The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1870-12-20
Aorirultura, department.
CONDUCTED BY ALBERT CHAPMAN


From The Practical Farmer.
Rigging n PIow TO turn Under Green
Crops.
EDITOR PRAcTIcAL FARMER:
One Of your readers, r. Hecker, Of
Vineland, New Jersey, desires some d.
rections for gearing common pillow to
turn under green crops, in neat and sat
isfactory manner.
Our own practice has been to hitch one
end Of common log-chain seven or eight
feet long. to the whifiletree of the animal
that travels in,thc furrow, while the other
end was hitchcd to the plow-beam, near
the standard of the pillow, or just above
the throat. The chain need not be a
heavy one for any kind Of ploughing. The
end of the chain should be wrapped
around the beam of the pillow, until the
"bight" or bow Of the chain will drag
close to the furrow-slice as it is turning
over, and thus haul the tops of any kind
of heritage along in the furrow, just in
time to be covered. In some instances, it
is necessary to pass small rope, or a
very small chain from the right handle of
the pillow to the blight" or bow of the
large chain, and draw it back towards
the handle, so that it will constantly drag
on the furrow slice where it is turning.
In the second volume Of Todd's Young
Farmers Manuel" this subject is thor
oughly illustrated. The ploughman must
adjust and re.adjust the chain, until it
will draw every stalk and spear of grass
neatly under the falling furrow.slice.
We never found any difficulty in adjust
ing chain to drag under clover, buck.
wheat, noxious weeds of any kind, and
tall corn-stalks. Indian corn was once
sowed broadcast, at the rate of four BUSH
els per acre, on land that had been trench
ploughed, the soil Of which was exceed
ingly stubborn and cloddy. A liberal
dressing Of barn manure was ploughed
under in the spring, just before the corn
was sowed. During the latter part of
August, this green crop was turned with
common pillow and chain. The writer
was both plougbman and driver. In
many part of the field the standing stalks
by actual measure, were eight feet high
on an average. At few points they
were only four feet high. There were
only few places in all the field, where
the standing stalks were not as high as
the tops Of the heads of the horses, So
neatly was every stalk and leaf turned
under, that only now and then, the end Of
the leaf could be seen. The pillow was
adjusted to run only five inches deep. 1t
was found to turn everything under, at
that depth, more completely, than when
the implement was adjusted to run deeper.
The horse that travelled on the unplough-
ed land, would break down the stalks as
fast as they were ploughed under. More
than this, they were all bent down in the
most favorable direction for the plow to
turn them under.
A liberal dressing Of manure aud that
heavy burden Of green stalks exerted al.
most a magical effect on the texture, pro.
ductiveness and mechanical condition Of
that heavy and cloddy ground.
When renovating some old fields, we
frequently, when turning under red clover
with pillow and chain, Strengthened up
the large stalks, the tops of which were
as high as our head. But a chain pro-
perly adjusted, drew everything beneath
the furrow-slices. Noxious weeds are
often turned under, without employing a
chain. Hence, the tops frequently stick
out between the furrow-sices, and contin.
ue to grow about as well as if they had
not been ploughed up. A chain would
have drawn every leaf and and stem I'M
der the sod.
On many, many farms at this season OF
the year, there may be seen large fields
Of nozious weeds, which if neatly turned
under with a pillow and chain, would i'm.
prove the fertility Of the soil half a,
much as a crop of green clover.
SERENE EDWARDS ToDD.
Brooklyn, l.. |.