STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 297 



plains in California, and to which it is peculiarly adapted. On the allu- 

 vial soils bordering on the rivers and streams, the metliod above described 

 may be dispensed Avith. If the ploughing were performed a few weeks 

 before sowing, similar results might follow, or if a fallow crop were 

 planted, as potatoes, corn, etc., the repeated tillage which should pre- 

 cede its maturit}^ w^ould leave the land in excellent condition for grain. 



The soil, tlius j^repared, is ready for. the reception of seed at almost 

 any time after harvest, and before the rains of the next season set in. 

 The impediments to the culture of grain may, in a great measure, be 

 obviated by a combination of those causes that tend to produce a healthy 

 and rapid growth, not the least important of which is the selection of 

 good seed. The finest wheat or barley does not always make the best 

 seed; but in the selection of seed, the circumstances under which it was 

 produced should be considered as well as the condition of the soil on 

 which it is to be sown. It is with cereals as with garden seeds, and wMth 

 all plants and vegetables : bad and indifferent seed will grow and pro- 

 duce its kind, but that which is intended to produce the greatest possible 

 yield upon a given space of ground, must be selected from the best t3'pe 

 of its kind. The same principle which has been carried out with so much 

 success in the production of domestic animals, will also apply to the 

 vegetable creation, and may be adopted on the farm in the production 

 of cereal grains. All of our domestic grains have been improved by 

 cultivation from the wild state; " volunteer " grain is, for this reason, 

 unfit for seed ; it has begun to revert back to its native wildness, and to 

 grow without human care. Wheat that is prone to smut, ought not to 

 be sown. Bluestone, as commonly used, is a good preventive of smut, 

 but when used in excess, injures the germinating power of the grain, 

 and will not wholly eradicate the disease. A great difference of opinion 

 exists among farmers in regard to the proper quantity of seed to be used. 

 One of the most remarkable pi'operties of the cereals, (and especially 

 of wheat,) is that of sending out a great number of stalks from a single 

 grain, known as stooUng, or tillering. This is one of the causes of its 

 great productiveness. The stooling will be the greatest on land that 

 is in a high state of cultivation, or naturally fertile, and consequently it 

 would seem that a smaller quantity of seed would suffice than where 

 these conditions do not exist. Some farmers say that thirty-five or forty 

 pounds of wheat, and sixty to seventy pounds of barley per acre, is amply 

 sufficient. I prefer to sow not less than sixty pounds of wheat, or eighty 

 pounds of barley, but some regard must be had to the quality of the 

 seed in regulating the quantity. Upon finely pulverized soil, the grain 

 drill and combined sower and cultivator are j^roper instruments for 

 seeding, but they cannot be used to advantage on the greater portion of 

 our uphmd plains. The harrow, although an ancient implement, will 

 probably continue to be used as long as the present broadcast method of 

 sowing by hand is practised. Upon sandy soils, or even upon clay soils 

 that have been Avell prepared, a four-horse plough-cultivator will cover 

 the seed better than any implement I have seen used, especially if the 

 sowing is delayed until weeds have begun to sprout. But every farmer 

 should understand the reasons for the operations he is required to per- 

 form. No fixed rules that can be given on paper will apply indiscrimi- 

 nately to every condition of circumstances. In the culture of grain, the 

 roller is a valuable implement, and should be used as soon as convenient 

 after sowing, and before the young grain has begun to form branches. 



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