FARMEES' INSTITUTES. 389 



We then deduce from this that live stock bears a prime relation to the farm, 

 and that as agents for the manure they are of the first importance ; that the 

 production of t1ie farm will be in direct ratio to the amount of live stock kept 

 for any series of years ; that to further this end and keep up the fertility of the 

 farm every farmer should keep all the mixed stock he possibly can ; that to do 

 this he should decide upon some rotation suited to the wants of his farm and 

 follow it steadily with this end in view ; that he should feed his stock well and 

 with rich food, as the value of his manures depend very much upon that, while 

 the results in the laying on of flesh will be about the same, as proved by exper- 

 iments; and finally, that we should enrich our soils with manure containing 

 organic matter, as the nearer we approach to the condition in which we found 

 our land, in a state of nature, the greater will be our success ; the organic mat- 

 ter having a mechanical effect, as well as merely to enrich the soil. 



Let us then mark out a definite line of action, seek to keep more and better 

 stock, and thus labor to increase and retain the fertility of our farms. Let us 

 ever seek to avoid the errors of the past and work for a more glorious future. 



WHEAT CULTURE. 



BY C. L. INGERSOLL. 

 [Read at HiUsdale and Ypsilanti Institutes.] 



You may be ready to exclaim, ''What, another essay on wheat culture! I 

 thought that subject exhausted long ago." AVell, my friends, it is something 

 like the temperance question ; it is susceptible of many changes. I do not pro- 

 pose to stand and give you a long dissertation on the method of raising wheat, 

 neither do I propose to give or sell you some recipe by which you may all raise 

 on any kind of soil 40 bushels of wheat per acre, — some infallible compound by 

 Avhich farmers may all get rich in a short time. I do not propose to do any 

 thing of the sort, but simply to call your attention for a few minutes to a few 

 facts in connection Avith grain raising in our own and other countries from 

 which wo may possibly draw some inference that may be of value in the ])res- 

 ent, or at least in the future. It is too true that farmers generally feel, when 

 they have raised and marketed a crop of wheat, as if they had made so much 

 clear money. They too often feel as if this was their main reliance, and if any- 

 thing should happen to the wheat crop they Avill be ruined financially. This is 

 not so much so in the States bordering on the Mississippi or lying west of it, 

 where corn is king, but in our own State and those lying contiguous this idea is 

 too often supported or encouraged by published statements of the profits of a 

 wheat crop. 1 quote one example, published in an essay on wheat culture in 

 Rural Affairs, which is but a sample of many: "Li those districts which have 

 proved well adapted to wheat raising it has been found one of the most money- 

 making crops, more so before the appearance of the midge than afterwards. 

 George Geddcs estimates the following as the cost of an average crop on a good 

 farm, or 20 bushels per acre (although 40 bushels are sometimes raised), with 

 the net profit before tlie present high prices : 



