Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-09-11
AMONG THE FARMERS.
"sPEEp rHI PLow.-

Correspondence on practical agricultural topics
10 sohci;ed. Address all communications IN
tended Tor this department 20 HxxRr ID. HAN
xoxp. Agricultural Editor oxford Democrat
Paris. Ne.
IS CLOVER TIE FARMERS PHIloSo-
PIERS STONs'
On farms with . deep soil, naturally
rich, where clover grows luxuriAntiy.
and Is grown in regular rotation with
other crops which seem TO be equally
good every year, without the xpplics-
tiou of any manure. some excellent
farmers have come to the conclusion
that no manure is necessary, 80 long as
land will produce q good crop OF clover.
They say II will be soon enough 10 apply
manure when the clover begins to fail.
This Was once the opinion OFT. b. Terry,
= successful farmer OF Summit County.
Ohio. think IL Is still the opinion OF
Waldo +. Brown, an excellent farmer OF
Butler County, Ohio, who not long ago
said Forty years experience with
clover has shown lands on which il has
been grown Systematically have kept In
the best possible condition, and man Is
foolish who sbsndons profitable crop
for fear II may fail or prove Improbable
st some future time. | feel almost ss
though | had found the philosopher
stone"
Mr.. Browns system, II understand
IL, Is clover sown on wheat In the spring.
clipped with the mower In August, and
plowed under the following spring for
corn, potatoes, or some other summer
crop, and then In the fall the land Il
again sown with wheat, and seeded with
clover the following spring.
Under this system OF short rotation,
he must have permanent meadow for
raising timothy hay, IL he Raises any,
and permanent pssture for his cattle,
unless he Practices the soiling system
IL land can be sept la the best possible
condition for forty years with clover
alone for fertilizer, then why not long
err Why not for century or more
The best possible condition Is surel!
good enough, aud the philosophers
stone Is AZ length discovered. We call
build our barns over creeks, and dump
the dung into the water to get rid OF IL,
as IL was said some of the first settlers
In America did.
Unfortunately, not many farms can be
kept up on clover alone ss y fertilizer
The farms that have been are exception
al, and no doubt possessed sn immens.
store of AL the necessary ingredients ex-
cept nitrogen. which the clover supplied.
Liehig, the eminent agricultural
chemist, said: with every crop por-
ton OF these ingredients (of fertility Is
removed. A part OF this portion Is sgatn
added from the inexhsustible stores OF
the atmosphere; another part, however,
Is lost forever, II not replseed by man.
The fertility OF the soil remains un-
changed 10 all the ingredients OF the
crop are given back 10 the land. Such
result Is effected by manure"
In regard 10 the restoration OF 3 run
down farm, Sir J. B. Lswes declared
that be knew Of no way by which an
field could ever be restored
from It's own resources. Clover will not
grow on an impoverished field, and II II
did make feeble growth could supply
only one OF the lost elements. Thoniss
Hale, who published "A Complete
Body Of Husbsndry" in l75s, and who
was well acquainted with the use OF
clover and other leguminous crops,
SAYS: The breaking OF the land and co.
IL by these dressings OF manure
are the two articles on which all the
amendment OF the soil depend. The
world hss been sensible Of use of ma
nures az ali times, and IL is 10 the farm
er's interest 20 coutinue the use OF them,
and not 70 neglect them for any other
practice"
Our Western friends on the rich |
prairies who have prsctieed continuous
cropping without manure are hnding
that "a free horse can be ridden TOO
hard"
The experiment, OF Sir J. B. Lawes, OF
sowing whest continuously on the same
field for forty years, without clover or
any fertilizer, and raising thirteen bush
els TO the acre the last year, shows that
good land with good tillsge will endure
\ great deal OF abuse. Ii also shows the
Of manure and clover, ss
on his fields where these were employed
he raised from thirty to forty bushels OF
wheat % the Sere.
Clover was frsi introduced in England
by Sir Richard Weston about the year
lsl5. and be believed he had found the
stone. In his enthusiasm
he wrote 1T thriyes best when you SOW
II on the worst and bsrrenest ground,
and is In itself 40 excellent manure.
He WAS mistaken In saying IL thrives
best when sown on the barrenest ground.
II will hardly grow on barren ground at
al. The honey bee has sting, the rose
4 thorn, and clover, though noble
plant, has the unfortunate habit OF get
ting "siek" when grown continuously
on the same land without manure, and
sometimes with IL.
In regard TO clover sickness, the
"Cyelop edia Britannica says: The
seeds germinste as freely as ever, and
no greater al ffieulty than heretofore Is
In having full plant dur
ing autumn and the greater part OF win
ter, but over most OF the country the
farmer, after having his hopes raised by
seeing 4 thick cover Of vigorous looking
clover plants over his field, finds 10 hts
dismay that by March or April they
hSye entirely disappeared or are found
only in csprieious patches here and there
over the feld. No satisfactory expisns-
ton has ever been given nor any certain
remedy 70 be applied to the SOIL mas
been discovered"
The Library Of Universal knowledge
SAYS: "In Britain the land is thought 10
De clover sick when so~n 700 freely
with this crop. A well msnured soil
greatly assists In keeping the plants
from dying out In the spring"
Thst Is my experience exactly. Clover
and manure are the twin sisters OF sgri-
culture.-New York Tribune.