190 



Wheat. — This crop is by most of our farmers considered 

 very uncertain ; the principal losses arising from winter kill- 

 ing or " freezing out ;" but we are inclined to believe that 

 the want of success is attributable to the careless manner in 

 which it is cultivated. The usual manner of seeding ground 

 for wheat is to sow it among standing corn during the months 

 of September and October, and even so late as November, 

 the covering being done with a shovel plow — running fre- 

 quently in the same ditches made at the last tending of the 

 corn, which leaves the surface exceedingly uneven. So soon 

 as the freezing and thawing of winter commences, the ridges 

 crumble and partially fall into the ditches, exposing the roots 

 of the plants that grow upon the higher portions of the sur- 

 face. These plants must, in consequence, perish, or should 

 they survive this trial, are so sickly that they fall before usual 

 harvest ^ime. In these causes enumerated, chiefly lie the 

 want of success in cultivating this valuable cereal, which 

 might, with proper tillage, be made a comparatively remune- 

 rating crop. 



The ground for wheat should he summer fallow^ or ground 

 from which oats has been harvested. The plowing should be 

 performed during the early part of August. The plow should 

 be run at least eight or ten inches deep, and subsoiled if pos- 

 sible, especially if the subsoil is clay. The roots of the plants 

 will strike downward to the full depth that the soil has been 

 stirred, which ensures firmness to the stalk. A soil stirred 

 very deep is thereby rendered more permeable, and will more 

 readily absorb the summer rains and fertilizing gasses which 

 are returned through the agency of capillary attraction and 

 the fibrous roots to the plants, enabling them to perfect and 

 mature their grain, whilst on shallow soils the water runs off 

 instead of being retained ; and should a protracted drought 

 follow, the result must inevitably be a parched and prema- 

 turely ripened grain. But to return to the manner oi culti- 

 vation: After the plowing is completed the drag harrow 

 should be used twice, traversing in the direction of the fur- 



