llic Country Gciitlciitaiis I\faga::iiic 



531 



^hc #avm. 



ON THE CULTIVATIOX OF WHEAT. 



Ol'R dictionaries very properly define 

 wheat as the finest kind of grain, but 

 some of our readers may not be aware that 

 it is neither more nor less than a cereal grass; 

 in short, it is a sort of cultivated couch grass. 

 W'e fancy we hear some one exclaim, impos- 

 sible ! but it is true ; and in our day, when its 

 cultivation is almost carried to perfection, and 

 new varieties introduced every year, well 

 may we exclaim. What may not the skill 

 of man accomplish, when he is assisted 

 by "nature and nature's God?" Hundreds 

 of years have rolled along since the rich 

 valleys and plains of Palestine were first 

 covered with golden grain, or since the days 

 when Ruth was a gleaner in the wheat and 

 barley fields of Boaz. Many years have 

 passed away since the patriarch Jacob sent 

 his sons to the exile home of Joseph, for he 

 was told "there was corn in Egypt," and there 

 found welcome and plenty. " The Dreamer" 

 had truly interpreted Pharoah's dream, and 

 provision was made for the years of famine. 

 Can it be possible that grain, ripened in those 

 distant ages, has been handed down to us 

 (preserved with full vegetating power) in 

 those mysterious mummy tombs of Egypt- 

 wheat that had been sown and reaped when 

 those " distant isles of the sea," " where a 

 people that will be born shall serve Thee," was, 

 it may be, an ice-bound shore or a treeless 

 waste. Wheat in our day is grown in Asia, 

 in Africa, in Northern India, in America, 

 and is ripened to perfection in Australia, 

 but Europe may truly now be called its 

 home, and our own little island stands 

 pre-eminent above all other lands for the 

 propagation of and cultivation of the best 

 varieties. And here we would pay well- 

 merited tribute to one who has perhaps done 



more than any individual in Great Britain in 

 improving her cereals — we refer to Mr Pat- 

 rick Sherrift' of Haddington. AVe purpose to 

 deal with our subject under two heads : — ■ 



First, we propose to give our ideas on the 

 preparation of the land with reference to the 

 previous crop ; the proper system of working 

 the soil ; the quantity of seed to sow, and 

 the most approved method of putting it into 

 the ground. In our second paper we will 

 confine ourselves entirely to the best varie- 

 ties to sow, and this portion of the subject 

 will be illustrated by giving full particulars re- 

 garding a series of trials made this year with 

 five varieties of wheat. Let us first consider 

 the preparation of the land with reference to 

 the previous crop. Suppose a jury of 

 twelve East-Lothian farmers were empannelled 

 to return a verdict on this subject, we 

 assuredly say they would not all agree, but we 

 have no doubt a majority would give their 

 verdict in favour of a potato crop. The 

 quantity of manure required to grow 

 this crop successfully being so large, the 

 next cereal crop must almost of necessity be 

 a good one. The land is thoroughly well 

 cleaned by the extra tillage required for po- 

 tato husbandry, and a most favourable seed- 

 bed is a natural consequence. Fallow wheat 

 in former days was almost the only winter 

 wheat grown, and no comparison made unless 

 with wheat grown after beans, which some 

 farmers still consider to be the best. No one 

 will deny the fact that our bulkiest wheat crops 

 are grown after beans, but the straw seldom 

 arrives at the same rich yellow golden colour 

 of potato wheat, and it is more apt to mildew. 

 The land is seldom so well cleaned, and we 

 question the chances of getting the grain 

 equally well put in as after potatoes, although 



