204 



In another part I purpose to show that the productiveness of wheat 

 may be greatly increased by a proper attention to seed^ rotation and 

 manure. It is now sufficiently evident that the richest soil in this 

 country will not produce a crop of wheat, equal to those which are fre- 

 quently raised by the European fanners, without a chaiipe in the sys- 

 tem of management and cultivation. 



PLOWING FOR WHEAT. 



In preparing land for wheat, deep plowing is of the greatest service, 

 but a due consideration of the nature of the soil will alone properly di- 

 rect the farmer in performing this operation. If the soil is thin, deep 

 plowing may turn up too much of the subsoil and be productive of 

 evil. ]f the soil consists of deep loam or vegetable mould, deep plow- 

 ing will be beneficial. 



Some persons recommend once plowing as a sufficient preparation 

 for the seed, practical men need not be told that this system of man- 

 agement will not hold good in all cases. It is true, that in some soils 

 once plowing with an unsparing application of the grabber and harrow 

 may do very well, but in othars frequent plowing will be necessary. I 

 think after the fii"st plowing the grubber or wheel cultivator may be made 

 in some cases to supersede the plow in the preparation of fallows for 

 wheat, as it goes over ground much faster and can be made to penetrate 

 sufficiently deep ; it also brings up all roots of weeds to the surface where 

 they can be allowed to wither by exposure to the sun. 



Frequent plowing may render some soils too light and loose for the 

 growth of wheat, as this plant requires a Jirm, cohesive soil; but the 

 farmer need not fear that frequent plowing will dissipate the fertilizing 

 ingredients of the soil, on the contrary it will increase and improve them 

 considerably. 



Doctor Lyon Playfair, in his "Lectures on the Chemistry of Vegeta- 

 tion," says that if the soluble silicate of pot;ish be exhausted in a soil, 

 wheat cannot again grow in it until, either by manure or fallowing, the 

 soil is again furnished with a sufficient quantity. 



Professor Low, in his Practice of Agriculture, asserts that "to receive 

 the bi-nefits of a sufficient fallow, it will be necessary to ploio the land 

 several times, in order to liberate the imprisoned ingredients of the soil 

 and Jit them to be received into the minute roots of plants.-' 



