4SS8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
693 
than 12 bushels of wheat to the acre, So acres 
would be required to make it. 
I do not at all understand how binding grain 
delays harvesting. I supposed that it was one 
of the merits of binding grain that it pushed 
forward harvesting. Upon this point I can¬ 
not see how a doubt can exist. The reaper 
when necessary is made to cut 12 to 15 acres 
daily and leaves the grain in a fairly secure 
condition. If cut by a mower, either cutting 
would have to cease on large areas in order to 
secure the loose grain, or more men and teams 
would have to be kept. 
While a balance-sheet struck will in my 
opinion lean to the binder side of the ques¬ 
tion, there is not gain enough to worry the 
owners of small farms because they cannot 
afford the binder, as small gram growers can¬ 
not. The binder will cut aud shock an acre 
for 80 cts. Where it is 12 bushels per acre tb rash- 
ing will be §1 20, or a total of §2 for cutting and 
thrashing. The thrasher draws the grain and 
furnishes all help and stacks the straw at 10 
cents a bushel. When mown, mowing, raking 
and stacking will cost §1 and thrashing 
$1.30, or a total of $2 30. Others might bring 
the figures nearer together. But if the cost is 
the same the advantages of the reaper will 
enforce its use on large farms. On small 
farms the capital involved and complexity of 
the machine may outweigh its advantages. 
If a change in policy is to be made and the 
mower supplants the reaper let it go into the 
field when the grain crop, in case of oats and 
grains intended for stock feed, will make good 
hay, and stop with the mowing and housing 
the grain. 
I to dav paid a bill for oats at 20 cents a 
bushel. They cost five cents a bushel to 
thrash, or 25 per cent, of the selling value of 
the oats. JNow here is a large sum that does 
not add one cent to the feeding value of the 
whole crop and leaves the straw to be fed 
with some other grain ; in the West—corn. 
Here is a swop of the kernel of one crop to 
feed with the straw of another, and so far as 
the oat straw is concerned an unnatural ex¬ 
change, as corn is a more carbonaceous food 
than oats, while the straw of oats wants albu¬ 
minous foods. It will be found about as hard 
to defend the practice of husking corn as the 
universal custom it now is. It seems to me 
that this is a fair economic question for our 
farmers to consider. 
Columbia, Mo. 
—- ' ■ 
SEEDING AND MULCHING WITH 
CLOVER HAULM. 
Can we mulch and seed at one operation? 
How much seed left in ordinary clover 
haulmt More about the good effects of 
mulching; instructive ideas on a new 
topic. 
The recent discussions in these pages re¬ 
garding the advantages of mulching wheat 
with straw or chaff, have awakened considera¬ 
ble interest among farmers. Among other ques¬ 
tions bearing upon the subject the following 
h asbeen received: 
“In using clover haulm for mulching 
wheat is it likely that the haulm will contain 
seed enough to seed doivn to clover? If it 
rvould, we may economize in one very impor¬ 
tant operation , and save the cost of the seed 
and labor of sowing it.” 
This question is discussed in the following 
notes: 
FROM T. B. TERRY. 
When clover haulm is used for mulching 
wheat there would usually be enough seed in 
the haulm that thehuller had failed to get out 
to seed the land; but it would De so unevenly 
spread as to be of no practical use. There 
would be square yards and possibly rods with 
no seed at all, where some haulm ‘was spread 
from which all seed had been knocked off. 
Again there would be spots where on a square 
yard there would be seed enough for a rod. 
In years past we have spread clover haulm, 
late in the fall, on stubble land that was to be 
plowed iu the spring, sometimes covering 
some six acres with a good ooat. I have 
watched closely tc see if clover enough would 
grow to make a fair staud. There never did. 
But one thing was noticed, viz: That such 
clover always seemed to start out ranker and 
stronger than the clover from seed we sowed 
in the spring on our wheat. This perhaps 
from the seed being protected by the hull, or 
it might have been caused by the mulching of 
the ground with haulm. I have often felt 
sorry to plow under such strong, healthy 
clover plants. 
No, I do not think we can possibly get a sod, 
when every square foot is covered with a mat 
of green, such as we want and can have, ex¬ 
cept by sowing the clover seed evenly all over 
the ground. No one wants a sort of “hit or 
miss” seeding. The way these self-sown seeds 
grew, taught me that the perfect way to sow 
clover seed was right on the surface of the 
ground early in the spring. Twenty years 
experience all points the same way. 
FROM A. C. GLIDDEN. 
Where clover chaff and the straw are used 
to mulch wheat, I think the chances are 
very favorable for distributing seed enough 
with it to make a good seeding to clover. I 
have never known the seed to be so thorough¬ 
ly separated from the haulm, that the amount 
of seed sprouting when spread on the ground, 
was not very astonishing. The seed is quite 
as likely to root well, when' spread upon the 
surface in the chaff, as when separated from 
it. This seems to be nature’s way of seeding. 
If a seed of clover enclosed in its little pod, is 
examined through a good magnifying glass, 
there are several lesson^ which can be learned. 
The impossibility of hulling it perfectly, so as 
to obtain all the seed is better understood, and 
the farther fact is noted, that the seed is in¬ 
tended to remain tied in its little paper sack, 
until germination swells and bursts it open. 
The pod cracks apart when dried and lets the 
seed fall naked to the earth ; but the little 
cup, which while in flower, held the bumble¬ 
bee’s honey, is now closed at the top forming 
a winged receptacle with a pointed bottom, 
that drops upright in the earth. Many 
feathery appendages are attached that catch 
and hold particles that float about it with 
every shower, so that when spring comes the 
seed is firmly planted in position to send its 
root downward aud shoot up to the light. 
A bare seed lying on the surface, is very un¬ 
favorably located for germination. Three or 
four days of continuous moisture, might suf¬ 
fice to send its root into the earth so far as to 
sustain the after growth ; but oftener the 
sun dries up this effort at growth, and ends 
the story of all such unfortunate sowings. 
and ought always to be utilized as such. The 
manure is also specially valuable. There is no 
better or surer way to grow animals profita¬ 
bly, or to bring up fertility with cropping, 
than with clover. 
FROM J. A. FOOTE. 
In regard to the question of the practica¬ 
bility of getting a stand of clover by using 
the haulm as a mulch, I would say that it de¬ 
pends on the condition of the clover, when 
thrashed. Should it be quite dry, the seed 
would be so completely taken out that there 
would not be enough left to seed the ground 
Should it be damp, there might be enough left 
for the purpose. Another thing should be 
considered in proposing to make a mulch of it. 
Should there be foul weeds growing with the 
clover all of these seeds would be in the haulm, 
as the screen would pass the clover, but not 
these—such as dock aud ragweed. 
FROM THOS. F. HUNT. 
Direct experiment and observation are much 
more effective than mere speculation. A load 
of clover haulm spread on a quarter of an 
acre of wheat would be the most effective an¬ 
swer. I once knew a farmer to spread a 
heavy coat of clover “straw” direct from the 
huller on a stony piece of ground, for the sole 
purpose of seeding it to clover. He failed in his 
object entirely, although I know from obser¬ 
vation made at the time that considerable 
seed was left in the straw. 
On the other hand, I have known a fairly 
good catch of clover in small grain following 
corn which had been manured with stable 
manure made by feeding over-ripe Mammoth 
clover hay. It is not uncommon in Northern 
Illinois, where Mammoth clover is grown con¬ 
siderably, to obtain in favorable seasons a 
volunteer stand in small grain the second sea¬ 
STUMP APPLE. Half Section. Fig. 352. 
But a seed still ’ enclosed in its protecting 
shield, is fortified against this misfortune. I 
think a seed in the chaff is kept from prema¬ 
ture sprouting by shedding off the rains, until 
there is moisture enough in the ground to in¬ 
sure success in so delicate a venture. If 
clover seed could be distributed in the chaff 
with any degree of regularity, I think there 
is no doubt that much more of it would suc¬ 
ceed in making plants, and insure a better 
stand. 
VanBuren Co, Mich. 
FROM PROF. I. P. ROBERTS. 
Your inquirer can readily tell by examina¬ 
tion whether or not his clover haulm contains 
seed. The chances are that more or less seed 
will be found in it. If the haulm contains seed 
no better way could probably be devised to 
obtain a good catch of clover than to spread 
the haulm on the wheat in the fall in thick¬ 
ness proportionate to the amount of seed it 
contains. 
FROM COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
The amount of seed produced in clover, 
cut for hay, is usually so little that there 
would not be enough to seed the land. The 
haulm from the second growth or that later 
grown, the first growth being fed off, would 
produce seed enough, aud, if a fair crop, mpre 
than enough. Red clover does not become 
sufficiently fertilized until the bumble-bees 
are hatched and begin to fly. Clover is too 
valuable for animal food to use as mulch. 
It would be a great waste of food elements, 
and no farmer should handle clover in this 
way. Clover-hay, well cured, is the most 
perfect and complete food for use as forage> 
son after the clover stubble is plowed. In 
these cases the seed is buried the first year too 
deep to sprout. In plowing the second season 
it is brought to the surface as are so many of 
our weed seeds where the conditions for growth 
are favorable. 
I would as much expect to obtain a stand of 
clover the second season after the clover 
haulm had been applied, and after a crop of 
corn had been raised, as to expect a stand 
direct from the mulching itself. Only a 
portion of the seed would be beaten to the 
ground by the action of the weather, and only 
a portion of that reaching the ground would 
probably be sufficiently covered with soil to 
cause it to germinate and protect it in its 
early struggle for existence. Considerable 
moisture is required to germinate clover seed, 
i and much of the difficulty in getting a good 
stand in dry seasons arises without doubt from 
a lack of a proper covering of soil. As has 
been suggested to me by a friend, it would bo 
a very bad plan to mulch a wheat field with 
clover haulm, if clover was a noxious weed. 
But to get a good stand in that way is quite 
another thing. 
Ctttowologkal. 
HOW INJURIOUS INSECTS ARE 
SCATTERED. 
I am personally acquainted with a gentleman 
who purchased some sorghum seed last spring 
of a seedsman in New York, and also a sample 
of seed corn of a man in Washington, D.C. Nei¬ 
ther the corn nor the sorghum seed were entire¬ 
ly plan ted,and the unused seed was put in sacks 
and laid away. A few days ago, insects were 
found escaping from these.sacks, and the seed 
was turned over to me for investigation. On 
opening the sack of sorghum seed I found its 
contents to be a wriggling mass of insect life, 
made up of two species long noted in the East 
and in Europe for the damage which they 
sometimes do to stored grain. These two in¬ 
sects are the Grain Moth (Butalis Cerealella), 
and the Grain Weevil (Calandra Oryzse), the 
former being by far the most abundant. After 
chloroforming the seed to destroy the insects, 
a large number of grains were examined, and 
it was found that 72 per cent, of the sorghum 
seeds had their centers eaten out. In the corn, 
of which there was one quart, 134 of the wee¬ 
vils were counted, but none of the moths were 
present. 
Now I do not mean to say that these seeds 
were as badly infested as this when they were 
purchased, for the insects in the seed this fall 
are the progeny of those in the seed in the 
spring. It docs show how a very little of this 
seed is sufficient to stock a farmer’s premises 
with two of the worst granary pests known. 
It shows how careless seedsmen can scatter in¬ 
jurious insects all over the country in a very 
short time, and the consequent importance of 
dealing only with the most careful and relia¬ 
ble. It is also best, other things being equal^ 
for those who desire seed in the West to buy 
of seedsmen near home, and so avoid the im¬ 
portation of injurious insects from a distance. 
The same rule would apply to the East, but 
there are less injurious insects going that 
way. 
Seed that is suspected to be infested with 
insects should be put in a tight box or paper 
sack and treated with chloroform or carbon 
bi-sulphide until the insects are dead, before 
the seed is planted. c. p. Gillette. 
THE EARLY FREEZE IN EASTERN 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
J. J. H. GREGORY. 
Freaks of the Frost; value of high farms as 
against low ones;'difference in the season; 
“ Jan I shorten this fortnight ?” How? 
Rushing the crops; reducing the varieties 
cultivated; increasing the working force. 
The look out of my window on the morning of 
the 6th ult., almost took my breath away. In¬ 
stead of a light-frost which we had feared, the 
grass had t! at dark look which is caused by 
severity of cold which we call a “black” frost 
—Sure enough, on going out I found my 
Hungarian as brittle as pipe stems; even the 
hardy cabbage frozen stiff, and a general 
freeze up all around. The foliage of a dozen 
acres of cucumbers and tomatoes was destroy¬ 
ed, the crop being brought consequently to a 
standstill below maturity, while corn near 
the river on many acres stood stiff with frost 
and all cranberries close by the river were 
ruined. 
The cold wave displayed singular freaks, 
ruining one piece of corn and scarcely touching 
another located within a few hundred feet, 
though the latter was on a level 30 feet 
lower, and in about an equal degree of ma¬ 
turity. After breakfast I went over to my 
hill farm, close adjoining, and there was not a 
sign of frost—squashes and cucumbers by 
acres as green and healthy as at mid-summer! 
“Well, Jones,” said I to my foreman, “we 
will stick a pin just here. The freeze-up on 
the river farms demonstrates beyond all dis¬ 
cussion what I had pretty well made up my 
mind about from previous experience, viz., 
that, other things equal, these hill farms are 
worth more to me, for mixed farming, at 
least 20 per cent, extra. 
I gain on an average a week in the spring 
by exemption from late frosts, and full two 
weeks in the fall by exemption from late 
frosts. Now then, we will just clap hands and 
team onto all the pasture land that can be made 
available, and, hereafter, as far as isolaation 
will admit, transfer here our vine crop, de¬ 
voting the lower land more exclusively to 
potatoes, cabbages, onions and such crops as 
require but a short season.” 
The heavy loss brought by this sudden 
freeze-up set me thinking along the laws of 
economics. I concluded not to risk out longer 
the frost-bitten corn, for though the ear had 
not begun to glaze, and possibly there was un¬ 
injured vitality in the lower half of the stalks 
to mature them should the weather be favor¬ 
able, yet another freeze might utterly spoil it. 
I therefore set my team at once at work fill¬ 
ing the silo. It was evident that another step 
