1868.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
221 
better to transfer it by a ladle made of stout 
sheet lead or earthen ware than to pour it. 
“ The diluted acid being ready, it is to be used 
while hot. Half the contents of a bag of Som¬ 
brero guano is placed in a heap, and the acid 
ladled upon it, and at the same time intermixed 
with the help of a wooden stirrer. In this way a 
pasty mass is obtained, and with a little care, 
this one-half the guano will absorb the whole of 
the acid. After the mixture is completed, the 
remainder of the guano is sprinkled in, with 
thorough stirring, and in a short time the mass 
may be thrown out thinly upon a floor, and 
after standing a day or so, it will be a finished 
superphosphate, dry and fine, and ready for 
broadcast or drill sowing. On the large scale 
my detail of methods and results may doubtless 
be varied somewhat. A few trials will establish 
the right method.” 
If one wishes to make an ammoniated article, 
fish guano is the cheapest source of ammonia to 
add to the superphosphate. There is a fine- 
ground and dried fish guano, which contains 
ten per cent of ammonia, or its equivalent in 
readily available nitrogenous matter. Six hun¬ 
dred pounds of this guano added to 1400 of the 
superphosphate prepared according to the above 
directions would give three per cent of ammonia. 
Stay on the Farm. 
The cities and villages are already overcrowd¬ 
ed, and every kind of business languishes more 
than the cultivation of the earth. In the cities 
the labor market is overstocked, and one can 
get an} r desired number of hands for any con¬ 
ceivable job. Clerks from the country have 
usually to serve two or three years before they 
can get living wages. The city throngs with 
unemployed men and women, waiting for some¬ 
thing to turn up. Those who find employ¬ 
ment have no security for permanence. Me¬ 
chanics lose their places and have to lie idle for 
weeks and months together. All the products 
of skill and labor are relatively cheaper than 
provisions and breadstuff’s. The great material 
want of the nation is cheaper meats, grain, and 
vegetables. We have merchants, mechanics, 
and middlemen enough, but far too few farmers. 
The best cultivated State abounds in unculti¬ 
vated lands. Even in the vicinity of our large 
towns and cities, cheap lands abound, and 
splendid chances for enterprising young men to 
win homes and fortune. Once settled upon his 
own acres, the farmer has constant, profitable 
occupation before him. Nowhere is unskilled 
labor so sure of sustenance, nowhere will intelli¬ 
gent industry so surely win a liappy home and 
competence. In the country one never need to 
lack labor, and labor brings there the necessa¬ 
ries and comforts of life. 
Breaking Prairie. 
Wild prairie sod is very different from any 
green sward Eastern men are accustomed to see. 
It consists of the old and new, lough, dried, and 
decayed stems and foliage of many plants— 
many of which, indeed, arc grasses, but in many 
places they hardly constitute the majority. 
There are weeds with roots as large as a man’s 
arm, tangled vines, tough, low-growing shrubs, 
and plants of many kinds from mosses to scrub- 
oaks. In breaking up such a mass of materials, 
all well matted together, it is no wonder that 
farmers easily argued themselves into the belief 
that shallow breaking is best. It kills the weeds, 
and the sod rots, and if is ready for a crop the 
next spring. A few years ago this subject was 
discussed in the Agriculturist, and a question 
was lately proposed to our readers, to draw out, 
if possible, new views. Three responses are 
selected, as showing the‘views of intelligent 
farmers. A Missouri farmer,- “C. W. II.,” writes: 
“ After several years’ experience in the culti¬ 
vation of prairie lands in Missouri, I am con¬ 
vinced that the best plan for breaking wild 
prairie land is to begin plowing in the spring 
as soon as the ground is settled. Use a team 
sufficient to break the sod three or four inches 
deep, and follow the breaking team with a good 
two-horse team, and plow, throwing the subsoil 
on top of the sod, covering it nicely with loose 
earth, making a first-rate soil to sow spring wheat, 
oats, or any early grain or grass. It may lie 
until May 1st; then plant corn or vegetables, and 
you may expect a good crop with little labor. 
The land will be in splendid condition for a crop 
next season. I have seen 40 bushels of corn to 
the acre raised on ground prepared as above, 
without any more work, when others raised lit¬ 
tle more than seed, planted in the common way. 
I have also seen osage hedge grown from the 
seed from three to four feet high, in one year, 
on land prepared as above, without any culti¬ 
vation. Land so prepared is excellent for fall 
wheat. The advantages of thus preparing prairie 
are so obvious that details are unnecessary.” 
Lewis Benedict, Grant Co., Wis., after an ex¬ 
perience of 17 years, says: “ Commence break¬ 
ing prairie as soon as the grass starts in the 
spring sufficient for stock to get their living, and 
break what you can until harvest—that is, in this 
latitude about the loth or 20th of July—and 
what cannot be turned overby that time should 
lie until the next season. I tried breaking a 
part of a land after harvest that I had not time 
to finish before, and did not get half a crop 
the first or second year, and could see a plain 
difference in the crops six years after. It is 
best to break from l’| 2 to 2 1 | a inches. I have 
found the thinner the better; tried several depths 
from l’| a inches to 8, and found the shallow 
breaking always the best. The turf rots much 
sooner, and brings better wheat. With deep 
breaking, the ground seems cold and lifeless, 
somewhat resembling fall breaking. After the 
first year, plow one inch deeper every year until 
a desirable depth is reached. In this section 
wheat is the most reliable crop to put in. Sow 
the next spring early—the earlier the better.” 
An Illinois farmer thus gives the result of his 
long experience : “ The best time to break 
prairie is in June, but it will answer from about 
the middle of May to the middle of July, or at 
any time after the grass has got a good start, 
and before it has got its growth, for before that 
period the roots are more readily killed, and the 
sod rots much quicker. Break just as shallow 
as it can be done, and have all the sod cut up, 
say from one to two inches. If the ground is 
smooth enough to break as shallow as one inch, 
it is all the better. The main object in break¬ 
ing up prairie is to subdue the sod in the most 
perfect manner in the shortest time. If it is 
broken deep, sufficient moisture is retained in 
the sod to keep the roots alive; these will turn 
and grow through the sod, requiring years 
to subdue them; but in shallow breaking the 
roots are all killed, and by September sufficient¬ 
ly rotted to harrow to pieces. The next plow¬ 
ing should be two or three inches deeper than 
it is broken, plowing the same way. If the local¬ 
ity is favorable for winter Avlieat, it will prob¬ 
ably be the most profitable crop to put in. It 
should be sown in September, say from the 1st 
to the 10th, and thoroughly harrowed in (hot 
plowed). If the locality is not suitable for win¬ 
ter wheat, corn will probably be the best to put 
in for the main crop; but a small return must be 
expected, though sometimes a remunerative crop 
is obtained, as it requires no attention after 
planting .until it is gathered. Potatoes often do 
well, as likewise pumpkins, squashes, melons, 
etc. Turnips generally do well. Should it be 
important to get as large a crop as possible the 
first year, the best way is to turn a double fur¬ 
row, by first breaking the sod shallow, being- 
careful to lay the sod fiat and level, running the 
plow in the same furrow, some two or three inch¬ 
es deeper, thus covering the sod completely. 
This is an expensive way of breaking, and I 
think not as gocftl for the land, as the sod is too 
long in rotting. The plowshare and coulter 
should be kept constantly sharp by filing every 
two or three ‘rounds,’ as sharp as the file will 
make it, to cut the perfect mat of roots below 
the surface. The share should bo sent to the 
blacksmith every few days, to be drawn out thin¬ 
ner, thus saving the time of filing and the wear 
of the plow and file.” W, A. S, 
Summer Pruning- or Pinching. 
There is no one point in horticulture about 
which there has been more discussion than that 
of summer pruning, and those who advocate, 
and those who condemn it, stand in about the 
same relation, as they did years ago—-each the 
more confirmed in his own opinion. We con¬ 
sider it useful or injurious, according to the 
manner in which it is done, and the subjects 
upon which it is practised. To allow a tree 
to make vigorous shoots and then cut them 
away in summer, or to pinch the young shoots 
without any thought of the effect, so long as 
something is pinched, will, like all other hap¬ 
hazard -work, be likely to result in serious in¬ 
jury. Summer pruning is done, in the first 
place, to regulate the form of the tree. Dwarf 
trees, especially, may be so managed by rubbing 
out a few needless shoots here, and stopping 
the growth of another there, that there need 
seldom be any pruning required. Nip out the 
growinsppoiut with the "thumb and finger, and 
the branch will cease to elongate; but after a 
while the buds upon the shoot will push, and 
when these have made a few leaves, they must 
be pinched in the same manner. The growth 
from buds and grafts is often very vigorous ; 
that from buds often runs up as a long, succulent 
wand, hardly strong enough to support itself, 
and with but little disposition to form side 
shoots. By pinching at the proper higlit, the 
buds along the sides will start, and with a little 
attention a low-headed, shapely tree may be 
had, that will not need to be cut to pieces in 
order to bring it into proper form when planted. 
Another use of pinching is to throw the tree 
into bearing. It is now a well-received opinion 
that whatever threatens the life of a tree tends 
to induce fruiting; hence we hear of trees being- 
made to bear by hacking them with an axe, by 
root pruning, etc. When the development of 
the tree is arrested by pinching, it usually sets 
about making fruit buds, instead of leaf buds. 
In pinching dwarf pear trees, the shoot from 
the bud at the end of a branch is allowed to 
grow, and those starting along the sides of tlic 
branch are pinched back to three leaves. If 
shoots start from those that have been pinched, 
nip them back to two leaves. The leading shoot 
is shortened as may be desired, after growth is 
over. The formation of fruit, buds upon dwarf 
pears and apples is hastened by. pinching, 
