Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-08-16

From the Massachusetts Ploughmsn.

The work OF hnyiug is well nigh over and
We can begin TO think OF something else
The season promises to be fairly prosperous
Pears will Weld short crop and SO vii
grapes, but we shall have apples enough IL
make up. The hay crop WAS good and corr
is looking well with an area much larger
than usual
Most farmers leave more or less weeds tC
mature their seeds among the potatoes and
the corn. This makes bad work. We know
lots where. this year, the work Of cultlyatlng
crops is at least double what 1t should be, on
account of allowing the weeds to shed a my
Rad OF seeds last year. Now IT is good
plan, and in the end If is good economy, &c
go through the fields and pull up the tall
weeds before they ripen and shed the seeds.
A day 5 work III this way may save q half q
dozen days labor next year, TO say nothing
of improving the growth of the crops. Ii
your fields are covered with the oX-eye daisy.
wouldn't it pay to plough it in deep ana
manure we'll: That will root it out If the
work Is thoroughly done, and We know Of no
better way of getting nd of 1t.
BY going over the stubble lands with the
harrow, the seeds of weeds that have been
scattered will soon germinate, when the
plough will easily kill them. Any way to
destroy weeds is better than none. and 1t is
worth trying.
August is comparatively leisure month.
Not that there is not enough to do, but that
the work of haying is over, as general
thing, and the harvesting Of other crops is
not yet pressing. There is time to dig few
bitches, to lay few drains, and to clear up
a few bushes in the pasture. We took occa-
sion, short time ago, to alude to the shrubs
and bushes along the old walls. You can do
something at clearing up these, can't you
la haa md oil
these walls that is not touched by the plough
aud other tools 1t has been left there, year
after year, for nobody knows how long
What a lot of good loan for compost you
might dig out here, and at the same time
how much neater it would make the old wall
look That is a fine meadow down there.
Couldn't it be got into cranberries They
pay better than any other crop, and If they
cost something at the outset, IT won't be
long before you will get it back again. To
get cranberries in well, you should take oil
the top sod or turf and remove it to the bor-
der OF the meadow where it may be piled up
to winter, which will prepare 1t in the best
manner for the COW yard. This Is an expen-
sive job in many places, especially on those
lands that can be ploughed, but then it will
give an enormous quantity of stuff fol the
yard, and many farmers think it will pay for
removing. Then you want TO get on an inch
or two OF sand or gravel Of the two we are
inclined TO think gravel the best. Perhaps
You can't get this on now. If the surface Is
soft 1t would be difficult, and 1t might be
cheaper to let the surface freeze and then
gravel it, say the latter part Of December, or
upon the ice in winter.
In spring you can 60 ahead setting ont the
vines, and if they arc taken care of for
year or two, you ought TO get pretty good
crop the third year.
The cranberry will probably always be a
paying crop. The demand for it is con-
stantly increasing, and We see no reason to
suppose it will not be higher ten years hence
than 1t is now.
1t is a good time to get out few of those
rocks that have bothered 10 much in the
moving lot. We have known a moving
machine to be injured to the extent OF five
or ten dollars by rock that might have been
removed in five minutes 1t pays now to
clear up those old fields and suppose you
take the crow-bar, and the pick. and the
spade, end try few of the bonlders. If
you can't easily get them ont, perhaps you
can sink them beneath the plough. Any
way to get nd of them, and now Is the timo
to consider how it may be done.
As to the bushes IN the pasture IT Is not
an easy matter to get nd OF them. Still by
sticking to them they will gradually disap-
pear under the stub scythe, and the pasture
will carry more stock and better We CON-
slider this one of the most important after
haying Jobs, on many Of our New England
farms, though to the lasting credit of many
good farmers, il must be said that their pas
lures are always kept in good condition.
Ploughing for winter grains and for fall
seeding may go forward this month. Don't
fail to do this in the most thorough manner.
Especially should lands that are to be seeded
down to grass be cultivated well. 1t does
not pay TO lay down land poorly. II may
have to grow grass for years, and there is the
trouble with the moving, year after year,
the wearing upon the patience, and the try
ing of the temper, all Of which you can now
prevent by a little extra care.
Every farmer ought to have II good roller.
II need not be a very expensive one. 1t need
not cost fifty dollars, like that splendid and
heavy one that you saw i'll the warehouse the
other day, but some kind of roller every
good farmer ought to have, and he ought to
use it too, on his new seeded lands at the
time of laying them down, and on his old
moving lands every year, as early IN the
spring az IT Is possible to get on with cattle
without ''poaching."
II makes n wonderful difference in the
growth OF the grass, to say nothing OF pres
sing down the loose stones that may have
been brought to the surface by the frost.
You can take few drag plank, such as
you would use for making a stone-boat or
drag, but shorter, and give them more
pitch or inclination than the drag usually
has, so as to prevent clogging BY loading
on few stones to give it the required weight
1t makes a very good roller, that is. IT per
forms the work Of the roller in giving per
fectly smooth and level surface Try it and
you will find it works exceedingly we'll.
Don't forget to build up that compost heap.
The droppings in the cow-yard need to be
covered up or otherwise protected from these
hot SUNS 1t is astonishing how much may
be saved by carefully looking after these
little details. Indeed the thrift of a farmer
may be said to depend upon them. 1t ls a
source of great satisfaction to see every thing
looking neat and tidy about the house and
the yard, about the barn and the fences.
1t is about time to think of feeding up any
animals that you intend to fatten this fall.
The same amount and quality of food goes
farther now than it will later in the season.