The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1877-06-02
FARM AND FIREsIDE.


great improvement, says correspondent
of the Rural New Yorker, in regard to
the hay, and the pasture after the hay is
cut, 70 seed down land to timothy and
Kentucky blue grass, or June grass, as
it is also called. The June grass makes
firm sward, which is not injured by
pasturing cattle upon it in wet weather;
and it makes excellent hay either alone
or when grown with timothy. Clover
had better,,not be sown with these two
grasses, as it would be liable to crowd
them out too much. l see no good rea-
son for growing clover with any other
grass. 1t may be grown by itself quite
as profitably to farmers as to grow it with
timothy according to the old stereotyped
custom. Then, the old custom of seed
ing down land to grass with grain crop
is not now followed as closely as it used
to be in years past. The land now is
often plowed early in the spring, and
seeded down to grass with no other crop.
Early in September is better time to
seed down lands, but it will do nearly as
well in the spring, if the seed is sown
early.
The seed of June grass is generally
very chaffy, and bushel of such seed, at
least, should be sown with from four
to six quarts of timothy seed per acre.
Let the land be well narrowed, after be-
ing plowed, then SOW the seed, and
cover it with brush harrow; and then
roll the land, an operation that covers
good deal of seed that was not covered
before, and presses the earth firmly upon
it, which causes the seed to terminate
sooner than itotherwise would, especially
in dry weather. A fair crop,of hay is often
cut the first season when grass seed is
thussown, or good pasture is obtained by
August. 1t has been found by numer
GUS experiments that but very little
grass seed of any kind terminates when
covered two inches deep; therefore, or
binary harrows cover much of the seed
too deep. j..
A PERFECT MANURE.-When the
world was made, its Creator designed
that the land should be kept in good
state of fertility by stable manure alone,
consequently it was given all the ele-
ments of fertility that crops require. A
writer on the comparative value of stable
and commercial maaures says:
Average stable manure is held to
contain 0.3 to 0.6 per cent, of nitrogen,
0.4 to 0.64 per cent. Of potash, and OF to
0.3 per cent. of phosphoric acid. This is
fair proportion of the essential plant
food ingredients, and confirms the state
ment, often made, that barnyard manure
is complete manure. So it is, as all
practice shows, and when produced on
the farm tits the most economical. But
the above figures show that, at Is cents
per pound for potash, and 5 cents per
pound for nitrogen, u cents per pound
for potash, and 5 cents per pound for
phosphoric acid-the price these sub
stances are worth in stable manure in
comparison with them in more available
forms in commercial msnures-the value
of a cord of stable manure, weighing %
tons, is about $780,"
SCARECRows. The first and best is
supended looking-glass. Take two small,
cheap mirrors, fasten them back to back,
attach a cord to one angle, and hang
them to an elastic pole. When the glass
swings in the SUMS rays, they are reflected
all over the field, even if it be large one,
and even the oldest and bravest of
crows will depart precipitately should
one of its lightning flashes fall on him.
The second plan, although terror to
crows, is especially well suited to fields
subject to the inroads of small birds and
even chickens. 1t involves an artificial
hawk, made from big potato and
long goose and turkey feathers. The
maker can exercise his initiative skill in
sticking the feathers into the potato so
that they resemble the spread wings and
tail of the hawk. 1t is astonishing what
a Notwithstanding bird of prey can be
constructed from the above simple
materials. 1t only remains to hang the
object from tall, bent pole, and the
wind will do the rest The bird will
make swoops and dashes in the most
headlong and threatening manner.
Even the most inquisitive of venerable
hens have been known to hurry rapidly
from its dangerous vicinity, while to
small birds it carries unmixed dismay.