Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-08-03
THE TUCKAHOES.
AaoN1Hlv MEETING or THIS FAMOUS
fARMeRY CLUB.
~The Beat Crops for spring-soiiinS" Ably
Discusssd-Intsresting Report Con-
oerning Mt. Chamblin's Farm
gror the DIspntch.l

Y II
aav last At the farm of Judge B. A. Han
cock. in Chesterfield county about Two
miles from tho city Of Manchester, on the
Midlothian pike.
A very agreeable change in the appear
ancc of this farm has taken place since IL
has been owned by the Judge. IL was
crown up in woods and small brush "heh
10 took posscssion OF il, but by hard work
snd perseyerapce everything has been
changed. The neat brick nousc, conino-
dions ont. bindings. fields Of grass, and the
board fence enclosing the farm prove how
he has prospcrcd.
Mr.. James Il. Winston, IN the absence OF
the president, Professor Il. Puryear, was
called 70 preside over the club. when no
did 10 a very acceptable manner.
Tho order of the day. THE Best CROPS
for Snrinc Soiling." was called and Nr. Will
diam +. Wickham read the following paper;
"rHE BEST cRors FOR SPRING soILiNG."
The question for discussion to-day. 1.-The
Best Crop for Spring Soiling:" is one OF the
utmost importance. Every farmer knows,
more or less, the feeling of seeing ms nay
and fodder get painfully few, whne
tho pastures will not hurry with their
spring garments. We want something 10
oil that interim. You see am addressing
system and those who wish 70 help their
hay-stacks and give the stock green FOOD
a i,,,ie ahead of time. The question Is a
Gttle problemafical. take 1T to mean.
however. what is the best crop and how 10
raise il. The earliest crop, of course, 10
rye. seeded IN September. but az best that
"A A very poor food. in fact: think II the
poorest we have. 1t has very little strength,
and as it is necessary to continue TO
l. Wit '
little. Milk from COWS fed on rye
~ undoubtedly weakened" The chief
benefit Of feeding on rye Is the change OF
food. giving sort OF tone" TO the sys-
tem-similar TO the Hanover watermelon
IN the human race-nice, excellent. cell
cious, and two dozen more adjectives; but
] don't think would either care to live on
vaterinelons alone for couple OF weeks or
to have my cows live on rye for the same
spsce of time. Rye is also Just little dan
Rerous. Ii comes in just when we'll
regulated COW is shedding, and the proba-
bility is that the dairyman either from
Heayen-sent pity for the poor cow because
abe does seem 10 want lust little more.
20 much or more likely from pure careless
ness or cussedness. will give her little TOO
much, and will then come and wake YOU up
in the middle of cold, sleety night with
"Suky is mighty sick. sab, and groanih
much weight per acre a. some other crops
not, however, A. carly-but II does not ex-
haust the soil much. and comes OF IN time
TO plant any other crop you choose. SOW
some rye by all means, Ult let your main
dependence be German clover (trifotWl
fnayna,uDs), which is the next crop 10 come
IN. Just here | would like. to esk II any
one present has any experience with Iu-
esne. ! have heard somewhere that the
/. ..tst nj
having never succeeded IN getting q stand
OF the thing. can't tell much about
it. But whether it comes as early
or not don't think 1t can oe
much better. / am surprised that 1t
Is not more spoken Of In agricultural works.
Croer and Henderson do not mention 1t
ut all. l.. W. Stewart IN Feeding AMI
mails" merely gives the composition
without carrying out the nur,tire ratio or
cdils. Josiah Quincy IN "Soliing or Cat
tie" does not speak Of II. Henry Stewart
does not give il as one of the soiling crops.
in the "Dairvman's Manual. am the
more surprised at the lstter's not speaking
of il. as he has famed many years IN the
South. where believe it tourlshes more
than in the North. Still IL is most excel
lent feed for COWS. horses. sheep. hogs, and
all the other animal ills farm Is herr unto
il is ready for use about four weeks ahead
of red clover and Is more than three-fourths
US good a food. This year my cows
improved little when j got TO the red
clover. but attributed that partly to the
fact tina: the German clover had gotten very
old aud hard. Six acres (three OF which
were poor land) of German clover fed
sixty-odd head of cattle, beside three
horses and several hogs, for little the rise
of FIVE weeks and gave them all, think,
a plenty. A nelghbor from one acre fed
~ .,oro a,l onxxu Cor fbraa weeks more.
All through the trucking district here you
will see patches of it, both for use on the
farm and for sale in Richmond. | started
feeding on il this year April 10th, about
one week sooner than last. Here L reckon
il would be nearly q week sooner than
with me. We can safely say, therefore,
that If German clover is not the best crop
for spring soiling 1t is mighty good one.
will now briefly state a way OF cultl-
waiting it which has been successful with
me, Get piece of rich land. II YOU
haven't got il, make IT so if you possibly
can't will pay. One acre OF really rlch
land will give as great q yield as three or
moor. and will cost less. Land which has
been ploughed within a year Is rather the
best, though have had q good crop on
clover fallow. Plough the land III July and
harrow fine; about the middle of August
harrow again. Sow the seed broadcast and
roll. II the ground is very dry harrow
the seed in lightly. Get good seed
md SOW from eight to ten pounds
per acre. If the land is moist
or a RAIN comes in a few days you will get
a good stand. II drought comes you
won't you will have, however, the COM
forting assurance that that was your mis-
fortune, Lot your fault. 1t Will do no
harm to top-dress during the winter. The
practice among many OF nv countrymen
Is TO SOW turnips at the same time-the
two crops do not InterfeIe-the turnlps
coming of in the tall. In that case |
should certainly advise top-dresslng. L
am trying an experiment with q couple
of acres this year. German clover
does not mako second growth,
but some of the smaller heads es-
cape the mower and many that are cut
are left on the TT lund. The last two acres
/ cut the seed was nearly ripe. ! let tho
land out, wondering If II would seed itself.
was gratiiied yesterday to see that the
rains lad caused many seed TO .germinate.
Whether or not the plants VIII reach the
ground and live can't vet say.
One more word and Pm done Don't sow
more than you wish TO feed green tyou can
count on ten TO twelve tons DER acre., as by
observation and hearsay lind the hay to
be very poor.
The subject was fully discussed by
Messrs. William +. Wickham, Frank Guy:
Thomas Pinckney, III. Swineford, and
others. who thought that German clover
vas one of the best crops for spring soil
ing. aud that rye and millet could also DO
used.
Mr.. cHAMBIIS's rABM.
The following report on the farm of Mr.
II. CLAY Chamblin was then read by Judge
Il. A. Hancock:
The club held its MAY meeting at the
farm Of Mr.. II. CLAY Chamblin, which is To-
Gated in Chesterfield county on James
river, just below tho city Of Manchester.
The dwellng-hous Is comfortable. con-
venient. and commodions, and is supplied
with water from picturesque tower III the
lawn, which sends the flowing current into
all the rooms of the house.
The beautiful grassy plateau upon which
the house is built rises suddenly from the
level and fertile lowlands and commands
magnificent view of James river about
half OF q mile distant. The general out
look from the piazza is superb. Richmond
and Manchester in full view on the north
with their noisy yet busy factories, the
historic james on the east aud south with
its handsome steamers aud beautiful
sail-vessels ever in sight, and the
Ill