1 r.o 



important staple succeeded well; but for the last four years, it lias proved almost 

 an entire failure. The chief causes of this failure have been three- fold : First, the 

 slovenly and ruinous practice of sowing small grains, and in many instances wheat 

 after wheat, three or four years in succession, upon the same ground, without 

 seedino- or summer fallowing, which gives the infant plant a feeble constitution, 

 choked and poisoned by noxious weeds. Second, the changeable temperature of 

 the winters, and the absence of snow to protect the roots from the destructive 

 effects of alternate freezing and thawing. Third, the further injury of the sickly 

 product by untimely rains during the harvest season. The existence of the two 

 first named causes is shown by the fact, that during these years of failure the 

 crop has generally succeeded best upon sod ground, or ground newly broken up. 

 In such cases the ground is clear, and the wheat gains undisputed possession, 

 whilst the compactness of the soil and the firmness with which the whole mass 

 is held together by the complicated interlacings of the roots of the native grass, 

 prevents the roots from being thrown out of bed by the process of freezing and 

 thawing. 



It is obvious that the first of these causes of failure may be entirely removed 

 by a more thorough and scientific system of cultivation, which will readily sug- 

 gest itself to every farmer. The effects of the second cause may, to some extent 

 at least, be guarded against. The soil of the prairies and openings is very loose 

 and porous, and the roots of the wheat are, consequently, \erj much exposed, 

 under the most favorable circumstances in respect to season ; and by the alterna- 

 tions of freezing and thawing, this exposure is proportionally increased. The 

 concurrence of these unfavorable circumstances may be avoided by ploughing in 

 the seed, or, perhaps, by the use of the cultivator instead of the harrow, and 

 then comp£icting the soil by the free use of the roller. The repeated failure of 

 winter wheat, has induced many experiments with spring wheat, and a variety 

 called the hedge-row, has been quite popular; but it is found to deteriorate very 

 rapidly in places where it has been tried a few years in succession — the heads 

 becoming shorter every year and the product less. This is evidently a migratory 

 species which will not flourish in a fixed locality. But spring wheat, of whatever 

 variety, is a poor crop to depend upon for expoilation out of the State, as the 

 very best quality cannot compete in the market with good winter wheat. From 

 observation and reflection, I am of the opinion that Wisconsin farmers cannot 

 depend upon the culture of wheat to balance their trade with other States. I 

 have been a careful obser\er of the climate of Wisconsin, and judging from the 

 experience of twenty-four winters, I am satisfied that in two winters out of three 

 there is not snow enough to afford the necessary protection to winter wheat. The 

 product requires a snowy country, a peculiarity which is rarely identified with 

 that uniformity of surface observable in Wisconsin. 



