Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1858-03-13
For the Journal.
Farmers Club.

Mr.. EDITOR :-Agreeahly to tho reques
Of the Agricultural Club of Bloomington
township, hand you for publication sy
nopsis of the lecture on the subject of th'
cultivation of the grass or forage crops, de-
livercd by Samuel Sinnett, Esq, on Satur'
day, Feb. 9th, 1858.
In his preliminary remarks, Mr.. Sinnet'
called the the attention of the Club to the
Importance of Agriculture, as the basis of all
civilization; that all the splendor, oil the
glory of the United States depended on Ag-
ricu!ture, Manufactures and Commerce. He
called upon the farmers to take q higher
stand than they have heretofore claimed for
themselves. He referred to the Legislative
bodies of our country Us having grossly
neglected the interests of agriculturalists,
while millions upon millions have besnrs1-
pended for the encouragement of other classes
of society. He considered persons who were
willing to work for an honest living as capa-
BILE to make laws and administer the affairs
of Government as any other class Of persons,
and more honest and urged the farmers not
to permit themselves any longer to be
'honeyfugled" by loafng politicians and
party Office seekers, to get their votes to
enable them to put their hands into their
pockets, and then look upon them disdain-
fully, and in their greedy scramble for the
spoils of Office, entirely neglect their inter-
ests. He happily alluded to period in the
Republic of Rome, when her army had been
defeated and her capital threatened with all
the horrors of protracted siege; their last
and only resource of deliverance was TO send
for Il poor old farmer, who, when the mes
senger arrived with the robes Of Dictatorship,
was found ut his plough his plough
standing in the furrow, o5eyed the call of
his country, put on the dictatorial robes,
beat back the victorious snd savage foes of
his country, and when he had driven them
beyond the frontiers, did not loiter about
the crib to snatch bite, but laid Oft the
robes Of Office and returned to his plough.
But we are not confined to the history of
Rome for such an example; we have one as
glorious IN our own country-eur noble
WASHINGTON.
Mr.. Sinnett went on to show from the sta
tistical reports for the year 1856 that the
value of the grass, forage and hay crops of
Iowa were not secondary to any of the other
staples of our State, when converted into
beef, cheese, butter, milk and manure; and
the more extensive cultivation
Of the various grasses, particularly red clo-
yer and timothy, and considered no other
crop paid the labors of the husbandman SO
we'll. Mr.. Sinnett estimated the average
value of timothy at SIG per acre, and con-
sidered red clover and timothy mixed as the
best hay. He estimated the loss in weight
of the different forage crops per 100 lbs.
green, in curing or drying, to be, white clo-
yer II lbs, red clover 70 lbs, timothy 81
lbs, red>top 81 lbs, corn fodder IS lbs
recomm mended four quarts of. timothy seed to
the acre, or two quarts of timothy and one
quart red clover, if sowed together; prefer
red sowing in the spring, either with oats or
wheat, but had succeeded we'll in sowing in
the winter on the frozen ground; recon-
mended more systematic manner Of farm
ing rotation of crops, and never to leave
piece of ground in grass longer than four
years; to make regular deposits of manure
in our clay and sand banks to be careful
never to overdraw our accounts, so as to
have our drafts protested.
JOHN ZEIGLER, Sec'y.