THE NEW FARM

Bruce Herald, Volume VI, Issue 361, 29 March 1871, Page 7

THE NEW FARM

Well, the proof has'come ! The excellence of the pudding is found in the earing. Although, some weeks back I was •apprehensive that I had erred in diverging from the regular local practice of feeding down the young clover in the autumn : and spring, with a view to consolidating, : as it is thought the soil through the treading of the stock, I am rejoiced to ascertain, now that harvest has arrived, that 110 one in the neighborhood has anything like such " seeds " to mow. The gang, •strong men as they were, fairly groaned *under the weight of work, the gaffer de•claring that they should not get their 2s per day. Years ago, -when I first took a "fency to farming, among the books I per- j used was "Nesbit on Agricultural Chemistry," an excellent little volume of the sort. I must then have bpen struck with the 'sentence, •' Every leaflet upwards has a 'rootlet downwards ; and if the leaflet be taken off, the rootlet will not grow," for •the fact has stack as a burr to my memory 'ever since, Mr Nesbit. writes : Ci Now. what does the clover do ? Every little leaflet which it shoots up into the air sends a rootlet downwards, so that in proportion to the upward growth of the clover 'is the downward p-rowtb of the root; and 'when you have taken the clover away, you •retain, in the shape of root*, several tons per acre of valuable vegetable matter, "which, by its slow decomposition, affords 'nutriment for the narrow-leafed wheat ; so that, by employing in the first instance •turnips for the barley, and clover fur the wheat, you accumulate in the soil a large 'quantity of material absorbed from the air, ■for the benefit of the after crops. Tlii* •'may be clearly seen if you consider the ■difference between cutting clover and feed 'ing it off. It is generally believed that a man who feeds his clover off, will get -a better crop than one who takes tbe bay. If you cut clover at midsummer, and let it '-grow again, and then fake another cutting; in the autumn, you will afterwards obtnin a far better crop of wheat. Every leaflet upwards has a rootlet downwards, and if •the leaflet be taken off the rootlet will not grow, so that if the sheep be fed upon the surface, the under-production is diminished. In exact proportion to the increase of the upper is the increase of tbe 'lower; and if you are always feeding off : the former "wi ih sheep, you will have but 'few rootlets below. An experiment "was tried by a friend in -iVorthamptonsuire. "A field of clover tvas divided into two parts. The whole 'was cut at midsummer; half was left to •'grow again, and the other fed cff. In 'October two pieces were staked out as re;gularly as possible, all the roots were dug : up, carefully cleaned and weighed. 'J he 'result was, that where the clover had been 'ctft tj'nce and eaten once, there were 25 •cwt of roots per acrei and where it had 'beeincut twice there were 75 cwt per acre, 'being a : differpnce of two tons of roots an ; : acre," which, containing so much nitrogen as these roots do, constituted an ex•ceedingly good dressing for the wheat crop to follow. Tbe whole of this little volume is full of the most valuable information ■for the sucking agriculturist. — ' Mark 4Lane Express.'