The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-08-21
pIow Speed the Piow and Keep Flowing

Not one farmer in 10000 plows his ground
half enough. Hence light crops. On large
majority of farms the tillable ground consists
largely of sods and clods, whereas the entire
seed.bed should be pl0wed ard narrowed and
worked over and over until the entire sur
face soil is firm and mellow. 1t Will remun
crate generously to plow and keep blowing
until the soil is reduced to Il fine state OF COM
minution. When land is overrun with foul
weeds one of the chief objects of blowing is
to destroy this perncious growth. August
is one Of the best months of the entire year
for discriminating noxious weeds and bushes
of any kind. If they are cnt oil near the SUI
face Of the ground nature will make a des-
perate effort - reproduce another top, and
the roots will spread but little until new
stem and leaves have attained a medium size,
when the roots, if it is the habit OF the plant
to spread by the roots, Will begin to push IN
every direction and to send up new stems.
This is particularly true with the Canada
thistle. If the top is moved off close to the
ground the roots will spread slowly, and in a
few years, by simply moving off the top
three times during the growing season, the
thlstles will be so effectually subdued that in
grass ground they will give but little trouble.
There are many other kinds Of weeds that
farmers should NOW off, cut up, or pull up
during the present month. The horseback,
in some portions of the country, has taken al.
most entire possession of the ground The
most etfectual way to eradicate this noXious
plant is to cut off the tops close to the ground,
and gather all the branches and panlcles OIL
seed into heaps, and after they have become
dry burn them. When the young plants first
appear they should be pulled when the ground
is wet. On many farms the borders of the
fields are lined with complete hedges of bull
thiStles, briers, shrubs and elder bushes,
which root out all the grass, thus rendering
the ground utterly worthless for anything
useful. More than this, such belts of hedges
and torn bushes are a dsfgurlng blotch on
the face of many fine farms, rejecting great
discrcdit on the reputation of the proprietor
as a neat and efficient manager. The most
efectual way to exterminate such "eye sores"
of the farm Is to remove the fence, cut down
every bush even with the ground, and, with a
strong team, turn the ground nicely over, six
or eight inches deep; after which let the en-
tire ground be narrowed thoroughly three or
four times. Such a severe pruning Of roots
and branches at this season of the year Will
lnjure vegetation of any kind so seriously
that but little labor next season will utterly
eXtermnate the worst hedge on the farm.
From the present time to the end of the
growing season let the watchword be "plow."
We have some ground that is badly infested
with sorrel and "A lot of other weeds, which
we intend to pillow in August, then in Septem-
Der, and again In October. Between the
plowlngs the soil will get a thorough har-
rowing. Such treatment will not only des-
troy every green thing, root and branch, but
it will put the field in an excellent condition
for seed time next Spring. Three plowingS
and three harrowings will develop as much
fertility as light dressing of barnyard man
ure. Next spring not a sod nor a clod can
be found on this plat Of ground. We do not
pillow enough. More than this, when we do
pillow the work is not done neatly and thor
oughly. Let us learn to pillow better.--N. \.
Heral0.