Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-08-16
AGRICULTURAL.
ISCARNATE CLOvER-TrifOIiam linear
r .-.r 90 .... natuDl-

AGRICULTURAL.
INCARNATE CLOvER-TrifoIium linear
From the Southern Cultivation .. fr-
II We wish to call the attention of ou
planters to the foregoing plant. w
translate from the French Of lie Bon Jar
dlnier, where it is described as "an an
nual forage whose cultivation, aithoug!
for long time limited to some of ou
southern provinces, has since been ex
tended to many Of those further north
and every dayit becomes more genera
in France. Although incRrnate clovel
gives but one cutting, aud though its hay
may not be so good As that OF ordinary
clover, yet there are few species Of plant
which can render greater services to ag
riculture-especialiy since an abundant
harvest Of hay may be obtained without
care, without expense. and without dis
turbing the order Of the crops. More
over, it has the advantage Of being very
early, and whether 81 pasturage or cut
while green, 1t offers in spring-almosi
before any other plant-an invaluable
resource for feeding cattle. 1t is soWn In
| August or in the Beginning of September,
ia the stubble fields, after having turned
them over by light working, with the
| plough or cuItivat0r. This manner OF
| working, or at least mellowing the sur
face OF the soil, by repeated harroYings,
| is necessary for the, clean seed, which
needs TO be lightly covered by the bar
row. But when the seed is in the lhaf,
/ it is sufficient to scatter 1t over the stub
| Bile without any previous preparation,
and afterwards pass the roller over it. 1t
almost always succeeds we'll thus, espe-
cially when it is sown after the removal
Of the harvest. We see by this with
what facility those countries deprived OF
forage, especially those which observe
the trienniai rotation Of crops, can anne
liorate their agricultural situation. Let
a farmer, for example, SOW In this man
ner portion OF his oat stubble, say q
quarter; II he wishes to cut 1t green in
the first part Of May, or If he prefers to
cut it dry, from the 18th to the 25th, he
has get ample time to clear the fields on
that portion Of mia land, and to mske
preparation for another crop. thus,
without dsrsngirg the rotation of his
crops, he will have obtained from that
part of his stubble good stock Of forage
between the harvest and the time for
plowing It. The incaFnate clover offers,
also, precious resource, when it Is
&
has failed This is done by simply
throwing the seed in the chaff on the thin
places, or if it is clean seed, by means OF
sufficient harrowiDgs and rakings.
almost any wheat or rye soil, If Il is
sound, can be made to produce iDcsrnate
clover. have sown o great deal of it,
aud have seen Il sown with success on
very different soils. II fails with me
only on limestone soils, and those which
heaVe greatly with the frost, Sometimes
our winters prove too severe for this
plant, but this accident rarely happens !;
although it occurred in 1920, yet that has
not prevented its cultivation frOm max
ing immense progress since then. For
an acre, sixteen or eighteen pounds of
cleaned seed are required. A bushel Of
seed in the chat contains generally a
little over four pounds o. clean seed.
8 / recommend the eutivators Of the
incsrnate clover TO try blowing il under
when first in flower. have reason to
believe that under this treatment 1t has
a merit, as green manure, that will add
still more to its utility.n
We Tepublish elsewhere also an article
translated roHs ". de z mbasle. We
purchased a few pounds OF ssed Sf this
clover last season, from our friends ]. NJ.
Thor5urn & Co, New York city, who
advertise it in this number. We sOWed
it last August, on soil Of medium
quality. It came up in autumn, grew
all winter-wss fine pasturage the latter
part Of February, March and April, was
ft to cut ss early as lleern, and the yield
was judged by Mr.. HOgsrd and clrsell
at about two tons per acre-which esti-
mate was fully borne out in the part cut.
Mr.. Howard informs Us that what be
described as incaTnste clover, In the ar
ticle in the May number, Is not this, but
an inferior and different species.
The yellow clover, sown at the same
time, is liked by cattle, but though horses
will eat it when young, they will leave
it to feed on crimson clover, which they
like either green OE cared iHto hay. We
we're so well pleased with this plant that
we requested the Messrs. ThOrburn 10
import an extra quantity of the seed,
and advertise the fact, for there are very
few soils in the south where this plant
will not succeed as well as in southern
France and Italy, where it is 50 largely
All forage crops require the
soil to be enriched, dnless on first rate
land. Gypsum is as useful to this crop
as to the common red clover.
Plenty of forage can be made with this
plant as eheaply as northern hay can be
bought at the place where Ii is grown.
After the seed is once obtained, it seeds
and the seed in the chsff are
easily saved.
The patent Office sent out this seed
largely years ago in the spring. OF
course it proved as dead failure as win
ter wheat would, sown at the same sea-
son ... aa-
We urge the culture of this and such
other forage plants as we know will sue
ceedy for, without the combination of
stock .husbandry with tillage, the south
will presently become 3 desert GuanO
islands cannot long be depended on to
supply fertility; and the most profitable
use of commercial manures is to increase
the quantity Of forage and farm-yard
manures. ... ...- r.-
BARLEY-An Experiment Worth TEzj-
the winter of 1865, cleared
a very rich piece of upland measuring
five acres, and in April, 1856, planted It
In corn. Ia October, 1866, gathered
about forty hushels Of inferior corn from
1t, owing TO the unprecedented drought
of last summer, For three nights ali the
stock / hRd-hOrses. mules and sheep
were turned upon it to denude II of its
pea vines, etc. Immediately afterwards
I broke u up thoroughly, ahd aoved
eight bushels Of barley bought in Balti- !
mOre) upon the Hve acres. A perfect |
stand was obtained, but Ia February, !
1867, at lesst one-third OF the barley died |
out, either from cold weather, or too
loose sand, or both.
As soon as the heads OF the barley |
were completely formed, began cutting I
It for my ploW stock. The bundles were /
run through Daniels straw cutter, aud /
fed to the stock AZ sbout Elk bundles each, I
daily. In a few days my horses began |
to bleed at the mouth, aud an exsmina. |
tion revealed the fact that the barley /
beard had inhsmed their gums, and !
hence the bleeding. Ny five mules TAT /
tened daily, though worked hard and !
AS the weather continued
wet and grass grew, therefore, the faster, /
could not spare the hand to cut up the !
barley, but simply threw it in the racks 7
in bundles, two bundles at a feed three /
times q day, reaping each day what /
would feed the next. In 8 few days the |
at the mouth ceased. My horses |
and mules both fattened, and as regu- !
Iarly their allowance of corn was dimin- /
ished. Yesterday the last bundle Of tar |
ley was fed off the patch, and f,r two I
weeks 1t has been perfectly ripe, though !
the stock ate stalk, head, beard snd al /
to the last. For forty iys this barley J
was fed to eight plOw Ruimals, that re-
ceived In the meantime not blade of |
fodder and though their daily rations
were az first eight quarts of corn each,
for the last two weeks they have re-
ceived but five quarts; and today they
are in better order than they were when
we began TO iced the barley, and have
not rested q day, except Sundays; for
when not blowing they were hauling
rails, wood, bricks, etc. / was advised
Dy my neighbors that ripe barley (the
beard would choke, kill, ETC., but moth
ng OF the kind has occurred. Now
what have these five acres sown in bar
ley with one-third killed in February,
been worth to me? They have saved
ne as follows.
400 lbs fodder at 81 per cwt-, $50
10 bushels corn at 81 "a per bush, Il 80
g7D
o-day the stubbIe has been plowed in,
md the land planted in corn, which viii
yield me ID. V. one hundred bushels in
october. Who that has q half acre of
pare land to the horse win not prepare
{ thoroughly this fall, and SOW 1t in bar
ey for his plow animals next spring +?
Il properly prepared, no investment can
ieolare 9 handsomer dividend than land
owed In barley for spring feeding.
Yours truly, JOHN.
We presume the barley sown was the
IL 4 /