. I studied over it 
and finally compromised the matter. I had a 
field of 13 acres in clover and Timothy, which 
bad given me 2© tons of hay and had pastured 
a flock of sheep all the fall. There was a 
heavy sod upon it in November. I plowed 
half under and left half until spring. On the 
first of May I turned the other half of the 
field; neighbors said I was wickedly wasteful 
to turn under so good a growth of clover and 
grass, which was a foot high and thick on the 
ground. But I turned it under. The corn on 
the fall plowed land was a fair crop, for the 
land was good. It was in Eastern Pennsyl¬ 
vania, where corn thrives well. 
But the spring-plowed half of the field gave 
quite twice as good a crop. The corn was ripe 
fully ten days before the other. It stood 
three feet higher, and the field was more than 
20 bushels per acie better than the other. I 
have had the same experience since. I am set¬ 
tling the same question for myself now. I 
have a clover field from which I have taken a 
good crop of hay; the second growth is now a 
foot high, and in half the field 18 inches, 
thickly coveriug the ground. “Are you going 
to cut that clover ?” neighbors ask. No.“Past- 
ure it ?” No. I am leaving it on the ground to 
turn it under in the spring for corn. If I were 
offered §100 for the eight acres of clover after- 
math I would not take it, and I would not turn 
it under until spring for §50. If the young 
farmer in New Jersey will trust an old farmer 
from New Jersey, he will leave his scd until 
spring and plow it under in the most perfect 
manner, covering every leaf with the mellow 
soff, then work the surface with the Acme or 
sloping-tooth harrow, so as not to disturb it, 
and do this so that he can begin planting the 
very day the land is ready, and if he can, he 
will do well to top dress the land with manure 
now, leaving the sod to take care of it. I have 
grown over 100 bushels of corn (grain) to the 
acre in New Jersey by this manner of treat¬ 
ing sod. 
FROM A. Or. STURDEVANT. 
Both fall and spring plowing of sod land for 
corn have their advocates among good farm 
ers. In this day of progress few, if any, iron¬ 
clad rules should be established as regards 
plowing. Farmers ought, to be guided by 
their own judgment. No doubt an old sod of 
several yeais’ standing, especially if Timothy, 
would grow better corn if turned in the fall, 
as the crop would be less likely to be troubled 
with insects, but what can we gain by plowing 
a clover sod in the fall? I have yet to see the 
first field (fall-plowed) put in good order to 
plant that was not again plowed in the spring 
This, if we value our work at anything, adds 
§1.50 per acre more expense to the cost of the 
crop. This is equivalent to four bushels of 
corn. Will it grow those extra four bushels? 
One objection to fall plowing in this section is 
that on stiff clay soil the ground does not 
work up light, but has a tendency to be 
cloddy and bake, as land does that has had a 
crop of corn in the previous year. My ex¬ 
perience has been that I can make a better 
crop with leis work on sod turned after the 
ground has become fit to plow in the spring. 
This must be the experience of otheis, as one 
seldom sees a field fall-plowed in this section 
What effect frost has uprn soil is more than 
I can say. Admitting that the action of frost 
causes the soil to pulverize, will or will it not 
cause certain plant foods in the soil to become 
free? If so, will they remain, or would they 
betaken up by the atmosphere? Nearly all 
sut stances that come under general notice 
that have been affected by freezing and thaw¬ 
ing, usually decrease in value. How this 
same process affects the vegetable matter in 
the soil must be decided by some of our pro¬ 
fessors. 
Dover, Del. 
FROM E. DAVENPORT. 
The question involved is, of course, that of 
fall or spring plowing for corn, Ido not know 
the particular soil the correspondent may 
have, but on general principles I do not 
favor plowing in the fall for corn. I may 
say, further, that I believe fall plowing for 
any crop is attended by disadvantages as well 
as by advantages. Soils that will "run” will 
often be damaged mechanically far more than 
benefited by fall plowing. Hill-sides cannot 
fail to undergo much washing from heavy 
rains during the four or more monihs the soil 
is exposed to the elements. 
The inquirer says that his land is a gentle 
slope, over which much water runs in winter, 
Then I should certainly leave the sod as it is 
to protect the soil, rather than turn it under 
and allow the water to wash away soil and 
fertility in return for the possible benefit to 
be derived from freezing—a very uncertain 
benefit in most cases. 
I once tried fall plowing for corn under most 
favorable conditions for success on a soil that 
would not run and could not wash. The soil 
was excellent, and about one-third of the field 
was fall-plowed. It made a most excellent 
seed-bed in the spring—apparently much finer 
than on that portion plowed in the spring. It 
was more mellow on the surface, the corn 
came up sooner and grew better till nearly 
time to tassel, when it began to fail as com¬ 
pared with the other corn, and certainly the 
crop was much inferior both in stalk and 
grain to that on spring-plowed land, though 
both were good. 
I do not pretend to assign a reason, but these 
are the facts as found in that experiment. A 
different soil, climate, or season, or even 
variety of corn might reverse the results; but 
the well-known conditions necessary for the 
best growth of the corn crop, as a deep seed¬ 
bed and loose soil, can surely in most cases best 
be secured on freshly plowed land. This plan 
too avoids danger of most serious losses to 
many soils by washing or by “running,” which 
seems to me an important item. 
Agricultural College, Michigan. 
FROM F. S. WHITE. 
As it is the old question of fall or spring 
plowing, I can soon tell wbat I would do in 
the case. I would plow this fall just as soon 
as the ground is damp enough, and I would 
plow very deep. If plowed this fall the roots 
will all soon die and rot, and the frosts of win¬ 
ter will help to pulverize the sod. Another 
advantage of fall plowing is the destruction 
of worms that are stowed away for winter. I 
have very little sympathy with the idea of the 
soil getting manure from the winds or frosts 
of winter. They ODly tend to harmonize the 
manures that are already in the soil, and act as 
pulverizers irstead of manure. Should this 
piece be left to be plowed in spring it would 
have to thaw out and then dry, and by that 
time the grass would get a start and in order 
to kill'tbe grass it would have to be plowed 
shallow. Then if a dry summer should 
follow the sod would not rot and 
it would be very difficult to cultivate 
and a light crop would be the result. Now I 
would say to young farmer : if he wishes a 
lesson that will last him the balance of his 
farming life, let him cut a ditch above this 
piece, that will keep off all surplus water; then 
let him take half of the piece and plow it this 
fall as deep as two or three good horses can 
draw the plow, and next spring, as soon as 
the land is dry enough to get a team on it, let 
him commence to harrow. Once a week or 
more will not hurt until planting time, and if 
he has the right kind of harrow, he can har¬ 
row until the corn is large enough to plow. 
With regard to the other half, let him plow it 
next spring and follow the same course, and 
note the result, and I am sure it will be one 
that will last him. 
In regard to the idea that the freshly turned 
sods would help the corn more than anything 
else, I am surprised that a farmer of any ex¬ 
perience would advocate such a theory. How 
could corn be planted or cultivated to any ad¬ 
vantage on freshly turned sods? I am in 
favor of planting corn in freshly stirred land, 
but I want it freshly stirred with a good steel- 
tooth harrow. 
Des Moines, Iowa. 
JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT. 
A year ago last spring, I saw Japanese 
buck w heat advertised in the Rural. I sent 
for a pound and sowed it upon a dry, light 
piece of ground. It was sowed on June 23. 
A frest came on September 11, before it was 
cut and injured it greatly; but I saved about 
half a bushel. This spring I sowed it upon a 
wet, heavy piece of ground, which was plowed 
in the fall. A good deal of grass came up in 
it in the spring, but it was too wet to plow 
again, so I spread on it a good dressing of 
horse manure, harrowed it as well as I could 
and left it to its fate. It has been a wet sea¬ 
son; but the crop has grown very rank, and 
has taken complete possession of the 6 round so 
that no grass or weeds can be seen in it. It is 
nearly three feet in bight, and 1 think it is all 
that the introducers claimed. It is much 
superior to India Wheat the kind commonly 
grown here, and is fully as early. It may 
prove a valuable acquisition. It is very pro¬ 
lific, and the kernel is large. I would suggest 
that it might make an excellent green fodder. 
Its growth is rapid; and it is much relished by 
cattle. I threw the frost-bitten straw mto my 
orchard, and a horse turned into the lot where 
there was plenty of rowen, would leave the 
latter to eat the buckwheat straw. 
Lamo lie Co. Vt. J. w. newton. 
My sample of Lima beans took the first pre¬ 
mium at our county fair; but they were not 
nearly up to former years both as to quantity 
or quality. About the first of August the 
