The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1855-11-14
AarteuIturaI
Dressing Grass Lands.

Top-dressings are very useful and eco
nomical in certain cases. The objection
to the top-dressing of grass-lands is that
much of the manure is lost by evapora-
ton. To obviatc this there should be q
LARGE mixture Of other matter with the
manure, and then it should be spread on
low and moist soils only, and at q season
of the year when but little evaporation
takes place. Any time in October will
answer, though many farmers contend that
the early. part is best, as the essence of
the manure is then more likely to descend
than when the frost has closed up the
| pores of the soil. Much depends on the
quality Of the material used for a top
dressing. If q large portion of it con-
| sists of loan, of soil from high grounds,
OF of peat, there is no great loss to be
/ feared from evaporation.
Meadow bottoms and peat boys, that
have been brought to bear merchantable
hav, must have some kind of encourage
ment at least once in two years, or the
wild and poor grasses will get the maste-
~, and the labor of retaining may be
lost.
As the best mode of converting bog
or meadow lands into a state to bear
English hay is to cover the whole surface
with earth of some kind from the adjoin-
ing knobs, or gravel pits, it is prudent to
continue this operation as far as may be
convenient, and to add, frequently, enough
to keep the soil warm and fit to produce
the most valuable kinds of grass.
Therefore when the manure from the
cow yard is designed for top-dressings on
low grounds the proper material to be
carted into the yard in the fall, after the
old matter has been cleared out, is gravel
ly or sandy loan. But we should not
rely wholly on top-dressings. In many
cases when meadows have been reclaimed
by means of carting earth from the adj
Looming knobs, &C., or by means OF ditch
ing deeply, and thus rendering the bot.
toms more dry, the plough may be used
to invert the sod, and a new seeding viii
give as pure grass as that which was OBJ
tanned at the first cutting.
There can be no doubt that manures
will be of more service when they can be
well incorporated with the soil, by mean:
of the harrow, than when spread upor
the surface of an old grass field. There
fore it is best so to lay out a lot reclaim
ed that the pillow may be used whenever
the wild grasses threaten to gain the as
cendancy.
But there are many patches of low
grounds that are rough and rocky; thes
cannot be managed well by the pillow. !
} is best therefore to nurse them by mean
of top-dressings; and there are many acre
, of low and rocky grounds that will pro
, duce quite as good harvests of grass a
the soils that are wholly free from rocks
Top-dressings are therefore most suit
| able for such rough places, and it is nc
advisable to attempt to use the pillow afte
e they have been laid down to grass.
In many cases a brush harrow may b
used to advantage after the top-dressin
has been spread. This tends to hit tn
rich matter to enter more readily into til
old sod before the frost has closed in.
1t is often an easy matter to sprea
some very cheap material on the surfac
| of low grounds that cannot easily
plowed. Wash from the roadside, an
e even fine gravel, on cold lands, are of ust
They warm the soil while they loosen i
or unbind the soil.-Ploughman.