Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/402

Rh 376 sarily lengthening the interval betwixt the recurrences of clover. When the four-course rotation is followed, no better plan of managing this process has been yet suggested than to sow beans, pease, potatoes, or tares, instead of clover, for one round, making the rotation one of eight years instead of four. The mechanical condition of the soil seems to have something to do with the success or failure of the clover crop. We have often noticed that head-lands, or the converging line of wheel tracks near a gateway at which the preceding root crop had been carted from a field, have had a good take of clover, when on the field generally it had failed. In the same way a field that has been much poached by sheep while consuming turnips upon it, and which has afterwards been ploughed up in an unkindly state, will have the clover prosper upon it, when it fails in other cases where the soil appears in far better condition. If red clover can be again made a safe crop, it will be a boon indeed to agriculture. Its seeds are usually sown along with a grain crop, any time from 1st February to May, at the rate of 12 Ib to 20 fib per acre when not com bined with other clovers or grasses. Italian ryegrass and red clover are now frequently sown in mixture for soiling, and succeed admirably. It is, how ever, a wiser course to sow them separately, as by substi tuting the Italian ryegrass for clover, for a single rotation, the farmer not only gets a crop of forage as valuable in all respects, but is enabled, if he choose, to prolong the in terval betwixt the sowings of clover to twelve years, by sowing, as already recommended, pulse the first round, Italian ryegrass the second, and clover the third. These two crops, then, are those on which the arable- land farmer mainly relies for green forage. To have them good, he must be prepared to make a liberal application of manure. Good farm-yard dung may be applied with advantage either in autumn or spring, taking care to cart it upon the land only when it is dry enough to admit of this being done without injury. It must also be spread very evenly so soon as emptied from the carts. But it is usually more expedient to use either guano, nitrate of soda, or soot, for this purpose, at the rates respectively of 2 cwt., 1 cwt., and 20 bushels. If two or more of these substances are used, the quantities of each will be altered in proportion. They are best also to be applied in two or three portions at intervals of fourteen to twenty days, beginning towards the end of December, and only when rain seems imminent or has just fallen. When manure is broadcast over a young clover field, and presently after washed in by rain, the effect is identical with that of first dissolving it in water, and then distribut ing the dilution over the surface, with this difference, namely, that the first plan costs only the price of the guano, &c., and is available at any time and to every one, whereas the latter implies the construction of tanks and costly machinery. Section 6. Vetches. Vetches are another very valuable forage crop. Being indigenous to Britain, and not fastidious in regard to soil, they can be cultivated successfully under a great diversity of circumstances, and are well adapted for poor soils. By combining the winter and spring varieties, and making several sowings of each in its season at intervals of two or three weeks, it is practicable to have them fit for use from May till October, and thus to carry out a system of soiling by means of vetches alone. But it is usually more expedient to use them in combination with grass and clover, beginning with the first cutting of the latter in May, taking the winter vetches in June, recurring to the Italian ryegrass or clover as the second cutting is ready, and [FORAGE CROPS. afterwards bringing the spring vetches into use. Each crop can thus be used when in its best state for cattle food, and so as gratefully to vary their dietary. Winter Vetches. There is no botanical difference between winter and spring vetches, and the seeds being identical in appearance, caution is required in purchasing seed to get it of the right sort. Seed grown in England is found the most suitable for sowing in Scotland, as it vegetates more quickly, and produces a more vigorous plant than that which is home-grown. As the great inducement to cultivate this crop is the obtaining of a supply of nutritious green food which shall be ready for use about the 1st May, and so as to fill up the gap which is apt to occur betwixt the root crops of the previous autumn and the ordinary summer food, whether for grazing or soiling, it is of the utmost importance to treat it in such a way that it may be ready for use by the time mentioned. To secure this, winter tares should be sown in August if possible, but always as soon as the land can be cleared of the preceding crop. They may yield a good crop though sown in October, but in this case will probably be very little in advance of early-sown spring vetches, and possess little, if any, advan tage over them in any respect. The land on which they are sown should be dry and well sheltered, clean, and in good heart, and be further enriched by ploughing into it from 12 to 15 loads of farm-yard manure. Not less than 3 1 bushels of seed per acre should be sown, to which some think it beneficial to add half a bushel of wheat. Rye is frequently used for this purpose, but it gets reedy in the stems, and is rejected by the stock. Winter beans are better than either. The land having been ploughed rather deeply, and well harrowed, it is found advantageous to deposit the seed in rows, either by a drilling-machine or by ribbing. The latter is the best practice, and the ribs should be at least a foot apart and rather deep, that the roots may be well developed before top-growth takes place. As soon in spring as the state of the land and weather admits of it, the crop should be hoed betwixt the drills, a top-dressing at the rate of 40 bushels of soot or 2 cwt. of guano per acre applied by sowing broadcast, and the roller then used for the double purpose of smoothing the surface so as to admit of the free use of the scythe, and of pressing down the plants which may have been loosened by frost. It is thus by early sowing, thick seeding, and liberal manuring, that this crop is to be forced to an early and abundant maturity. May and June are the months in which winter vetches are used to advantage. A second growth will be produced from the roots if the crop is allowed to stand ; but it is much better practice to plough up the land as the crop is cleared, and to sow turnips upon it. After a full crop of vetches, land is usually in a good state for a succeeding crop. When the whole process has been well managed, the gross amount of cattle food yielded by a crop of winter vetches, and the turnip crop by which it is followed in the same summer, will be found consider ably to exceed what could be obtained from the fullest crop of turnips alone, grown on similar soil, and with the same quantity of manure. It is vain to sow this crop where game abounds. Spring Vetches, if sown about the 1st of March, will be ready for use by 1st July, when the winter vetches are just cleared off. To obtain the full benefit of this crop, the land on which it is sown must be clean, and to keep it so a much fuller allowance of seed is required than is usually given in Scotland. When the crop is as thick set as it should be, the tendrils interwine, and the ground is covered by a solid mass of herbage, under which no weed can live. To secure this, not less than 4 bushels of seed per acre should be used if sown broadcast, or 3 bushels if in drills. The latter plan, if followed by hoeing, is certainly