The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-10-25
FARMERs' aEADING.
Improvement OF Land BY 6iraaing

Improvement or Land BY Grazing.
L. the soil eau have all ito crops re-
turned TO it ia kind, or in the shape
Of manure made from feeding them to
animals Hpon it, it will constantly i'm
prove. A WORKOUT soil left to grow
up to forest will recover its fertility
IN due time. Cow pastures decline in
productiveness because the COWS are
usually yarded at night, and large
part of the manure, as we'll as milk
and calves, Is removed from the soil.
1t is different with grazing of beeves
or of fattening sheep. Where the
object is to make beef for market,
bullocks of three or four years of age
are bought in the Spring in good con-
dition, and turned into the pasture as
soon as the grass is sufficiently grown
to support them, and are sold off in the
Fall. 1t is considered a matter of great
importance by graziers that the pasture
should be large, and should have only
so many cattle as it can carry through
the season. 1t has been found in ex-
perience that the changing Of beeves
from one pasture to another has bad
influence upon them. They become
restless and lose flesh. In many dis
tricts where ground plaster does well,
it is soWn Mt the rate Of a bushel or
two to the acre every Spring. Even
In this small quantity the effect is
often astonishing, bringing In white
clover, and on pastures where it has
not been applied before, twill some
times increase the feed four-fold.
With this cheap dressing and grazing
beeves, many run down farms have
been brought up to high degree Of
productiveDess. Some boast that
their meadows will carry bullock to
the acre. With good judgment in
buying and selling, this is an easy
way Of getting rent from land. The
stock require very little attention af-
ter they are turned into the pasture,
until the drover comes in the Fall, or
they are otherwise marketed.
Sheep are said to improve land more
rapidly than bullocks. The manure
is more evenly distributed if the land
is level; and if it is broken, the most
Of it is dropped where it is most
needed, upon the tops of the knobs.
They also crop bushes much more
closely than beeves, but In order to
keep brush under, all the brush should
be cut with the scythe at the start,
and the pasture should be heavily
stocked as long as the sprouts push.
In Harrison County, Ohio, and in
other parts of the State, where the
/ winter wheat has become al uncer-
tain crop, we are Informed that many
of the farmers have resorted to wool
as a substitute. This crop has seVeJ
raj important j advantages over
/ wheat. 1t involves much less
labor, and improves, rather than ex-
| hausts the SOIL It is found that the
sheep pastures are growing more pro-
/ ductiye. Wool at fifty cents a pound
can be carried to, market prefitably.
much farther than wheat at the ordi-
nary prices. A pound of wheat is
i now worth but three or four cents,
and freight on. grain is about as ex-
pensive as on wool. The latter. more
| over, is one of the few products of
/ the farm that can be held over with
! out serious risk Of loss. Some Of the
finest wool In the State is produced
In this county, and has been sold
| from fifty to sixty cents pound this
i season. In considering the question
of abandoning sheep husbandry, as
some may be tempted to do, under
temporary reverses or falling prices,
we think due credit should be given
to sheep as improvers of the soil.
The farmer can hardly grow poor
whose soil is constantly growing rich.
American AgrjCultuTist.
ABOUT wEEDs-HARBoRING PLACES.
! The bye-places of the farm wherein
weeds harbor comparatively unno'iced
and unframed, are prolific sources
whence they spread, and strongholds
last taken by the aggressive farmer
To the easy, slothful farmer they are
impregnable, and from theircommand-
ing position hold his possessions for
ever under dominion. Prominent
among these harboring places are the
fence corners, and they are especially
favorable to the weeds when partly
filled with rubbish or stone from the
fields.
There new varieties are often first
introduced by means of birds, or from
the fence, opposing a barrier to those
downy seeds that float in the air.
There, too, the seeds find a congenial
place to grow; there is shade, a rich
4 soil, and they are undisturbed by ma
chinery. Often the rubbish or stone
piles are so dense as to protect the
I weeds against the farmers efforts to
uproot them. Consequently they ma
ture their seed and it is scattered. A
patch eff couch grass may exist fol-
years in fence corner unnoticed
but when its creeping roots
= strike out far enough fol
the pillow to tear them, they
are. distributed far and rapidly