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465 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
sowed a field that had been plowed. One part of my field 
was sowed as soon as the ground admitted of it, and a part 
two weeks later. Judging of the merits of harrowing and 
plowing by my first-sown oats, the advantage is on the 
side of the harrow, while as to the remainder, I can see no 
difference, and I suppose the early sowing had as much to 
do with the superior condition of the first-sown oats as 
the mode of cultivation, and perhaps more. I also sowed 
clover with the oats, and I have no fear that the roots of 
the clover will not find their way to the subsoil as well 
through the ground prepared with the harrow as if it had 
been plowed, and the clover roots will have a loosening ef¬ 
fect on the soil. When I put the field to corn I shall prob¬ 
ably plow it, because It is a clay soil. If it were a loose, 
sandy soil I think one-half the time with the harrow 
would put the ground in as good a condition as it can be 
put in with the plow. 
The Use of the Plow and Harrow. 
While soils differ very much in character, all kinds are 
alike in this respect—viz., that in their natural condition 
they are far more porous than one would suspect. I have 
been setting post-and board and post and-rail fences for 
two years past, and have watched the filling of several 
hundred post holes dug but a few inches larger than the 
posts, which have averaged seven inches square at the 
buts. In nearly every case earth had to be brought from 
a distance to fill the holes, the soil taken out being insuffi¬ 
cient to fill them around the posts solidly enough to make 
the latter stand firm. Naturally the soil was so porous or 
loosely packed—and it had never been plowed, being vir¬ 
gin forest land—that the original 81 cubic inches were 
packed and rammed into less than 32 cubic inches of space. 
Another instance of this natural looseness of the soil was 
recently given in felling a large pine tree which had a 
broken projecting limb, 14 inches thick, standing out hori¬ 
zontally over 10 leet from one side. The tree fell on the 
limb side, and the whole 10 feet of the limb penetrated the 
ground without raising the soil. This enormous looseness 
or compressibility of the soil must have some considerable 
relation to agricultural processes. 
First as to the use of the plow : It is commonly sup¬ 
posed that plowing serves to pulverize, loosen and mellow 
the soil. No doubt it does this; but the land is immedi¬ 
ately harrowed to settle it back and make it more compact, 
and the harrow by which this is done most perfectly is the 
favorite implement. Here seems to be useless labor, a thing 
done, and then undone ; or “ undone and then restored.” 
No doubt a good deal of land is plowed that need not have 
been. I have plowed fully one-third less since I used the 
Acme harrow which is one of that type of “plow’’har¬ 
rows which are now so deservedly popular, and crops are 
now often sown without any plowing and with only a 
thorough breaking up of the surface by the harrow named. 
Then why does the soil need plowing? This question is to 
be considered carefully in each case. Sometimes a hard 
subsoil needs breaking up; sometimes clover or weeds are 
to be turned under; and in these cases deep turning by the 
plow is necessary. But in other cases—and these are the 
majority on well managed farms—the digging, plowing, 
and cutting harrows serve every purpose for preparing the 
soil for the seed, working in the manure, killing weeds, 
pulverizing and mellowing the land and covering the 
seed. In the hands of a judicious farmer who knows why 
and for what purpose he uses his implements, barrows of 
this class are indispensable and a valuable substitute for 
the plow, preparing the land in one-third or one-fifth of 
the time required for doing it with the plow, for the re¬ 
ception of the sted and covering the seed as well as a 
drill can do. H. STEWART. 
Macon County, N. C. 
This spring I found for the Cutaway a use that I had 
not expected. The weather was cold after I had planted 
my first field of corn in May, and germination was slow 
and the rains packed the ground. I commenced to 
loosen it before the corn was up; but it was hard work 
on a man and team and a hard-pan was left right over the 
corn when the work was done. I concluded to try the 
Cutaway, and if it did not displace too much corn I would 
harrow instead of plowing. The harrowing was a com¬ 
plete success. It loosened the soil right over the seed, and 
a boy could harrow ten rows in the same time as it would 
take a man to plow four, and with less labor on the team. 
Afterwards I harrowed all my corn with the Cutaway be¬ 
fore it was up. So far, my experience does not incline me 
to discontinue the use of digging or spading tools, as they 
are called. On the contrary they are great helps. 
SAML. B. HOEFGAN. 
7 he Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
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see if it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
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of paper.] 
Catch Crops With Corn. 
U. C., Bergen County, N. J .—I have a corn-field that I 
wish to sow to rye this fall. The soil is poor and I have 
but little manure. Can I sow any crop among the stand¬ 
ing corn that will make growth enough to enable me to 
turn it under for a green crop ? What can I sow and when ? 
ANSWERED BY HENRY STEWART. 
The end justifies the means in all farm operations. 
Hence one may depart from standard rules in some cases 
when some advantage is to be gained. This principle ap¬ 
plies to the sowing of certain crops among the growing 
corn, in the way of catch crops, as for the purpose of pro. 
1/ttWg pasture pr feed, or something to plow under ns 
an improvement to the land. Crops of this kind must be 
of quick growth and of service for the purpose desired. 
Those usually grown are buckwheat, rye, turnips and in 
the South beans and cow-peas. The first Is mostly used 
for turning under as soon as the corn is removed; but the 
others provide useful fall or winter pasture or a valuable 
green manure to be plowed in in the spring. It is not only 
on poor land that this practice has been found useful. I 
have used it for poor land for a good many years past, and 
my experience has convinced me that it is quite as useful 
and justifiable on the best soils; for if the land can be 
made to yield more useful produce, it is quite as valuable 
on the best land as on the poorest. Where the land is to 
be plowed in the fall, buckwheat is the only available crop 
that can be used, as it is of quick growth and may stand 
until the frost has cut it before it is turned under. If 
sown any time in July, it will be ready for turning under 
in good season. For this and all other crops to be men¬ 
tioned, the last working of the corn should be done with a 
broad-toothed cultivator; the seed is then sown twice as 
thickly as usual, and is covered in with a light, V shaped, 
sloping-tooth harrow. The stirring of the soil will help 
the corn ; the germinating crop will not rob it of any food, 
for its feeding will be past and over and the ripening of the 
grain is completed at the expense of the stalk. 
Rye is sown in the same way, and grows slowly at first 
under the shade, but when the corn is cut it advances rap¬ 
idly, tillering out freely and covering the surface before 
the winter. Then it may be pastured where the climate 
permits. For several years past I have sown my corn-fields 
with rye in this manner, and have had them pastured until 
late in the winter, when the crop was left to grow, and 
has yielded from 15 bushels of grain per acre up to 25% 
bushels one year, when the growth of straw averaged over 
six feet high over the field. This was three years ago, and 
Timothy was sown with the rye; the third crop of hay is 
now being cut. Certainly this was a saving of time that 
was worth considering, as the grass was got in a year 
earlier than it could otherwise have been. This rye crop 
was intended to be turned under in the spring, as the land 
was thought to be poor, but owing to the fine appear¬ 
ance of the growth it was left, and some stalks, six feet 
nine inches long, with heads nearly seven inches long, were 
sent to The Rural office as samples of what could be 
done on land supposed to be poor, by good plowing and 
preparation. When thus sowing rye I use two bushels of 
seed per acre from the new crop just harvested, thus secur¬ 
ing fresh seed. 
A very fair growth of turnips may be made in the corn 
if sown this month or early in August. But the mere 
sowing of the seed in the bare ground is not doing justice. 
The seed must be covered by harrowing after sowing, as 
above mentioned. Two pounds of seed per acre are not too 
much, as a thick growth is best for all purposes, whether 
for feeding animals or the soil. One year I sowed one 
pound of turnip seed with two bushels of rye and 10 pounds 
of Timothy, harrowing in all together. That winter I 
pastured sheep on the field. A good many small turnips 
were left and became frozen and their strong odor con¬ 
vinced me that the remains of these roots would show in 
the following rye and grass. Such was the case, and since 
then I have included turnips among the valuable green 
manuring crops, either to be left to rot on the surface or 
to be turned under. I have been informed that this crop 
has been highly thought of by English farmers of late 
years for a manure crop, and that the roots are crushed 
with a heavy sharp-edged roller before being plowed under. 
As green turnips contain 10 pounds per ton of nitrogenous 
matter, and 10 tons can be grown in this way on one acre, 
such a crop affords 100 pounds of nitrogenous substance, or 
16% pounds of nitrogen per acre in a most available form 
and this is worth at least $S per acre, which can be gained 
at an expense of about $1 for seed and labor. This is a 
profit of TOO per cent., which ought to be satisfactory as 
an investment. 
Southern farmers seem to be born to the idea of growing 
beaus and peas with corn, and certainly I have seen pro¬ 
ducts of both these that would pay for all the cost of the 
corn. These crops are, of course, gathered; but it is ad¬ 
mitted that they are not exhaustive of the soil. Their 
period of growth, however, is too long to make them of 
much value in this special direction. Some years ago, I 
sowed mustard among corn, and some rape in a part of the 
field. The purpose was to get early feeding for ewes kept 
for rearing market lambs. The result was a valuable feed¬ 
ing crop, which cost nothing more than the seed. And 
here it might be useful to some readers to say that either 
of these green crops is excellent for sheep for early pasture, 
which may be eaten off before oats—which usually follow 
corn—are sown, and in some localities it may be turned 
under when full-grown for a crop of millet, and this may 
be turned under, and a dressing of lime given in addition, 
for a fall grain crop preceding the seeding of the land with 
grass or clover; or turnips may be sown after the millet 
and left until spring and plowed in for corn, and thus three 
green crops can be turned under in a year, all worth, in 
my belief, 30 or 40 tons of ordinary manure per acre. For 
the improvement of poor laud I don’t know anything that 
can surpass this addition to it. if started with 250 or 300 
pounds per acre of complete fertilizers, when the rape or 
mustard is sown. 
But all this supposes that the land must lie over the 
winter, except in regard to the buckwheat, the turnips, or 
the last-mentioned two crops, and if it is desired to plow 
the land as late as may be possible in the fall only these 
can be made available. As it is a good rule that when it is 
well to do a thing at all, it is well to do it well, I would 
prefer to continue the catch cropping as far as it can go 
when it is for the improvement of the soil, and thus not 
plow the land in the fall, but in the spring, or the next 
fall or even next spring, and pasture as much as possible. 
If this were done, it would he yery profitable to get as 
many good common ewes as could be afforded and a Shrop¬ 
shire ram, and rear lambs for the early markets, fattening 
the ewes afterwards and turning the whole business over 
in a year, and make at least 100 per cent and possioly 200 
per cent, profit on it. Then one will find what a golden 
hoof the sheep really has and recall the history of the 
golden fleece. He will make money and improve the land 
at the same time. 
Tree Roots and Rootlets. 
M.M., Medway, Mass.— In The Rural of .Tune2l, on page 
399. in “Echoes from the Nurserymen’s Couventioo,” Mr. 
Meehan is reported as saying: “The fibrous roots are like 
leaves ; they last but fora single year and then die.” I< that 
so ? If I understand aright the teachings of Prof. S. W. 
Johnson in “How Crops Grow,” he does not say that the 
rootlets or any part of the roots die annually ; but instead 
they increase in size and length, and become channels for 
conveying sap and food collected by new and farther ex¬ 
tended rootlets. Farther down, Mr. Meehan says, that 
“ cutting away a portion of the top of a tree causes the 
corresponding roots to die, and injures the vitality of the 
tree.” If that is so, how can severely heading in an un¬ 
thrifty tree assist in restoring it to vigor, an operation 
which I have several times performed successfully. I dis¬ 
like to question Mr. Meehan’s assertions, but some of his 
statements appear not to correspond with what I have 
been taught, or with my own experience, particularly what 
he says of the uselessness of fibrous roots, and the superi¬ 
ority of prongy-rooted trees for transplanting. 
Ans. —Roots cannot live long if the leaves be destroyed. 
Cutting back a plant is in reality injurious to it. Its 
vitality is impaired. The action between the leaves and 
roots must be reciprocal. If, therefore, the roots are in¬ 
jured by transplanting, the best that can be done is to cut 
back the top proportionately. But any tree will be killed 
sooner or later by severe pruning We do not understand 
Mr. Meehan’s position from our correspondent’s statement. 
All roots are fibrous at first, and grow stronger and larger 
with years. The newer roots, those provided with root- 
hairs, are the ones chiefly concerned in supplying the tree 
with nutriment. 
Deodorizing Rain Water in a Cistern. 
R. P. M., F^ostburg, Md .—I have a cistern the contents 
of which are used for washing purposes only. A month 
ago it was emptied and washed thoroughly clean. It is 
nc full of water which begins to emit an unpleasant odor. 
Is there any remedy? 
Ans. —The rain water flowing from roofs is always more 
or less charged wi h various kinds of organic matter which 
is peculiarly offensive. The excrements of birds, dead in¬ 
sects, dust, spores of fungi, pollen from trees, all gather 
upon the roofs and are washed into the cistern, where they 
decompose and become exceedingly offensive. To avoid 
this the water should pass through a filter, or there 
should be an automatic attachment by which the first flow 
is diverted from the cistern with all the collected filth and 
only the pure water allowed to pour into it. A filter may 
be made of a barrel having layers of clean sand and broken 
charcoal so placed that the water must pass through them 
and thus be purified. A remedy for the existing evil maybe 
procured by putting in the cistern a cleanly washed gunny 
bag having in it a bushel of fresh,clean charcoal broken into 
pieces not larger—for the largest—than eggs. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Subscriber, Barnesville, Ohio — 1. Sometimes a shoot 
starts from a strawberry runner at the first joint. It 
makes a long, small stem. Is the plant as good as the 
regular ones? 2. When the runners are not wanted for 
planting, how long should they be permitted to remain on 
the plants ? 3. How should the seeds of the small fruits 
be treated to insure that they shall germinate and grow ? 
Ans. —1. It is safest to use the strongest runners for new 
plants—those having the thickest stems. 2 They should 
be cut off the old plant as soon as they appear, if not 
wanted for propagation. 3. Strawberry seeds germinate 
freely. They may be sown in hot-beds or in pots or flats 
of fine soil. They may also be sown in drills out of doors. 
It Is well to plant grape seeds as soon as the grapes are 
ripe. Seeds of raspberries and blackberries would better be 
planted in boxes in the fall—the boxes left out of doors 
until February, and then placed in heat. 
M. IF. T., West Leyden, N. Y. —I wish to seed a three- 
acre field in August; would it be advisable to sow clover ? 
Will it produce a crop the following year with favorable 
weather ? 
Ans.—O ur own experience iu sowing clover seed in 
August has been such that we do not recommend others 
to do it. If the weather be favorable? Well, the weather, 
in nine cases out of 10, will prove unfavorable. 
M. B. P., Henderson, N. C. —What is the address of an 
auction house for the sale of fruit ? Is it advisable to sell 
North Carolina grapes by auction in New York. 
Ans. —E. L. Goodsell, 103 Park Place, New York, sells 
fruit at auction. The R. N.-Y. can see no good reason 
why grapes should not sell well in this way. 
J. IF. L., Laktn, Kan.— I have some white peonies 
which I have fertilized with pollen from red ones. If the 
seed is all right how and when should it be planted ? 
Ans.— As soon as the seeds are mature, it will be best 
to sow them in pots of well-prepared soil. Make it quite 
compact and level. Then sow the seeds, press them into 
the soil with any flat surface and then sift more over the 
seeds and gently compress this. Let the pot stand in 
water until it arises to the surface of the soil and cover 
with a glass to retain the moisture. When moisture is 
again needed, again set the pet in a pan nr pail of water. 
