Connecticut western news., 1873-10-03
Farm, Garden and Household.
Seeding a Side HilI.

How am to prepare for Q clover lot,
 the side of high, gravelly hill, red
 clay subsoil, from which the original
 forest has just been cut |? Reply by the
 Hon. George Geddes
 This hillside must be covered with
 stumps, and is probably wanted for a
 pasture, and the owner wishes to get it
 into grass, and supposes that clove,
 be the best crop to raise. Giving advice
 based upon this supposition, it would
 be to SOW the ground this Fall with
 wheat or rye, and SOW with the grain o1
 soon after 1t is sown four to six quarts
 of timothy seed and as much orchard
 grass on each acre, and next spring,
 just as the frost is leaving the ground,
 follow with six quarts of clover seed.
 The crop of wheat or rye can be har-
 rowed in among the stumps, and tol-
 erably good seed bed formed, and the
 three kinds of seed will, in all proba-
 blhty take" on this new ground, and
 after the grain crop is harvested the
 grasses and clover will cover the whole
 surface. In time the roots of the stumps
 will rot away and natural grasses will
 come in aid of those sown, and a per-
 manent pasture will be had on the
 ground never plowed The question
 comes in such form that I am led to
 inform the inquirer that red clover is
 not perennial, and that she can only
 look for two years full growth from it.
 By using gypsum (plaster) on the field
 and not feeding it off very close, but
 allowing some of the clover to perfect
 its seed, there will some plants be found mixed among the grasses of the field always, but they will be but a small part of the whole crop of pasture or hay, whichever use may be made of the feld. Red clover IS a plant that seeds down into soil, @ long tap root, but never covers the surface with dense sod, as do the natural grasses thus 1t IS always best to SOW some of the grasses with tbe clover seed, when 1t is intended that the field should not be very soon plowed. White clover is a plant of quite different habits, and has fbrous roots that do not reach far into the ground. Here fields keep in perma- nent pastures and plastered abound in white clover that comes, no man knows how, but here it is in great abundance, and makes the best of pastures for COWS giving milk. I have had pastures that were nearly as white, when the clover was in full bloom, as when coy- cred with snow, and I never sowed any seed of white clover, nor has any other person, on the land. But plaster had been freely used and the land lightly pastured.
 Feed for Producing MILK.
 The Practical Farmer says "It is we'll settled in the opinion of our best dairymen that bran greatly promotes the milk secretion in COWS, and it is fed almost universally. About equally mixed with corn meal it promotes both quantity and quality of milk. From several sources we hear that buckwheat bran is great milk producer, and is now being used among our Chester county dairymen, in about the same proportions as the other" Thomas Gawthrop, near West Grove, Chester county, also by repeated trials with his own COWS has fully satisfied himself that they do as we'll with corn and cob | meal and bran as with pure corn meal and bran. The amount of nutriment in corn -cobs is so very small that this. re. suit will have to be explained on the supposltion of the ground cob acting to promote digestion by distending the stomach. The presence of bulky ma- terlal being necessary to promote dis tension and to fill up the stomach of ruminating animals, before perfect di- gestion can be accomplished, is ire quently lost sight of. Hungarian grass IS also found for milch COWS to be rather superior to the ordinary run of hay. Ihe, last year or two Hungarian grass mas ioomed up wonderfully in the esti- nation of our dairy farmers and large scope of land will be sowed with It the coming season. It natures for cutting in about sixty days, and pro- ances two to four tons per acre-the atter or course on good soils Three pecks to the acre IS the usual allowance of seed. Where good hay market is convenient, the substitution of Hun ] yarian grass for common hay in home feeding will be clear additional source of profit.
 Green Food for Fowls.
 The last requisite in the shape of diet , IS regular supply of green food. Here, , igaln, 1owls Kept on grass will need no | lttentlon but for birds penned up, , me dally provision is an absolute neces- \ 'lty, though most beginners are ignor- < mt of it. We we'll remember. in onr ,wn early experience, how our fowls lied; we could not at first tell why. md one fine buff Cochin cock. whose 'nly fault was strong vulture-book vas, ln particular, greatly repretted An experienced friend let us into tbe ecret; and after that we had no diff ulty in keeping fowls, even where it is 'ften said they cannot he kept in health 'lz.: In yard paved with larpe fat tones. The best substitute for natu- . al grass is large fresh turf thrown z lally to each four or five hens: and ven In towns it Is possible to procnre 5 his, by giving children a few pence : very week to keep a regular supplv !. Where turf Is not allowed to be taken rass may be cut or pulled but in this ase must be cut into green chaff with hears or chaf machine. The latter 'lan IS how we actually managed for t ears ln a yard only 67 by 35 feet, di- VI lueo Into SIX pens paying some child ~ 1ew pence to bring fresh cut grass ', al!y' cutting 1t up and miping it with Ii nelr soft meat Wright's Neav t9erinI VI '!
 Pure Peruvian Guano. t, Ihis IS undoubtedly the best com P lerclal mahure farmer can buy, as it n ontalns the largest amount of ammonia II alts, readily available to plants. with o1 nough phosphate of lime in a soluble Q, ondltlon for growing plants but the ol Iuanape guano now substituted as the ,, eruvian, fails in supply, and although b nported by the agents of the Peruvian fl overnment, IS of variable quality, and tt sneraIy deficient in ammonia. The 1T 1vlce of J. B. Lawes, the great er- o[ ol erlmenter of Rothhamsted, now is to c( lbstltute nitrate of soda and snner- -, =, hosphate of lime for Peruvian guano !r p producing the same effect at cheaper to Ite. 'PeA G G0
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