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Pastures And Meadows

Pastures And Meadows image
Parent Issue
Day
18
Month
December
Year
1896
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

It generally conceded thnt it pays to mulch pastures and tneadows. Thomas Shaw of the Minnesota station, in a letter to Ohio Farmer, avers tbat afterïnath of ineadows forros the chcapest and most profitable mulch that can be Eiveii to these. When newly sowu tneadowa are not pastured tho same season, they are less likely to fail the following winter. Wheu they are cropped closely, the inore tender plante perishwhere the winters are cold. But even after meadows have become well established they are mneh benefited in winter by the partial exclusión of the frost. But the aftermath of meadows is usually even more helpful to them after they have paíed the winter. It is helpfnl to them in the moistnre which it bringa to them. It is peculif.rly helpful in sections where theprecipitatiou islight, as in some sections of the nortluvest, and it is also helpful in furnishing protectiou in winter in addition to that which is fnrnished by the aftermath. When the raJns of spring fall upon meadows thns protected, a less proportion of the water escape either by running away over the surface or by evaporation. And the growth of early spring will commence sooner. All these benefits wiil equally apply to pastures, but for reasons that wiil be apparent it is not so easy to provide a regular covering for pastures that will equally protect all parts of the field. Animáis will not feed off afieldevenly. They will erop some parts more closely than others. We can imagine some instances where a mulch w7ould prove a daniage to meadows in winter. If the growth has been particularly luxnriant in the autumn, and if in the following winter an unusually heavy fall of snow comes and lies long, tho entire meadow may perish througb smothering of the grasses. Wben fears are entertained on this score, it may be well to pasturo off the aftermath bcfore the advent of winter. Meadows may also be protected by top dressing with farmyard manure. When the material is available, if the manure can be applied in the early auturun, the entire rcsults will be more favorable than if applied at a later period, as when thus appüed it will first próvido winter protection and will then greatly stimulate the growth of the grasses by enriching them. But when farrnyard manure is applied to meadows in the unrerluced form there may be some trouble in raking tho following surmner, a3 portions of uudecayed manure are liable to be gathered in with the hay. But for pastures manure ruakes an excellent mulch. It may be applied in. the autumn, if on hand, but it is usually more convenieut to apply it in winter. It may be drawn fresb from tho stables, and mneh straw in it is no objection. When drawn in winter, it should be spread at once, says the authority quoted. Flax Culture. Flax is succesífully grown ouly in a long rotation. From five to seven years is a short enough interval between flax i crops. Professor Snyder of the Minuesota station in a bulletin devoted to the subject says that high fertility is necessary and liberal use may be made of farmyard mannre, but the mannre must not be applied direct, but to the previous erop. Minnesota makos flax a leading erop. More of it ia r;ii?cd there than in any other state, and the best soils there are coroposed of one-fourth medium sand, one-fourth flne and very free sand, onethird silt or clay and about one-eighth, of the fincst clay. Any soil capable of producing a good corn erop can be ruada to produce ;s food flax erop, this being said of course with regard to growing flax for seed. Extreniply sandy soils and heavy clay soils are both unsuitcd to tho erop. Good Word For Criiuson Clover. We have crimson clover nearly 3 inehes high and a perfect mat over the ground. Such clover is just as good as a coat of manure. It cost less than any manure we can buy. If every plant were to kill out bef ore next spring, we wonld still ie far ahead of the outlay. We would have no more right to blame the clover for dying than we would have to blame the manure for not reprodncing itselfl That is a f act which farmers must uaderstaud. When crimson clover keeps alive until snow covers the grountl, or till the "heaving" of spring frosts, it has done enough for you. ïo live in the spring is heaping up the cup. It's making you a present that you don't always deserve. - Rural New Yorker. Platform Track. As thero aro always more or less of lifting and shifting of barrels and boxes and moving grain and corn from one part of the burn to auother, it put na to thinking how we might do away with much of tho heavy lifting, and the following, shown by the accompanying rut, is tho result. ïhus writes an Ohio Farmer correspondent. He adds: Secure 2 by 4 pine piecesor any light wood and make ;i frame 2jo by 3 feet. At the corners half lap each piece. Then cover frame by boards, mukiug a plutforrn tlie size of the frame. Kovv get a eet of four heavy large wheeled casters, as stovo casters. Wheels shoulcl be not less than 3 inches. The ent gives the idea without further description. Xow rlien place on thia platform cue or more barrels and pnsh it up to that bin of wheat you want to move to acother bin and fill the barrel, then push to wberiver you wiafa. And wheu yon thrash ase a barrel and the platform truck instead of sacks and save the heavy shoulderius of sack and carrjina to bius.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Democrat