The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-07-08
Agricultural department.
CONVICTED BY ALERT CHAPMAN.
Manuring with Clover.
By hon. 6roRGE oEnDEs.

Of the writer's operations
He has field oi ten acres, that for
four years has been 10 wheat and clover.
alternately taking off crop Of hay and
blowing in the second crop Of clover, and
sowing wheat on the deep.plowcd and
well.6tted ground, and again seeding with
clover; so far, very like the operations
of many wheat raisers in western New.
York, and using, as they do. gypsum
tplastei) GU the clover. But with this
is connected very complex system Of
special manuriDg, that renders it quite
difficult to suy just what thing, or in
what manner. anything does the good.
In 1871, "a fair crop Of clover was plow-
ed UNDER and about IS bushels of fresh
slakcd lime applied per acre, on the pow.
cd surface which was well narrowed IN
lust before drilling the wheat. No fer
iilizers were used except about 200 lbs
Of salt, ashes and plaster per acre So"p
in the spring when the clover seeu was
sovnr The crop Of wheat averaged a.
bont 1s bushels per acre, aud was little
Ii the writer of the letter thinks be.
cause the salt and plaster were sown in
the spring instead Of the fall before. The
catch of clover was only medium, the sea-
son being dry. Ia 1872. the clover was
dressed with one bushel Of plaster aud
ashes each to the acre, and the 18th of
june fair crop of hay was cut. The
after crop was very heavy, so much so
that it could only be plowed under by
first moving it and drawing it into the
burrows by hand labor" The blowing
was fully ten inches deep-the ground
then " clod.crushed and narrowed until it
was as fine as garden" On the 18th
aud 10Th days of September, IT'S pounds
of phosphate was applied on each acre
leaving some strips on The best part Of
the field on which no phosphate was sown
1t was all top-dressed with one bush.
81 Of plaster and one bushcl of salt, aud
two Of ashes per acre, when the wheat
was two inches high" Thus all but the
strips left in sowing the phosphates had
tho benefits growing out of all the man.
ures, and these strips had all but the
phosphates.
The letter from which these facts are
derived is dated the Goth of April, 1878
and reports the then condition of the CROP
as follows " Where the phosphate was
applied, the wheat is looking finely, and
promises to yield 80 bushels to the acre
The strips net fertilized with the phos
phate will not make more than I or 8, il
that" The winter and spring is stated
in the letter TO have been very severe or
wheat" so severe that wheat sowr
broadcast is almost an entire failure.
Clover is generally very much injured by
the unfavorable weather of spring
The writer asks, d" Now where did
mako the mistake with the land ?"
l have submitted this very interesting
letter to several Of my neighbors, WHOSE
opinion in the matters treated of | an
accustomed to regard highly, and aideC
by their advice, venture to say tina
Flowing under the very heavy crop o
clover last fall, ten inches deep, put i
beyond the reach Of the crop of whea
during The period of its early growth, ant
up to the date of the letter the clover ha'
not been reached by the roots of tn
wheat, aud if it had, decay of the Glove
had not progressed far enough to make i
available as food for the wheat. So D
hid was given BY the clover during til
very critical period through which tn
wheat has passed, and the plaster, sal
and ashes were Of very little if any us
during this stage Of the growth Of til
wheat. In fact, it is disputed poir
whether either plaster or salt is Of an
value as fertilizer of wheat, except tina
on come soils credit is given the salt i
the stitfeniDg Of the straw. The sma
quantity Of ashes would be of little valu,
so far as my experience in its use tcache
on wheat, though on Indian corn l hay
found it Of just about the same value {
plaster, bushel for bushe. So the cas-
appears TO be narrowed down to this
The very severe weather of winter an
spring destroyed nearly all wheat nj
treated to the phosphates, and on drile
wheat the phosphate did save the crop.
The chemist would probably say tn,
this land required phosphates more tina
anything else, and if one experiment ca
be considered as proving anything in a,
ricutnral matters, why should not all
us say so too?
Long since l learned not to pillow nj
nure deep under the soil, but rather
keep it near the top, and on top, rath
than ten inches under--and l have see
the same result as that stated in the le
ter from blowing deep down heavy ere
Of clover-thc crop Of wheat immediate
following was apparently in nowise ben
fitted by the furrow full of clover.
| believe in deep blowing of hea,
soils, but not in putting manure in Il
bottom of such burrows as are made
deep blowing Once deeply plowed q
avoiding the establishment Of a sort
floor at any particular depth, caused
the pressure of the bottom of the pic
where several plowings follow each 9th
at the same depth), the roots of plan
especially Of clover will 60 down and a
propriate the plant food required. On
| manured summer fallow from Il
barnyard, and plowed the manure und
ouly four inches the next time pillow
the same field eight inches deep, tn
sandwiching the yard manure between ty
4-inch slices Of soil The first crop
wheat that followed was large, but I
definitely determined the second W
kept by itself, aud averaged Al BUSH
to the acre.
As my correspondent asks for advi
in addition to what l have said l adv
the use Of phosphates, leaving strips,
he did in the case reported, and mark t
result, and act accordingly So l wo,
apply my plaster, salt and ashes, separ'
f'e'H s"oh other. and also combined, a
leave strips that had none OF these spec