No. 63.J 281 



sufficiently plowed his hind, from which he had taken a crop, and then 

 smoothed the furrows with the harrow. He then drew out his compost 

 manure, 25 to 30 loads to the acre, and evenly spread it over the surface, 

 sowed his wheat on the same, and then harrowed it in, incorporating 

 the surface of the soil and the manure together. The result was that 

 he always succeeded with his crop of winter wheat, when hip neigh- 

 bors who pursued a different culture failed. His wheat thus treated 

 was never winter killed. After becoming acquainted with this cir- 

 cumstance, I communicated it to some of my friends and neighbors, 

 and at different times some of them made the experiment, and with 

 complete success. 



The last experiment of the kind known to me in this neighbor- 

 hood, was that of my brother two years ago last fall, which was 

 made on a piece of deep, dry and friable loam soil, with a southern 

 exposure. After having finished the plowing, he smoothed the fur- 

 rows with the harrow on the part he purposed top dressing. He 

 then carried on about 30 loads to the acre of the manure of the yard 

 that had accumulated by bedding abundantly both neat cattle and 

 sheep in the yard the previous winter. It had laid through the sum- 

 mer, and had not been jmt into compost heaps, which would have 

 been better, but it was pretty well rotted. This was evenly spread 

 over a part of the field, he not having enough to top dress but about 

 one-half of the field. On this he sowed his seed wheat, and at the 

 same time sowed the residue of the field and harrowed the whole in. 

 The wheat that was top dressed had evidently in the fall the most 

 luxuriant growth, but all the field looked well and promising. When 

 the snow disappeared in the spring, the wheat was green anti looked 

 well J but during the month of April, thawing and freezing com- 

 menced and continued at intervals for a considerable time, interspers- 

 ed with an occasional snow squall or some rain , sufficient to keep the top 

 of the ground moist and exposed to the action of the frost. The result 

 was, that the wheat on that part of the field not top dressed soon as- 

 sumed a blanched and dead appearance, while the other part re- 

 mained comparatively as green as before, and the wheat on the part 

 not top dressed was almost entirely killed, so that he sowed it to 

 spring wheat, while the part that was top tiressed was not injured by 

 the frost, but produced a good crop of heavy headed and well filled 

 wheat. 



Some years ago accident brought to view another method to prevent 

 the action of frost on the fall sown wheat, and a cheaper preventive 

 than the former, and one, like the other, which I have as yet never 

 known to fail. 



The same brother above alluded to had a piece of meadow ground 

 that became swarded with June grass, the other grasses having been 

 principally killed out by the grubs. After mowing it the latter part 

 of June, he plowed it, and dry weather set in and continued, so that 

 the sod, or turf, could not be rotted, though wholly killed. The dif- 

 ferent plowingsand harrowings tore the turf in pieces, and distributed 

 it over the ground, and the fallow had an unsightly appearance. He 

 sowed it to fall wheat, and in harrowing luid to follow the harrow, 



[Senate No. 63.] L* 



