The Somerset reporter., 1899-09-07
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FlELRssNp GRRpEN
TIMELY MATTERS.
Preparing For Misunderstanding Will
Timothy-Pasturin Grain Stubbie.

Preparing For Wheat-seeding With
Notwithstanding Grain Stubb1e.
Wherever winter wheat is sown Au
gust Is one of the busiest months of
the year. eer II is largely devoted to
blowing and fitting stubble ground for
the winter crop If wheat succeeds
barley. the blowing may sometimes be
done In July. But with oats the crop
Is not usually harvested early enough
to do any blowing before August. But
the Importance of early blowing is SO
generally appreciated that we have
known farmers to begin blowing for
wheat before the last load of grain
was taken from the field. The roller
should always closely follow the pillow
after midsummer. There is usually
some moisture In the soil when first
plowed. If the furrow Is at once com
pacted, this moisture will be preserv-
ed and it will usually start the stub
bic to rotting, which will make more
moisture. After every little rainfall
the surface soil should be cultivated
two or three inches deep. In this way
as good a seed bed can be made on
stubble plowed early as used to be
secured on a clover sod summer fal-
lowed in June and worked all through
the summer The stubble seed bed
was really the best, for the rule was to
work 1t only on the surface and make
the soil below as compact as possible.
A great deal of grass seed and clover
also has failed this year because of
the dry weather during the early part
of the season. There are many old
meadows also on which the grass has
grown thin and which are not worth
keeping in grass another year. TO
limited extent such land can be ma
nured and plowed next spring for hoed
crops. But there is more land than
can be MANFRED, and with neither ma
nure nor much sod to pillow under the
prospect for corn and potatoes will be
poor.
Probably the best way TO bring this
land into profitable use is after the
first good rain to pillow the land very
shallow. using a jointer plow so as to
have little loose soil to throw over
the sod after it is turned under. 1t
should be rolled as fast as plowed. and
then be lightly narrowed so as to leave
loose soil on the surface. Then sow
timothy seed without further harrow
Ing ut the rate of six quarts of seed
per acre. The first rains will start 1T
to growing Some crimson clover seed
can also be sown at the same time, and
both will grow together. The clover
will probably be killed by the winter,
but even If it be. it will protect the
surface soil from packing and will be
something Of a protection for the
young timothy. Where timothy seed is
thus sown as early as August it will
make n better crop of hay than could
be grown OH the land If it were not re-
seeded.
The American Cultlvator, which
gives the foregoing advice, also says
that there is very little to be gained
and much to be lost by turning stock
lDtO grain StubDie W SdlDtl tic Sitdb-
ings. The modern harvesting machin-
cry leaves little or no scattered grain.
If there were any the steel tooth rake
would gather 1t up. AS for the young
grass and clover which has lived
through the hard time while the ripen-
ing grain was taking all the moisture
from the soil, 1t does not furnish
enough food to last a COW a week In
five acre field. 1t Is always a mistake
to pasture young clover. The feet Of
animals mush the leaves, and If the
ground be soft they injure the roots,
which after grain harvest should be
striking down into the subsol for mois-
ture. Only when clover sown last
spring comes to the blossoming stage,
as 1t sometimes will, should its growth
be stopped. Then 1t should be cut down
with the scythe or mower instead OF
being cropped off by pasturng stock.