American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-08-14
PlOw, Speed the PlOw 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
plowed and narrowed and worked over
and over until the entire surface soil is
firm and mellow. 1t will remunerate gen.
erously to pillow and keep plowing until
the soil is reduced to IA fine state of COM
minution. When land is overrun with
foul weeds one of the chiefobjects ofplow5
ing is to destroy this perniciOus growth.
August is one of the best months of the
entire year for exterminating noxious
weeds and bushes of any kind. If they
are cut off near the surface of the ground
nature will make a desperate effort to re-
produce another top, and the roots will
spread but little until a 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 few years, by simply moving off
season, the thistles 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 almost entire
possession of the ground. The most eff
fectual way to eradicate this noxious plant
is to cut off the tops close to the ground,
and gather all the branches and panicles
of see1intO heaps, and after they have be-
come 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, 4such belts of hedges and
torn bushes are disfiguring blotch on
the face of many fine farms, rejecting great
discredit on the reputation of the prOprie-
tor neat and efficient manager. The
most effectIlM way to exterminate such
"eye-sores'' of the farm is to remove the
fence, cut down every bush even with the
ground, and, with strong team, turn the
ground nicely over, six or eight inches
deep; after whichtlpt1the entire ground be
narrowed thoroughly three or four times.
Such severe pruning of roots and branch
es at this season of the year will injure
vegetation of any kind so seriously that
but little labor next season will utter
ly eXterminate the worst hedge on the
farm.
From the present time to the end of the
growing season let the watchword be
pillow" We have some ground that is
badly infested with sorrel and lot of
other weeds, which we. intend to pillow in
August, then in September, and again in
October. Between the pfOwings the soil
will get thorough narrowing. Such treat
ment will not only destroy every green
thing root and branch, but it will put the
field man excellent condition for seed
time next spring. Three plowings and
three harrowings will develop as much
fertility as a light dressing of barnyard
manure. Next spring not a sod nor IA clod
can be found on this platof ground. We
do not pillow enough. More than this,
when we do pillow the work is not done
neatly and thoroughly. Let us learn to
pillow better-N. Y. Herald