The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1873-05-09
Faruers' Club.

Inc CualEs AALiAuSoo VI ftohAoho NNN-e'
and adopted.
DR.. Ferguson asked tho opinion Of the club
in regard to sending delegate to the Agri-
cultural Congress, which is to meet at Indian
apolis. The Delegate could go at half
fare.
Mr. Amsden said it seemed more than usu-
ally important; very many Clubs in Ohio, In
diana, Illinois and other States are sending
delegates.
DIR. Ferguson was afraid they could not get
any one togo.
Mr.. Tucker moved that committee of
three be appointed te draft resolutions to send
to the congress. Carried.
The Chair appointed N. R. Tucker, A. H.
Balsley, and Z. w. Amsden, said committee
Mr.. Amsden then read letter from Hon.
c. Foster, in regard to garden seeds, and
opened package sent to the club for distri-
button. He also read letter acknowledging
the receipt of money sent by the Club to the
Farmers Congress. He advised sending for
tho Agricultural Reports of 1872, which can
now be had only through our State Senator.
The club favored sending for ss many as could
be obtained for its use.
The President announced the subject for
discussion: Grasses, their cultivation and
use, and called for remarks.
Mr.. Amsden said he had proposed the ques-
ton thinking we should meet sooner that now.
At the present price of hay, the subject of
grasses is important There are many grasses
with which We are not much acquainted,
which thrive well in the shade and would be
excellent for our wood lots. He spoke of Or
chard grass and Scotch Grass, kind Of peren-
NAL rye, and said that two pounds of clover
to ten of the rye would make good mixture
for seeding our groves; would afford good pas
ture and make fine lawn. On the Ohio
river they sow different varieties, some earlier
and some later.
Mr.. Tucker said that clover and timothy
are our main grasses; clover for pasture and
for the benefit of the land is the best crop; for
feed in winter timothy is the best. Clover is
one of the best fertilizers, and makes good hay
for cattle timothy is the best hay for horses,
but both are better than any other grasses we
can grow. He sowed clover in the spring af- |
ter the frost is out of the ground, Some think |
frost kills the early sown clover, but he thought
there was more danger from the effects Of
drouth on that sown late. Frost sometimes |
does harm but drouth much oftener. He SOW
ed timothy in August and September, natures |
seed time. II sowed with wheat it should be /
soWn about two OF three weeks later than the
wheat so that the wheat could get sufficient |
start. Red Top is best sown on wet ground
where timothy will not grow.
Mr.. Bowlus sowed timothy in the fall, on |
ground well cultivated and thoroughly pull
verized; for the better the ground is prepared |
the better will be the meadow; and then in
the spring he sowed on clover. A timothy /
meadow should not lie over two or three years
in sod. Ifmixed with clover, the first profits
will be chiefly from clover, but the second
and third mowings will be the best, mostly
timothy; after that it wont pay. The practice
of keeping meadow six or seven years in sod |
don't pay.
Mr.. Spieldenner had helped neighbor cut |
a meadow for sixteen or eighteen years in
succession, with an increase in the yield each |
year, but the meadow was never pastured |
closely. Some thought our reapers kill the
grass, but he thought close cropping, especially |
by sheep, was far worse. Timothy makes ex-
eellent pasture for sheep, but they should not |
be put on too early.
Mr. Amsden asked the opinion of the club |
in regard to sowing corn for fodder. He saw
it practiced in the south, and is going to try |
it. There they cow It in the middle of May. /
They mark out with culti7ator, three feet /
apart and put about twelve kernels to the /
foot in the row. They cultivate only twice. /
The grass never troubles them afterwards. In
August, when it begins to show sighs of ear
ing, they cut it up in rows, bind it in small
bundles, and cure it in the shade. 1t makes /
the best and cheapest fodder ever saw. 1t /
is excellent for mich cows. There is nothing /
better. They raised the common corn, but
sweet corn is the best One acre of good corn
fodder is worth five or six of pasture, and it |
will pay better to keep cows up and feed fod-
der than to pasture. For winter feed they |
stow away their hay and fodder together in
alternate layers, layer of hay then one of
fodder. This prevents mould, and improves
both. On account of our wet weater oats will |
be late, and it will pay well to raise fodder
this spring.
Mr.. Tucker wished to say word more in
regard to Timothy. Farmers generally let it |
get too ripe. II it is cut before it is ripe it |
will sprout again, and the meadow viii not be
injured.
DIR. Ferguson thought there was no other
subject of more importance to the farmer now,
than that of grasses and their use, and of all
grasses clover is the best Without clover
farming would be up hill business. It is good
for pasture It is good for hay. have some
in my barn that would sell for twenty dollars |
ton. Glover makes the best hay. Some one
said it was not good for horses. say it is the |
best hay You can use for horses, if it is cut |
early and properly cured. We do not cut it |
soon enough. We wait until the heads are
two-thirds dead. If we cut it green and cure |
it well, it will make excellent feed, and horses |
will eat it before any other kind of hay. Mr. |
Petty, of New York, says that clover is better
than any other grass, and that 20 pounds of
clover hay is worth 100 pounds of timothy,
and believe it. Our farmers here raise clover,
timothy and red top, and they think timothy |
is the main grass, and that it is superior to |
clover, but don't believe it. Clover is best |
for your horses, and for your cattle, and for
your sheep, and you cannot dispense with clo- |
yer for manure. We cannot make enough |
barnyard manure, for all our land, we must |
plow under clover. 1 will take any poor, run
down farm in Sandusky county, and restere |
it by the use of clover only, as a fertilizer. |
We usually SOW clover in the spring, on wheat, |
bushel to eight acres. Last year 1 cut about |
80 acres OF fclover for hay, and cut it in the |
fall for seed. This spring it comes up nicely, |
and intend to cut it again for hay. We can |
continue to cut clover as long as it does not |
freeze out. 1t usually freezes out the third |
winter. The long tap roots which run down |
to the depth of ten inches, and sometimes |
two feet, and which are SO useful to fertiIize |
the soil and make it porous, are lifted by the |
action Of the frost, and when the ground set |
ties in the spring, they are left sticking out. |
This is what kills the clover.
June grass is not fit for hay, but it is good
for pasture We want some permanent pas
lures, and we can not rely on clover or timo-
thy for that We can not turn stock on them
in wet weather Onr stock would tramp it
all up and Kill it out. For permanent pas
lures We want june grass, white clover or