Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1859-04-14

Hasty Hints on Spring Work.

Sown OH the snow. Indeed. some suppose there
is AN advantage ia 81 doing-the SNOW, as it
meltS, war hing the seed into the ground. I'm
less the soil ard the Weather are very dry,
however, there is little danger that the seed
will not gtrminate The wheat plants afford
sufficient shade and moisture.
Last year. the weather was remarkably warm
early in the spring, followed by Protractedrui .
and cold Much of the clover Sred SoNn early
had started, and the young p!l@ts perished.- -
To avoid such failure some Of our hest farmers
SOW part of the seed say the first wee in April
and again about the 20th This is double
labor of sowing, hut it lessons the risk of fail
ure and when the second owing is croSSwiSe
the first, it secures more even distribution Of
the seed
1t is well to sow a bushel of plasterper acre
for the benefit Of the young clover plants
Many good farmers in Western NV J ork
think it is better to SOW TIE plaster on the
wheat at the time Of sowing the cover, Il an
TO SOW 1t on the clover the next spring. Some
however think the plaster has tendency TO
retard the riprning of the wheat and if this
is the case, of course tie practice caI OF be r,-
commended as the liability to injury from the
midge is largely augmented hy any delay in
the rpeuing processes. Whether plaster real
" has this effect or not. We can not tell. In
Mr.. IAwES' experiments, alkaline salts in con
nection with ammonia had tendency to in
crease the quantity of straw without an increase
of grain; l. e., akueS and ammonia gave no
more grain, Jat mare Sir0m than the same
quantity of ammonia without aikalieS. it is
not improbable that plaster might have the
same effect.
Since the advent of the midge, and the de-
creased qulptity of land s0wn 10 wheat, clover
is sOwn more extensively with spring grains.
Barley is undoubtedly the best spring crop for
this purpose In England, nearly all the clover
is Sown with barley The land is made as fine
and mellow as possible, and the clover seed is
generally sown after the barley has been har-
rowed in and the work completed, except roll
ling, which is done after the barley is mp If
the land is at all cloddy, it is better to roll be
fore the clover is Sown There is much more
clover seed lost from buryng it too deep than
from not covering it at all Several Years ago,
we recollect seeing the results of some careful
experiments, made by Mr. STERLING, of Scot
land, on sowing clover seed at different depths
More seeds eerminated when covered very
slightly (if we recolect Alright, the eighth of
an inch, than at any greater Gcpth--the dc
crease being in proportion to the depth. Those
sown on the surface gave a less favorable re-
Snlt than those slightly covered, but better than
any sOwn at greater depth - e., those COW
cred the eighth of an inch 3id best those sown
on the surface, nearly as well those covered
One-fourth of an inch, not quite so well as those
on the surface those covered half an inch,
still worse and so on, till at two inches they
did not gcrmnate at all.
AS general rule, clover does not succeed
so well sown with oats as with barley, spring
wheat, or rye, though we have known several
instances where a good set of clover has been
obtained when seeded with oats. With this
crop, it would undoubtedly be safer to SOW
little more seed
For pasture and when it is intended to pIow
up the land at the end of one or two wears, we
should SOW nothing but clover From four to
six quarts, or from eight 10 twelve pounds is
the usual quantity in such eases For moving
six pounds Of medium clover, and four aud a
half pounds of timothy seed, is the usual guam
tity, varying less or more according to the con-
ditiOn of the soil We are in favor of thick
seeding, and wouId much rather SOW more than
less. English farmers, as a rule, SOW half as
much again clover and grass seeds per acre as
we do and greater variety. They find their ac
count in so doing. We have known experience
ed English farmers SOW as much as 20 lbs per
acre of red clover, trefoil, and white Dutch in
addition to ryegrasS. Our land is so well ad-
apted to clover and grass, that such thick seed
ing is unnecessary here but we are not sure If
1t woud not sometimes be advantageous to SOW
more seed than we do.
There are few implements more needed on
American farms than light pair of harrows
for covering small seeds The roller answers
the purpose to some extent but if the soil is
at all damp, and dry weather ensues. hard
crust forms on the surface, through which it is
dlfficnlt for the seeds to penetrate Animple-
ment which should combine the operation of
roller and harrow, would be an Improvement,
for this purpose, upon either. The late Mr.
SMITH of Dcanston, invented an implement
which is designed to accomplish this result
1t Is called the icsb-ha'r0lC. 1T consists of an
iron chain web, connected by discs or QnOtS
OF iron which, lying ohliquely upon their sides
when in operation. roll around, thus tearing
and abrading the surface Of the ground, and
grinding the smaller clodS, so as to expose and
disturb the surface sufficiently to cover the
small seeds strewn upon it. II is by the rub
bing of the sides Of the discs against the land.
as they revolye, that they are especially useful
more than by the action of their edges. though
that is also efficient to some extent The price
OF this harrow in England is aboat $25. cover
ing 20 square feet of ground The common
brush-harrow-a framework of wood interac-
ed with brush-fOrmS n good substitute for the
expensive implement of Mr. SAITH 1t merely
scratches the surface, and so far gives the seeds
very shallow covering but it wants the
weight which makes the web harrow to CON-
press as well as abrade the surface, both Of
which conduce to its efficiency.
BARlEY-Since the uncertainty of the wheat
crop, the cultivation of barley is attracting
more attention Oar short dry hot summers