Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-01-23
MuIching Grain in Winter.

| WITHIN the past few years the old ideas
| in regard to many farm operations have
been discarded, and new and more pro-
grcssive ones taken their places Not
many years since it was almost the uni
versal practice to bury all kinds of ma
nures in the soil, as it WAS thought that
to leave them on the surface would cause
loss of the greater part Of their valua-
! BILE properties, which no doubt some
times occurs with very volatile kinds of
manure, when applied during long
drouths.
But experiments conducted for the pur-
pose have shown that the soluble as well
as volatile portions of nearly all the ma
terials used for enriching land. are car
ried down by rains and dews and absorb
ed by the soil, instead of passing off
into the atmosphere; therefore it is not
necessary to bury manures deeply to in
sure the best results. Another old notion
formerly quite prevalent among farmers
was, that they required a large amount of
coarse manures with heavy soils in order
to make them light, porous, and congenial
to the growth Of plants; but this was
only an expensive substitute for subsoil-
ing and understanding, now SO extensive
ly practiced in all clay and other heavy
| soils.
| Instead of breaking up meadows and
pastures every few years, in order to en-
rich the land and make it produce a
heavy crop of grass, the practice now
with all good farmers is 20 top-dress with
coarse or fine manure whenever it is re-
CURED. Where barn yard manure can be
obtained, it is, no doubt, the best mate
rial for this purpose ; but almost any veg
etable substance may be used with bene-
fit as a mulch for grass in winter. Straw,
| coarse hay, leaves, sawdust, or anything
that will shade the ground and prevent
alternate freezing and thawing will do
more Or less good, and i've beneficial re-
suits. The richer the materials used the
better; still, those containing no percep-
tibie amount of plant food produce good
results in localities where the ground
freezes in winter, but is not covered with
snow. If we cover a plot of grass with
old newspapers in the fall, and keep them
on all winter, we find that the grass thus
protected starts earlier in spring, and
makes a much more vigorous growth
than roots adjoining left uncovered. The
scientist may point out to us the reason
why this is SO but the fact is the main
| thing which interests the farmer, and
when he knows that certain operations
| produce certain beneficial results, he
should not fail to employ them whenever
and wherever possible.
| We think it has been proved to the sat
isfaction of all who have tried the expert
ment, that there is no better way of i'm
proving meadows and pastures than by
| top-dressing them in autumn. And if
this be true, Dpd we think no one will
| doubt it, then why not practice the same
thing with winter wheat and rye, as both
are true grasses and are benefited as much
by slight protection in winter as those
| species exclusively cultivated for hay or
| pasturing. In the Middle and many of
the Western States the winters are often
severe, being dry and cold with no snow
upon the ground to protect winter grain :;
consequently losses occur which might
| be in a great measure avoided if the
! coarse waste materials Of the farm were
saved and applied as mulch to these
crops.
| In prairie countries where winter grain
usually suffers more than elsewhere from
exposure to cold, dry weather in winter,
there is seldom any lack of materials for
mulching; for low prairie grasses usually
abound, and the cost of gathering this
waste material and spreading it over the
wheat fields in autumn could not fail to
be a profitable investment. In exposed
localities, where the winds are unob-
structed in their course by woods or
hedges, it would be necessary to have
this grass partially decayed before it is
applied, to prevent its blowing away.
We know that many will object to this
suggestion On account OF cost, but let
! every farmer try the experiment on a