Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-10-20

thing In this case, as In tbe other, is I
provide some SOFT of shelter for the IAN
| ily, but as the cold weather will be oveI
| almost any kind of structure will auswe
| for the time being. A tent can be mad
at very small expense which will do yer
well untila house can be butt. IL Is n
Uncommon thing ior family going ou
in the spring TO spend the entire summe
in a tent, and thus live very comfortably
| A man in Nebraska informed me that h
reached his land rather late in the season
| II was time to commence breaking so'
when he arrived and he could not aftor'
to take time to put up even a iempolarl
| building; so he made three treslles abou
two feet nigh, put his wagon bed OF
| then, made a cover of substantial cottol
cloth, and in this himself, wife and TIVE
children slept for four months and neve
had better health in their lives. A tenn
porary shed, which he constructed In les
than halt day, did very we'll TO cool
and eat in, and so he was ready, in onI
day after his arrival TO commence p!ow-
Ing.
find that very few persons who dC
not live in prairie country know any
thing about the process OF breaking anC
ard az that matter IL somewhat connect
ed with the subject OF this letter, VIZ
the best time TO go west-and is Of the
afst Importance to every one who thinks
of going, may as we'll devote the re-
mainder OF this letter to 1t. -insns
Breaking sod may be commtnc as
soon in the spring as the grass has got a
good stari-no sooner-and continued at
long as the gress continues to e. ow, anG
no longer. my rule" said an expert
enced farmer, "is to commence breaking
as soon as an OK can get good mouth'ul
OF grass, ard to continue until the grass
has matured and ceased to grow" If il
is begun before the spring growth has
tairly commenced, the glass will not be
killed, and although The sods are turned
completely upside down, it will continue
its growth very much as ii nothing had
happened. ANY crop that may be
planted ON il will be smotheTed by the
grass, and the next season it will be
harder to bring into cultivation tha1 II 1t
had never before been plowed. But il
the grass has get fair start and is then
turned under, it dies at once, and with
all the roots speedily rots; some kinds OF
crops may be raised on it the same sea
son, and the next year 1t will bein splen-
did condition ior any kind OF crop de-
sired.
Ii the breaking is continued after the
graes has ceased growing it will not rot
at all bnt will lie there year after year,
q mass oi dry roots ana grass, rendering
cultivation almost impossible. Some
farmers say they don't think the soil ever
RECEIVERS IRON the effects Of too late
breaking. Frequently you can see in the
same fed the evidences OF too eaIly and
too late breaking. In the former tho
as If no plowlng had been done; IN the
latter the grass docs not grow, Int the
next spring when an attempt is made to
plow IL, the grass loots will turn up
about az dry nd rs little rotied as the
day they were plowcd under, and instead
OF rich, black, mellow loan the surface
will be covered with mats OF dry, tangled
roots and grass. That which was bro
ken during the proper season will, the
next spring, be completely rotted. and as
mellow rs an ash heap.
The season for breaking averages
about two months, the time Tor com
mencing varying somewhat with the lat
itude, and with the backwardness or for
wardness of the season in the same lati-
tude. In Kansas 1t commences generally
about the first OF May and cnds about
the last OF June, and as you 60 north it
begins and ends little later.
Ii is found best not 10 break the sod
too deep-from two to three inches being
the average depth. Sometimes the sod
plow is run through, turningsoVer the sod
not more than two inches IN depth, and
then Immediately following this, and in
the same iuIrow, another plow turns up
the loose earth to the depth of about
three inches. Where this Is done, tbe
yield OF the first crop-called the "sod
crop"-is generally largely increased.
The crops that may be grown on sod
thus broken are corn, potatoes, turnips,
ruta- a-bagas, white beans, and sometimes
barley does very well. You will perhaps
remember an Instance / gave in letter
some weeks ago in which =" sod crop "
OF over twenty five bushels OF barley Der
acre was raised which was sold for sixty
cents bushel. Forty bushels per acre
OF corn are sometimes grown, but such
yields are exceptionally large. The root
crops do better generslly, and i have
seen as fine potatoes and turnips grown
on sod as are usually produced anywhere.
Now 1 am well aware that to my
readers who live in prairie country tbis
letter will not be very interesting, but
they will please remember that there are
thousands OF readers in the eastern States
who know nothing about the process o.
bringing a prairie into cultivation, and Il
them nope it will be not only interest
ing but instructive. A. Z. n.
AA~AN