Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-02-28
AGRICULTURAL.
FLOWING UNDER
A. Meas. Of Rr.tsrias wsrn-out
lsnnds.

fLOV ING UNDER
A. Meas Of Rrsioriag wern-out
lsnnds.
In The Phoenix Of Feb. was printed
clipping from the Western Farmer in which
Mr.. j. X Davis Of Sparta Wis. recon
mended the blowing under Of clover as a
means Of fertilizing weak or worn-out soil,
giving the process as follows
"When a crop Of small grain is sowu in
the spring. SOW liberal amount of medium
clover, and the next year, after cutting
the hay early. let the second crop go 10
seed and pillow under when well matured
The next year plant a crop, aud when har-
vested pillow fully AS deep as before, which
brings the clover seed 10 the surface for a
most liberal stocking The clover seed
contains so much oil that it will not rot
while In the ground, and still being covered
50 deeply will not terminate while there.
There being such an amount Of seed, if
some does winter kill more will not Then
SOW a crop and the ground is wel-seeded
with clover, and another crop Of hay cut
as before And so on for a series Of years,
harvesting "A crop Of grain the first year,
corn or potatoes the second year, grain the
third, and clover hay the fourth year BY
this process the soil will improve in fertil-
" wonderfully every year, and no expense
for clover seed after the first season. OF
course the above is "A good system TO adopt
ON any land but AS sandy soil is often con
sidered OF but little value ! suggest this
way Of renovatng it,.
a Brattleboro reader who was interested
in the subject, wrote Mr. Davis for further
tF. iy,r
letter which we reproduce in full
Yours just received, and ] hasten to re
ply ] was raised IN Orange county, Yer
mont, and have been in Brattleboro several
times and know something Of the plain
land on Connecticut river, and am glad
some one is looking around for the best
means of renovating it, There are as you
know, several ways to fertilize so you can
get a sod If you are in hurry to do so,
SOW crop of spring rye and stock with
clover putting on say 200 pounds of phos
phate when You harrow, or as we call it,
drag in, and then finish of with POO or 800
pounds Of plaster per acre, which will fix
the ammonia in the phosphate and gather
the moisture ia the air II the clover does
not catch, you will have the rye any way to
pillow under. And, by the way, l will tell
you the best way to drag under the rye or
other crop to pillow under. Take heavy
draft chain and hitch it to each end Of the
evener I'VE all use horses and give slack
enough TO Just clear the front Of the pillow.
This brings the draft even to both horses
and after going round your land once the
chain will, as you see, pass over the same
place twice This is much better than to
have the chain on the off side of the pillow
Perhaps you have already done this Your
land has been starved to death by continu
Gus cropping and must be fed before sue
cess can he expected Almost anything
that will rot will help it. Oats, rye. buck
wheat, or green corn, will give it start
and do not try to harvest a crop until it is
full and ready TO respond to your invita-
ton.
] spoke Of corn, and will say try sowing
broadcast or in drills, about two bushels to
the acre, and finish up with a coat of plas
ter. You will be surprised to see how much
YOU will get, and when it is about three
feet high pillow under Then SOW winter
rye plentifully, say one and one half or two
bushels to the acre, and when that is in the
milk pillow under, and that will bring the
decomposed corn to the top, and you will
have no trouble IN getting a catch of clover,
but never SOW "A spring crop without using
plaster. The great trouble with farmers is
that when they see crop of anything on
the ground they cannot resist the tempta-
tion to cut it off Don't do it.
think New England farmers are max
ing a great mistake in spending so much
for phosphates and meal when they can
make their land productive with very much
less expense You know that when u col
lar is spent we must hustle" to find anoth
er to take its place Your plain land car
be as easily worked as any in the West
and what you raise is worth as much NOR,
as the cost of transportation to your mar
ket Feed your land literally with its owl
productions and you will find "the liberal
soul shall be made fat. -
| know of farmers who say they would
not draw manure a mile on good roads if il
were given them, as it would be cheaper tC
pillow under crops especially clover.
could show You farms that few years agC
were hardly considered worth the taxes tina
cannot now he bought less than $50 to So
acre. Pillow, SOW, and pillow under all yol
can for a couple of years, and then follow
the program as laid down in the article yol
refer to, and You will get a crop to harves
every year and increase the fertility of you
soil
OF course, save all the manure you can
! believe the roots of clover one year old ar,
worth as much or more than tops, as the,
contain so much mineral matter of Just tn
kind the land needs We know by expert
ence it is no small job to take from tn,
barnyard 20 70 30 loads of manure an,
spread it, 1t makes us tired All tn
extra cost of manuring with a green crol
is the seed and sowing, as it costs no NOR
to pillow. If farmers would keep less stool
for few years, and stop buying so mucl
meal and fertilizers, and use their horses l.
pillow and SOW, and pillow again and SOW
1Ae9 ""uiu S'uh ihH 'hoio was PiOhb
farming.
intended TO merely reply to your letter
but my pen has run away with me befor
l was aware of it. l will only say that
| can suggest anything that will be of ben
eft to any, have my reward. l am not
model farmer 10y any means but l hav
seen and remembered some things, and
guide board will show the way even if
does not go. Respectfully,
J. X. D,
VnIae of Ihe Grange.