Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1877-10-04
AGRICULTURAL.
Pull VERIFYING MANURE.

narrowing his barley stubble the 9th
err day before blowing asked him
why he did so, and he said it was to
break the clods of manure as spread
from the heaps. The idea is an ex-
cellent one, and worthy Of adoption
wherever possible. A large clod of
manure has enough material to fertil-
ize ten to twenty or more whelt plants,
but if left u.broken it will probably
he reached by only one or two. The
"patchy' appearance Of wheat which
has been recently MANFRED is we'll
known, and it results from the une-
quail distribution of the manure. The
grain is uneven, some places ripening
earlier than others, and hence it can
not be harvested without loss. A
more serious matter is the waste Of the
manure itself. TO be sure, it is all in
the field and will be available some
time, but that is not what the good
farmer wants. 1t is said that it is
better to have a nimble sixpence than
a slow shilling, but in most farming
operations it is getting nimble shill.
ing or tardy sixpence. If lot of
lumpy manure is broken into pieces
one fourth as large as before, its d.
rect value is increased four fold. Be-
fore the crops have extracted the fer
tility of the dressing Of manure, the
farmer is or should be ready to sup.
ply them with more. have no
doubt that tie simple ect of harrow
ing that manure more than doubled
its value for next years wheat and
clover, and the narrowing did not
cost SO cents per acre.
Where winter grain is top-dressed
the manure is usually dragged about
in cultivating until it touches nearly
all the surface soil. What is left on
the surface has its fertilizing elements
washed into the soil as evenly as pos
sible. This is one reason why top
dressing is generally reckoned the
best method, unless the manure is
mixed with long straw which will clog
the drills in sowing.
A writer in an agricultural paper,
the Glover Leaf, gives the following
excellent observations about cutting
clover seed: l have always noticed
that whenever we found a job where
there was large yield that it was
where seed had been sown one bushel
to five or six acres mown the last days
of June, and plastered after the first
crop had been taken off. | have seen a
field when one-half had been mown
and got off before Jnly LIST, and the
balance Of the field not till two weeks
later, and the seed that was started
first yielded three and half bushels
per acre, and the balance one-half
bushel per acre; the difference three
bushels. This, you see was quite a loss
to the raiser; the hay first mown was
equally as good as that which was
mown last. | have raised seed myself
that went four and half to the acre.
| have also taken clover from the
field in three different conditions, and
laid away in the dry, for the purpose
of knowing when was the best time to
cut seed clover. The first state was
when dead ripe; second, when hand
somely brown; and third, still greener,
and, when thoroughly dry, rubbed
out the seed and put the three piles
or place and could see no difference.
That which was cut the greenest was
just as plump as that which was dead
ripe. This shows the head receives
enough sustenance from the stalk after
it is cut to mature the seed, and, when
cut little greener you can save al
most every seed. Always turn when
the dew is on, SO that the balls will
not rattle off.
TOMATO CATsUp.-As the season is
now here for making this delicious ia