The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1866-03-24
From the Aneriean Agrisulinr's'.
TOP Dressing Meadows N Winter.

Top Dressing Meadows "a "i-'l
A thin dressing al clay prs npon
I. m.sdow. where tile soil Is sandy, or !
= sandy loam, or tor the most tart
muck. and not in . very good state OF
fertility. will sometimes increase Inc
growth Of. grass 80 largely, that :
meadow hardly woIih snow'ng VIII
Weld three tons Ut excellent isay Per
acre. Sometimes when grading has
been done. or nvw s~ncc - built
the earth is scattered in IMPRESSIONS
an the sward near Dy. arli the result
almost always = large Increase ia
the growth IL the gras-- We have
frequently observed bnncnes, ano
snail patches u tail, heavy grass ~
= luxnriant growth ne.r STAKES ami
posts. that bad recently been SCI, =
small quantity % the earth HAVING
been sdsttercd, when tne workman
was digging .lhc holes Iaslng the
hint irvm thcse. il lseaSy to see hoa
teams and laborers may be employed
pr.,fi.ablv. when there lstno~ Oh the
ground Or il is too cold 70 engage IN
labor that requires wafrn weather. ~
! man has a sandy meadow yielding
but = small burden Of grass, y VIII
nav well to haul clay, <.r almost an
kind Of earth to rop-cress such ground
When tie sleighlDg i gooi- = team
will haul two tons ~ une load WIKI
ease. II the soil beut = peaty caaTAc'
ter. TWO tons 81 cold still clay spread
n III. winter over an area u ivu'
square rods, will usually produce
maximum result Should the clay p
plowcd. or spaded up in large eiods
III them be spread on the snow Q
gronnd and the frost and rain Will re
dpce them 10 fine and mellow con
d;tion before the growing sea-on com
mences. 80 that little labor with
shovel will cover the entire snTfac
U;th an excellent top-dressing, In
good efiecr Of which will he perceivc
Tor several years. 10 the larger quau
tity OF grass and hay. aad IN the bet
ter quality
An active man with . good tear
viii haul on an average, one ton 9
earth an hour hall mile. when TN
travelling is such that the team ma
hasl two tons per load And if hal
atom be spread on each square rod
il will require eighty tonsto TOP dres
An acre. The expense Of the team
for hauling need not be computed bs
cause they must Be Kept in winter
whether they work or not, and i vi
be better tor them to labor than to r.
main idle. Then allowing q man on
dollar per day, If be huals only fou
loads per DAY, making eight tons
will cost ten dollars 20 to?-dress on
acre. The grass produced by snch
dressing. over and above what woul
have grown in . angle season, vi
ordinarily more than pay all this e
pence. But, in the winter, wine
farmers have little to DO besides the
daily chores, they can work r.
hours every day at toP-dressins
this manner, and it will cost the
even less than we have reckoned.
itwillbe better for both men and tean
70 labor moderately than 70 rema
idle. When there's : prePonderan
Of clay in. the soil, sand. Or sane
loan. or muck may be hauled inste'
OF clay. The frosts and rains will
most surely reduce il fine before :
growing season com mences, and
will answer the double purpose OF
mulch and fertilizer When the sns
is of the ground on mild day, I
Jumps, il there are many, may
broken up snd spread BY harr'
turned upon its back Americ