Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1859-10-28
8ittaI aud Sottaestie.
A Rri u1tu TO.


FALL FLOWING
"What is your opinion in regard to Fa1!
plowing?" asks Ah esteemed correspondent
IL have & eld intend planting to corn.
Would it be better to plow it this FAN, ADD
then cultivate it before planting or let il lie ~
it is all Winter and break IL up i'm the sprfhgf"
| If old sod, or rather heavy Soil, Ne shotsld
certainly prefer to pillow ih the fall, unless IL s
low and wet: II u yotihg, healthy clover bbd;
on light SOIL it might be better to let IT lie as
it is all winter, and not piow it till just bc5ore
planting. The clover would be several inches
high, and when turned under in the sptina
would help to enrich the land and It In said
that the grubs will feast on the clover AID
leave the corn plants uEsh0lestea: - q
The great error in fall plowing Is not pIow:
ing early enough. It should be done, Inluie-
diatcly after the wheat sowing is finished.-
The teams can be spared then as well as later
Flowing late in the fall, when the ground d
cold and sodden, Is Of questionable beneEf,--I
An experienced farmer in England onee polnt-
ed out to us a portion of field Of fturnipw ttst
looked much superior to the turnips adjoining.
On inquiring the reason for this difference, hs
said that both portions had been treated aliksi
except that the part which looked the beft ligd
not been "pin=fsllo&ed"- All-tl5heH. The
fact turned out to be that the land was not
plowed till December, when it was too wet;
and the next spring it was raw and lnmpy
whereas the other portion tnrted utj fresh and
mellow, The fact is tot 6ne which initiates
against the practice Of fall plo%ing, but Agsinst
plowing and when it is too wet.
We recollect seeing piece oflow wet ground
near this city, plo%ed late i'll the fill: It was
a tough sod, and was turned over in wide, fat
furrows. During the winter it presented, 81
almost unbroken sheet Of ice, and in the spFins
was 90 wet and raw that it was with difattlty
got ready for planting: Such fall plowing Is
not to be commended. Had it been plowed
early, and in narrow and high ridges, and the
dead burrows cleaned out, and few surface
bitches cut, SO that the water could have pass
cd off, the result would have been far different:
Some good farmers in this vicinity plow
their corn land in the spring without plowing
again. Ute Of the sdvantEgeS bf tlIis plan Ia.
that the barley can be sown earlier, and a por-
tion Of the work which otherwise would have
to be done during the busy season in the
spring, is done in comparatively l6istfe season
in the fall:
F. HolBrook, Esq, Of Brattleborough, VI,
makes the following judicious remarks on this
subject, in the New England Farmer for 1863,
which are worthy Of reproduction at this tims
He says ... ta .s5
From the last of October to the middle OF
latter of November, is good time for plow<
ing land preparatory to sowing or planting ii
tie following sUring. The autumnal weather
is cool and biacing, ara Hsen end horses are
strong and hearty for work while the TEMPER:
ature Of the spring season is more relaxing,
srf the zr'frnals Of draught are then apt to be:
come laggard and -particdlsfly at the
business of overturning green sward: To. Be
seasonable, spring work must at best be dis
pat ched in great hurry. and it is relief ma
advantage to have the p!o%ttg done at fall:--
If land in corn stubbe is we'll narrowed, so aS
to pull open and level down the hills and scat.
ter the ST. bs, about, theft tfowed in the fall,
the stuoble, lying Eeneath the furrows through
the winter, will not be apt to come to the sur
face by narrowing in the spring; the gIain and
grass seeds can be committed to the already
prepared ground, at the earliest suitable day in
the spring, the srssace of the newlystocked
land will De smooth. the seeds equally distribu-
ted in narrowing, The crop of grain will be
early and thereby luxuriant, and the young
grass, having the benefit of the early rains, will
get good root, be more likely to survive the
heat ard drought of summer, yielding a full
bits tf aftermath in the fall. and good succeed
irs crops of hay. Sod land plowed in Novrm-
Der, will be free from growing grass in the
spring. the roots of the late turned sward being
too far dreadcned by the Immediately. succccd-
ing winter to spring very readily to the sur
face The plowed land, after being subjected
to the frost of winter, will readily disintcgrate
and crumblc down in fine particles wher lar
rowed in the spring-yieldng a mellow Sod
bed and facilitating the business Of planting
and the first hoeing, and the manure applied
can be readily and nicely mir gled with the
kindly soil. Corn planted on sod furroWs
turned the fail previous, will not be so liable to
injury from the copper-heads or cut-worms
which eat of the stalk at the surface Of the
ground, as though the land had been plowed in
the spring. So great heretofore have been the
depredntions Of these worms on my young corn.
when planted on Che sandy intcrvalcs which
now the nfeadoN which is to be made ready fer
a corn crop, is invariably plowed late in the
fall. By means of this precaution the rayagcs
of the worms have been pretty much prevent
ed, but few hills of corn being entirely destroy
ed-indeed IN p4ssihg through seven acres Of
corn to-day, vacant hills were not discovered,
though looked for and think there cannot b@
enough loss of crop from this cause to be Of
much account.