546 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 10 
Do you believe in this theory? 
Yes, I feel quite sure that it Is sound. I 'have tried 
preparing grass land with a smoothing harrow like 
the Acme. We used this tool again and again, until 
the upper surface was fine and smooth. It seemed like 
a perfect seed bed, yet, the first Spring after seeding, 
the field was well filled with weeds and coarse grass. 
I think the seeds and roots of this foul stuff were 
down below the working depth of the Acme, and thus 
were not destroyed. I feel sure that a Cutaway or 
spring-tooth would bave dug them up and killed most 
of them. 
But do not farmers obtain good grass with the or¬ 
dinary methorls? 
Yes, I know of crops nearly equal to Mr. Clark’s 
where the ground was merely plowed and harrowed 
once before seeding. 
How do you account for that? 
iSuch grass usually follows a crop like potatoes, 
berries or onions, where the most careful culture was 
given during the growing season. Thus the crop was 
kept free from weeds, and the soil thoroughly stirred. 
All this culture 'helped fit the soil for the grass. We 
must remember that Mr. Clark is talking chiefly 
about old meadows or stubble fields on which there 
are sure to be a great many weeds. He says that if 
we grow corn and potatoes for five years we would 
be obliged to work the soil six times at least each 
year. When we seed land down to grass for five 
yeara, and work it 25 times, we do much the same 
amount of cultivating that we would if the ground 
were to be in hoed crops. Under the Clark system the 
land is supposed to remain seeded down for years. 
Therefore he works it again and again with the Cut¬ 
away—going up and down, back and forth and 
around, until it has all been tossed and turned up to 
the air and sun. Mr. Clark also insists that the land 
must be level and well graded. 
Do you consider this so important? 
Yes, I feel sure that it pays to put reasonable time 
with a scraper in smoothing and filling up the holes 
and low places. They hold water, and in time of flood 
the sand and stones wa-Sh into them and kill out the 
grass. Mr. Clark’s field is very smooth, and grades 
alx)ut like the cement floor in a stable, so that there 
is no heavy wash. On most of my own fields it would 
be impossible to grade the land in tliis way, but most 
mowing lands can be made smoother and more even 
with a little careful work. I firmly believe that most 
of us fail to work the grass seeding lands half as 
much as we should. 
Did you say that Mr. Clark does not use s'able ma¬ 
nure on the grass? 
Ho uses only Chemical fertilizer. 
Why? 
He gives a dozen reasons for his practice. The ma¬ 
nure, he says, brings weed seeds to the land. Weeds 
are more out of place in grass than in any other crop, 
because you can ‘cultivate or hoe them out of the 
hill or drill, while there is no way of getting them 
out of grass without tearing it all up. Manure should 
go on a cultivated crop, and by -its habit of growth 
and late season corn is best adapted to take care of 
the manure. A mulch on the grass is just what you 
do not want, and the fertility in manure is usually 
too slow to bring out the grass quickly. Soluble fer¬ 
tilizers scattered evenly over the grass will feed it 
well. 
What fertilizer does Mr. Clark use? 
•This year he tells me that he used a mixture of one- 
third each nitrate of soda, muriate of potash and fine 
ground bone. This is a somewhat new combination 
for him, but in this wet season it gave good returns. 
How much did he use? 
He put on 800 pounds of the mixture per acre. 
This is a much heavier dressing than most of us use. 
I have heard farmers say that in a very wet season 
grass needs but little fertilizer, provided it nas plenty 
of moisture. Mr. Clark says that if this wet season 
has demonstrated any one thing it is that grass needs 
something more than water—the things needful are 
sunshine and soluble plant food. I think some ex¬ 
periments with this Clark system have failed, be¬ 
cause the heavy seeding gave twice as many grass 
plants to the acre, while no more fertilizer than usual 
was put on. I will try to speak of seedling next week. 
H. w. c. 
SPRAYING AND POISONED STOCK.—Regarding 
lioiaoning stock by spraying, I have sprayed trees for 
more than 50 different p«>ople. and have yet to learn of 
tlie first ease of poisoning by the use of either insecticide 
or fungicide. E'ght years ago, when I commenced to 
spray, peoiilc were very timid about the, use of Paris- 
green, and refused to have trees sprayed which stood 
near tlie liouse, or in land where grass was to be cut. 
To dispel this fear I tied a four-months’ calf under my 
apple trees within 10 minutes after spraying the trees 
witli Paris-green, one pound to 1.50 gallons of water. I 
sprayed four times, and tied the calf under different 
trees each time, and I saw no bad effect whatever from 
so doing. People here have no more fear now of poison¬ 
ing their stock from siiraying their trees than they have 
of eating jiotatoes whose tops have been sprayed with 
I’aris-green for destroying the Potato bug. s. R. w. 
North Leominster, Mass. 
NO RETURNS FROM SPRAYING POTATOES. 
C. E. Chapman is right about spraying potatoes for 
blight. I only tried it one season, but have talked 
with careful men who have sprayed three seasons and 
then admitted that they did not know positively that 
it did any good. They were up-to-date, and experi¬ 
ment stations said spray, so they sprayed. I have 
seen a lO-acre field of potatoes sprayed six times, all 
except eight rows, first when plants were six inches 
high, and kept “whitewashed” till blight struck them 
about August 12. The eight rows unsprayed were just 
as good, yielded as well, and there was not a particle 
of gain from all the labor and expense for material. 
I don’t say that no one ever got good results, but 
there are conditions affecting blight that no man un- 
der.stands. Usually blight does not attack a crop un¬ 
til alxmt the time blossoms fall, and ordinarily if 
blight is prevalent, it does attack at about that stage 
of growth, whether vines have been sprayed or not. 
AT WORK IN THE GREENHOUSE. Fia. 240. 
The average farmer who attempts to bother with Bor¬ 
deaux when haying (and this year hoeing, too) is 
driving will soon get enough of it. I say, prepare 
your ground thoroughly, and fertilize abundantly, if 
chemioals are used, not less than a ton per acre. Use 
the best of seed, plant at the right time, and rush 
them from start to finish. Don’t let bugs or weeds 
get the advantage, and you won’t be beaten by your 
neighbor because he sprays and you don’t. 
Massachusetts. e. h. gibson. 
I have not yet commenced spraying potatoes for 
the reason that, growing for seed purposes exclu¬ 
sively, I plant very late (this season July 9), believ¬ 
ing I can thus produce seed of higher vitality and 
vigor. I shall continue spraying for the reason that 
1 dare not do otherwise, but of its utility I am not 
fully satisfied. I have more faith in the disease-re¬ 
sisting qualities of certain young vigorous varieties, 
and thus far am discarding varieties at the first hint 
of Aveakness. I am dreading the time when Carman 
No. 3 and Sir Walter fail me, and will give next year 
$100 for one bushel of a new variety that excels the 
former. Last season my Uncle Sam blighted in spite 
of spraying, while none of my other varieties seem 
DORMITORY AT THE BRIARCLIFF SCHOOL. Fie. 241. □ 
to need it. During period of active growth I think 
potatoes should be sprayed at least' once weekly. 
Commence as soon as necessary to use poison for the 
bugs. E. A. HILL. 
Greene (Jo., N. Y. 
About here the blight or rust does not usually strike 
our potatoes until somewhere from August 10 to 20. 
1 have not sprayed yet, but expect to a little later. 
Very few farmers use Bordeaux Mixture. I have used 
it for two yeara, and am fully convinced that it pays 
to do so. As the Bordeaux is a preventive rather 
than a cure, one does not always hit right, but one 
year with another it certainly pays. Last year the 
potatoes through this section were terribly affected 
witli blight. 1 iksed the following mixture, and got a 
good crop: Four pounds lime, four ixuinds copper 
sulphate and one pound Paris-green to a barrel of 
water. On one piece where we made only one appli¬ 
cation of Bordeaux we worked from each outside to¬ 
ward the center. As we ran out of the mixture be¬ 
fore the center was reached there was a narrow strip 
left. This was indeed an object lesson, the tops be¬ 
ing completely dead two weeks or more before the 
others. It happened that the dividing line was near 
the center of the Clark’s No. 1. There was so much 
difference in yield that I measured the product and 
computed for an acre. This showed a difference of 
79.4 bushels per acre in favor of the sprayed plot. 
Colebrook, N. H. b. a. c. 
FARMING IN A WET SEASON. 
Early and constant rain upset my plans, and I find 
all of my calculations transposed. Corn was planted 
before the long May rain, but did not come up until 
after the rain ceased. It looked so backward and 
yellow that I feared the silo would not be filled this 
Fall; but when the hot weather came on, and we gave 
the ground good tillage, how it did turn dark and 
grow! It is uneven, but I think will be ready for the 
silo by the middle of September. 
Some of my mistakes look so large to me that I 
hope I shall not make them again, but of course shall 
make othera. My worst one the past season was in 
not seeding ali bare land to rye last Fall. Two of 
my best fields have no crop this season to bring in¬ 
come as a result of such failure. Had I seeded to rye 
1 could have harvested 13 acres of good grain. I have 
one field plowed, and am seeding to Canada peas and 
oats to-day (July 29). I am asked whether I shall 
get a crop. I don’t know. They may be too late to 
harvest, even as a fodder crop, but at 95 cents per 
bushel for Canada peas I think they will pay to ploiv 
under. The other field had millet after hay last sea¬ 
son, and I put manure on it, expecting to plow and 
plant to late cabbage, but I believed in the advice 
of the Hope Farm man and took care of what we 
had planted rather than neglecting them and putting 
in more, so that manure is now forcing a rank 
growth of ragweeds and other weeds and grass. I 
shall plow this under within a few days and sow to 
rye. This, I think, should grow good potatoes next 
year. Through all of this the cows have kept right 
on doing their duty. Give me the cow, silo and soil¬ 
ing; less acres of planted crops, better manured and 
best of tillage. I think I shall make no mistake in 
this. How much better to take nature’s workings, 
good-naturedly adapting ourselves to conditions! 
Ontario Co., N. Y. C. R. white. 
EXPERIENCE WITH "CLARK" GRASS. 
NOT A FAIR SHOW.—Last year I had about three 
acres of good ground that was seeded to oats in Sep¬ 
tember, 1900. 1 looked the piece over, and came to the 
conclusion that there was not much of a seeding, so 
I went around one^half of the piece, intending to plow 
the Wliole, but it was dry and hard, and the ground 
plowed up in lumps, so that I did not finli>h. This 
was in August; in Septemlier I undertook to harrow 
the ground, but with all of the machinery I had 1 
could not get the lumps pulverized, and had to let the 
piece go until the first week in October, after a rain; 
then 1 finished fitting the piece, and sowed 12 quarts 
of Timothy seed to acre, and 10 quarts clover, eight 
quarts Red and two quaits Alsike. I finished cutting 
the crop last week. I got three loads on the piece 
I left and did not plow, and one load on the part sown 
after the Clark plan, so you see the old way is ahead. 
The Clark grass seems to be thick on the ground, and 
if nothing happens will cut a big crop another year. 
Cortland Co., N. Y. homer j. brown. 
R. N.-Y.—This was hardly a fair test for the 
“Clark” system. The seed was put in too late and 
the ground was nowhere near as fine os Mr. Clark 
makes it. We feel sure that grass will make a better 
showing next year. 
SUCCESS UN PENN'SYLVANIA.-^The grass seed 
which I sowed last Fall by the Clark method turned 
out well. It stood as thick on the ground on most 
of the field as a person could wish. It was stalk 
ground plowed down in the Spring with Crimson 
clover; worked it through the season to keep down 
the weeds. After harvest I worked it again, and 
drilled some good fertilizer on the piece; then sowed 
12 quarts Timothy seed to acre with Cyclone seeder, 
covered with the weeder by going across drill marks 
and then rolling it down. Most of the seed came up 
in the drill marks where the fertilizer was put. I cut 
three big two-horse loads to acre, excepting along 
piece of woodland. It was cut after oats and va 
commencing to get ripe. This is certainly the ^ 
to get fine hay. All through the season it was a darK 
green color and looked like wheat at a little dis ■ 
Several heavy rains put it down flat, but it ' 
ly standing up when cut. Part of the ^ 
slope was badly washed by rains before it nad take 
root, and some at bottom of hill wa.s ['overed with 
mud. Where a farmer has a level field that 
wash I think this is an ideal way to get grass, wjie 
a hillside is liable to wash in Winter I think ly 
sowing oats it would hold the ground until Spi S- 
may try some that way this Fall. t. h. 
Avondale, Pa. 
