The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1895-11-01
Meeting of the Deer Creek Farmers
Club.

Saturday afternoon at the home Of Mr.. Rober
F. Hanna, near Fountain Green. The meet
ing was interesting throughout. The subjec
of "Grasses," which had been begun at pre-
| vious meeting at Mr.. W. Beatty Harlans wa
concluded, and many valuable suggestion
were made and much useful information wa
given during the discussions of the evening
The handling of the subject showed that tn
I members of the club are readers and thinkers
as well as takers. The recent trials at tn
Experiment Stations, and the thoughts o
writers in magazines and agricultural paper
were frequently used in the discussion of tn
topic.
The following members were present
President, John B. Wysong, Messrs. Edward
T. Swartz, James B. Henley, John w. Lochary
W. Beatty Harlan, r. Harris Archer, JohI
Moores, John s. Webster, Harry B. Silver
Robert F. Hanna.
The visitors were Messrs. Eliza Whistler
| David E. Harlan, S. NJ. Bayless, William
| Dean, Z. T. Gilbert, A. T.. Patterson, Rev
Samuel c. WATSON, Albert s. Cook, William
0. Michael.
The meeting was called to order promptly
at ) o'clock by the President. Messrs. w. B.
Harlan, L. L. Swartz and j. b. Henley were
appointed a committee of inspection. After
inspecting the premises, stock and crops. the
committee reported individually as follows
Mr. Harlan-Mr. Hanna's place is tidy and
neat, his fences are in good order. All his
fields look well, and the fence-rows are kept
clean. His stock is in excellent condition.
He has some fine corn in the crib His wheat
is the best stock-ground wheat l have seen
this year. lie has some very pretty Jersey
COWS.
Mr.. Swartz-I am near neighbor of Mr..
Hanna, and have had, perhaps, better oppor-
tunty of observing his farming than any other
member of the Club. He is good farmer,
and what | would call neat farmer. He has
Il good crop Of corn, fine pen of hogs, and
some thoroughbred cows. Lis stock shows
good attention, and the wheat in the ground
has done well for the chance it has had
Mr.. kenley-l endorse what the other mem
beers of the committee have said, and could
find nothing to say as Pathfinder.
The President then called on each member
of the Club and visitor present in turn to dis
cuss the subject before the meeting Mr.
express himself especially on the questions
What is the best time to sow? How much to
the acre? How can a good set of grass be OBJ
tanned?
Mr.. Hanna.-"l have always sowed peck OF
timothy seed to the acre. This year it did not
come up well, owing to the drought l also
sowed a bushel of clover seed to five or six
acres. l believe that half the seed does not
grow"
Mr.. Harlan-''I have tested the seed and
believe we get remarkably good seed. l SOW
ed bushe of timothy seed l held over the
year, and of which l was suspicious, but it
was good, and sprouted we'll"
MIR. Wysong-"Have you had any expert
ence with the new grasses ~
Mr.. Hanna-'No, sir, have not''
Mr.. Harlan stated that his outlay for seed
on the 105 acres of grass he sowed last year
was about $40, and that he had not been
very successfully in getting good set. He
thinks that if we get the staples, timothy and
clover, that the other grasses will come gradu-
ally of their own accord.
Mr.. Whistler-''I have had no experience,
except with timothy and clover. These new
grasses, so far as | have noticed, do not take
any better than timothy and clover would
greatly prefer having good set of red clover
to having crimson clover. | think red clover
will bring green grass in the ground quicker
than crimson clover will. | can raise AS good
corn with clover sod as | can with timothy
sod and 500 lbs. of bone. l generally SOW 5
quarts Of seed to the acre, but last spring
sowed peck to the acre. | think this is use
less. | think l would have gotten as good a
set with quarts as with peck"
Mr. Gilbert-"I would like to have some
light on this subject myself. | would like to
know when to sow. My trouble is TO get
set. When it gets start dry weather soon
kills it out"
Mr.. Patterson.-'I have never tried any of
the new varieties of grasses. Crimson clover
is hard to pillow under. | followed crimson
clover with tomatoes, and got good crop.
| sow about peck of timothy seed to the
acre and a bushel of clover seed to acres.
Sow about the LIST of April. 1t is good plan
to sow on the snow, if possible"
Rev. WATSON stated that he never had any
experience with grasses, but that il he wanted
pretty field to look at, he would sow crimson
clover In response to question from the
President, he stated that the grasses of the
British Isles are chiefly Of two kinds, upland
and meadow. 1t Is given top dressing of
fertilizer occasionally, but the rains are so
frequent that it does not need much fertilizer.
There is difficulty in harvesting the grass on
account Of the frequent rains
Mr.. Swartz-''l advocate plenty of grass
seed. | never SOW less than peck of timothy
to the acre. | sowed some crimson clover,
but do not think it fit for anything but green
manure. l fed some of it to my hogs, and it
killed two Of them. | want no more of it.
Crimson clover is OF no account for cattle. For
L number of years past you could see scarcely
anywhere in the county good field Of clover.
| think we do not sow seed enough"
Mr. Moores-''I SOW timothy in the fall
with the wheat and clover in the spring |
have not failed for % years to get good set
of timothy. With clover it Is different.
think little lime would better the condition
of the soil, and believe that the condition of
soil mainly determines the clover crop. Linn
ed strips in one of my clover fields showed
good clover, while the portions that were not
lined had no good set of grass. The lime
last used was oyster shell, but prefer stone
lime"
Mr. Patterson.-"Do you think lime will
kill sorrel ~
Mr. Moores-"I think that the only thing
that will kill sorrel is good farming. All poor
farmers have plenty Of sorrel.
SOW one bushel of clover seed to ten acres. !
have sowed a bushel to the acre already,
don't think the amount of seed has much to
do with getting good set.''
Mr.. David Z. Harlan stated that his expert
ence as superintendent of construction Of the
Pittsburg Division Of the Pennsylvania r. r.
has been just the opposite of the views ex-
pressed by the members of the Club. The
great difficulty, he says, is to keep the grass
from growing along the road. 1t is hard to
kill. 1t will grow through Is inches of stone
ballast, or through two feet of cinders. He
thinks the railroad grass must be peculiar
kind.
Mr.. Kenley-"I have had experience only
with timothy and clover l have had trouble
to get good set of clover. | agree with Mr..
Moores that the trouble is in the soil, and
think that the seasons are not 80 different
from what they used to be when we got good
sets. Sow clover in the spring soon as
the danger of frost is past. Orchard grass
with clover helps to hold the clover, makes a
change for the cattle, and makes good early
and late pasture. | think we should expert
ment with lime"
Mr.. Archer-''I agree with Mr.. Moores as to
the quantity OF seed to sow, one bushel to ten
acres if the conditions are good will bring as
good crop OF grass as a bushel to the acre.
For permanent pasture the ground must be
rich. think timothy the proper grass to SOW
for permanent pasture. 1t might be well to
mix Kentucky Blue Grass with the timothy"
Mr.. w. B. Harlan-'I sowed red clover in
corn, also some timothy seed and Kentucky
Blue Grass. 1 got some Of each. The clover
was good. One advantage of the crimson
clover is that it natures earlier and Is ready to
plow down earlier than the red clover. | think
we waste seed by sowing too much, but as it is SO
difficult to get the seed evenly distributed, it
is better to sow more. l limit my sowing to
six quarts. | have just received a
car load of oyster shells, which | will burn
into lime. There was 99S bushels in the car,
and paid 2 cents bushel for them"
Mr. Silver.-''I sow timothy and clover
principally. l have great trouble to get set.
Have used bone and stable manure, but there
seems to be something lacking in the soil, and
! think that something is lime | SOW more
than peck of timothy seed to the acre. l
sowed one bushel Of Blue Grass, clover, and
one bushel of orchard grass to the acre-sow-
ed IL acre field at the rate of s. worth OF
seed to the acre. l got good set of all.
Orchard grass has not the fattening qualities
that other grasses have. 1t will Kill sorrel,
grows thick and smothers the sorrel, will also