Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-07-16
FERrn11.
Glover Pho wed Under or Burn.,
Than Commercial Ear.,,.- II,

Ciover FLO wed Under or Burn.s
Than Commercial Fertilizer, "esa
An experience of over twentv
on my farm shows me that tbo es'
itself will furnish all the fert;r larry
necessary to keep it at a high st,+s
productiveness, and that clover Saas1
the only fertilizer (?) 1 need to hs'
and that l a grow, if l wish to. NY NY
general plan of management is tbis.
have seeded down in bluegrass for n,l
manent pasture enough of my l e'
which is rolling and least suitable . ~
cultivation to enable me to raise stas'
to consume the hay and corn-fodd.
and work the straw into the comnat
heap. The remainder of nv lapass
%sixty-tive acres in all, is in one cn "'u
ure, and no stock is ever turned on y
either summer or winter. On this ~
follow a rotation which brings If vi
into clover at least every third yos a.
About one-third of it is sown in WIN
each year and clover is ALWAYS snn a
with the wheat. A few acres are sora
to oats each spring; some five to eiaS,
acres planted to potatoes; five to fay
kept in timothy for meadow, and tbs
remainder is planted to corn.
The larger part of the clover does mn
stand to make a crop at all, but as if 4
not pastured after harvest we get in ali
favorable autumns as heavy a growth
as is usual in June, and then this ii
plowed down late in the 1all Vi ,ss1s
the following spring. On the pooras
part of the land we allow the clover IL
stand and cutthe first crop for hay and
either pillow under the second growth
or cut it for seed, but on twenty-liva
acres of my best land l have grown .
crop of grain or potatoes each year for
twenty years and have plowed down
ten acres of clover grown in the fall Al,
stated above. l call this raising three
crops in two years, and consider the
clover crop thus grown nearly as val.
liable as the grain crops. l conclude
after careful comparison with manure
that this fall-grown crop of clover ii
worth as much to the land as twelve
loads of manure per acre, which would
cost me in cash and labor eighteen dol.
lars, and this with no expense except
for seed and sowing, which rarely OK.
ceeds one dollar an acre and sometimes
falls below seventy-fivc cents. There
is n point in my practice which
presume will be criticised by many Of
my readers. l burn off the clover If
not plowed under in the fall. | have
experimental in this matter until | feel
well assured that this is best.
We lose no organic matter by the
burning. and | think the rains of winter
have washed most of the nitrogen into
the soil. and | find the mechanical con.
ditlon of the soil much the best where
the clover is burned. l prefer to burn
early when the land is frozen and then
the fine coat of leaves that has been
washed into the soil does not burn but
only the coars stalks. The ash make;
a fertilizer that is powerful and acts
quickly in giving the young plants a
start. In 1856, when l had a crop Of
wheat which threshed thirty-three
bushels to the acre and was cut with
cradle which necessarily left a yeryI
heavy stubble on the ground, I wished
to put the field in wheat again buA
found it impossible to pillow the stubble
under and so fired it. About half the
field burned over, but in places WHERE
the stubble was lighter it was not
burned. In two weeks after the wheat
came up one could stand at the side Of
the field and tell to a foot where the
stubble had been burned by the rank
growth and good color of the plant. 1n
another case Il field of clover had been
allowed to grow all th~e'season to pillow
under, but after worrying half a DAY
the owner gave it up and applied the
torch. The result was a yield of sixty
two bushels of wheat to the acre,
which is the heaviest yield 1 ever heard
OF in our country Waldo r. Broun,
IN ~. Y. Tribune.