Wilmington journal., 1876-06-23
CLOVER.
ia Essay Read I'm the Davidson
County Grange.

County Grange.
(From the Nashville Banner.)
The subject [ propose to give you
my views on is one that ought to inter
est every farmer in our country; it is
one, that # adopted, will restore our
exhausted lands to their original fel till
ty. 1t behooves us then to look around
for some means bv which we can, in a
cheap and remunerative way, grow
something on our lands that will en-
rich them, and at the same time yield
good income for both grazing and
hay. And that is red clover. It will
grow on all our lands both bills and
bottoms, rich and poor, except swampy
land, and. if that is properly drained,
will grow there; hence you see that
every farmer in our land can avail him
self of the opportunity of it's culture.
Its benefits are three fold; it breaks,
pulverizes and ameliorates the soil by
it's tap roots penetrating deep in the
coil. In fact it acts as subsoiler,
doing away to great degree with the
necessity and expense of using the
subsoiler plows. 1t furnishes cheap
food for plants as well as animals. L
am satisfied good clover lay is worth
to crop, by the fertilizing principles
it affords to the soil, at least five or
six IONS of manure to the acre.
Thus, you see, It is decidedly the
cheapest fertilizer we can use. 1t is
obtainable by farmers of small means.
Those that are not able to purchase
our costly manules. All that Is nec-
essary to accomplishth above results
is to apply 80 or 100 pounds of gyp>
sum, or land plaster, which, at the
present price, will cost $15 or $l6
per ton.
To insure a good stand of clover, at
| least ten pounds of seed should be
sown to the acre. Glover ought always
to be soWn on small grain in the spring,
if on wheat, barley or rye, it ought to
be narrowed; if on oats, rolled. The
| roller compacts the ground, and the
seeds come up more uniformly, and
much fewer perish. after the clover
comes up, SOW one hundred pounds of
plaster per acre, and I'll guarantee you
won't fail once in ten years getting a
good stand. You need have no fears
of your clover being killed by the
drouth, without it is an extraordinary
dry season. To obtain the full value
of this plan, we must cultivate 1t as a
food for our crops as we'll as our cat
tie, ana in this case we should plow it
under the second year. There Is
economy in always sowing clover with
small grain, if you had to pillow it un-
der the next year. The seed it would
take to SOW an acre of land would not
cost more than 81 25. Ordinarily the
labor of sowing is comparatively
| trihing. Its value to the next crop
would be five times that sum, to say
nothing about it's mechanical action
on the soil.
The next thing is saving the hay
The plan [ have adopted Tor fifteen or
twenty years, and have no cause to
change 1t, is when about one-half the
heads turn brown, if the weather per-
mits, l commence to NOW. All NOV
in the forenoon / rake up into wind
rows, and then put up into tall we'll
shaped cocks, let it remain there three
or four days; if the weather is fair,
longer, if cloudy. This mode gives
the hay chance to dry out uniformly.
and prevent the heads and ears from
being crisped as if they would be il
left to cure thoroughly in the sun.
Clover hay ought never to be cooked
or housed when there Is the least dew
on i. Alter remaining IN the cCcks
as above directed, [ commence haul
ing to the barn. In storing away. use
peck of salt to the ton; that toughens
the hay, and imparts sufficient salty
taste to it, which makes stock relish il
much more than they would if it Was
not salted IF [ have more hay than
eau house, [ rick it out by putting
down layer of straw, wheat. oats Oh
barley, as [ may have them, layer of
clover, sailing at the same time as
above recommended, until my rick il
completed, Gaping it off securely will
straw. The straw absorbs the evapO
ration of the clover, partaking largely
of the qualities of the hay.
If our farmers will adopt this plan
III guarantee they will always have
plenty of good hay to feed on during
the winter, and won't have to send
North for hay to supply our country