422 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



thus far. It is upon the spring management of 

 this crop of " young wheats " that I now de- 

 sire to make a few homely remarks. 



It seldom occurs that throughout the length and 

 hreadth of the land one universal complaint is made 

 respecting the character of the wheat crop ; but this 

 year it appears that the crop — the wheat plant — is more 

 or less lifted, the laud being too light and dry on the 

 surface to give sufficient solidity to the root-bed, hence 

 much care and attention should be given to insure a 

 truly firm root-bed, without unduly compressing the 

 immediate subsoil, into which the plants have to pene- 

 trate hereafter in search of food. Rolling is the chief, 

 if not the dernier, resort. This should be done ju- 

 diciously. In this peculiar season the surface soil is 

 light and puffy, the immediate subsoil tough and waxy. 

 A heavy roller or clodcrusher would most likely consoli- 

 date this top subsoil too much, and, at the same time, 

 convert the surface into a thick coat of dust. This would 

 act very injuriously — first, in abstracting the source of 

 nutriment from the present impoverished plants ; and 

 next, in so solidifying the subsoil that the roots fail to 

 extract benefit from it ; and in case of drought it be- 

 comes so hard that the crop itself, on thin clays, will 

 droop and die ; and on ethers turn deadly pale or light 

 yellow, resulting in a most unproductive yield. The 

 better practice appears to be this : First, use a light 

 roller for the purpose of temporarily fastening the plants 

 in the light soil ; then, after a period (of which the farmer 

 is the best judge, as to the state of the soil and plant) use 

 a heavy roller, sufficiently so to compress the soil tho- 

 roughly, but still leaving plenty of fissures and crevices 

 into which the fibres or rootlets may readily creep for 

 sustenance. For this purpose this immediate subsoil 

 should be nearly dry before this heavy rolling takes 

 place ; otherwise it would become like tlie kneaded dry 

 brick earth, and consequently of no available use to the 

 growing crop. 



The treading of sheep is another of these resources 

 for improving a sickly wheat plant. This must also be 

 judiciously done. The soil ought to be dug on the sur- 

 face, and by no means " siddy'' underneath ; otherwise 

 the sheep will do hurt, and precisely from the same 

 undue compression just named. The plant is so back- 

 ward this season that it would be more than a doubtful 

 policy to take this course this year ; to say nothing of 

 the best time for eating it; off having passed by. When 

 tills course is adopted, it should be done and finished 

 in a day or two ; so that all is fed ofT at once. The 

 plant on any medium soil will then tiller. Shortly 

 afterwards a light harrowing might take place, and 

 when ready a careful hoeing would complete the manage- 

 ment of the s'lcMy loheat 2)lant on this plan. 



The hoeing of wheat is now the universal practice, 

 and it is generally followed by the most satisfactory 

 results. Not so last year. Wheat hoeing was one of 

 the causes by which such a superabundance was ob- 

 tained — the soil and season combining to enhance the 

 luxuriant growth. Hoeing on firm soils is eminently 

 conducive to promote progress ; on light or puffy soils 

 it opens and exposes it too much to " weathering" in- 

 fluences. The firm soil requires opening, stirring 

 and exposing : the light soil v/ould probably be advan- 

 taged by stirring, but it must not be exposed to drying 

 winds and sunny heats. The great question to be 

 solved this year is their profitable management in their 

 present questionable state. 



All loamy soils in the present season are dry and 

 puffy on the surface, and siddy, tough, and waxy be- 

 neath. What is to be done with these .' Hoeing is ob- 

 jectionable — the less exposure the better ; rolling is a 

 doubtful benefit. The surface is turned into powder, the 

 under-soil into brick earth. The farmer's judgment must 

 be ever on the alert, and he must watch his time. If 

 the weather and the season be propitious, he may pro- 

 bably benefit by both rolling and hoeing ; at all events 

 he must wait, and by no means think of letting business 

 take its usual course, i. e., roll aioaij, and as soon as it 

 is up again to hoe away as fast and as deeply as he can. 

 No ! no ! this will not do. It is the season that rules 

 the farmer; and if he acts in defiance of it, he will rue 

 his own conduct ultimately. So far as it can be ascer- 

 tained at present, it will be wrong to hoe at a!i. There 

 is scarcely a crop on a surface soil on loams that would 

 not be injured by much stirring. The best course is to 

 weed freely with the hoe ; and where desirable to use the 

 hoe in hoeing, do so, but do it cautiously and with 

 judgment. 



On light soils, hoeing must do harm, unless some 

 pouritig rains descend, to be followed by continuous 

 drought. Then to loosen the surface may do good ; but 

 great care is lequisite. The danger this year is not in 

 the prospect of a heavy and unproductive crop of straw, 

 but in' a light and frothy crop altogether. The plant is 

 thin, and farmers cannot resort to their usual mode of 

 increasing the plant by promoting the tillering process, 

 or aid the growth by hoe-cultivation. At present it 

 must be let alone. Get forward all other work ; and 

 if the season should prove to be propitious, then all 

 hands to the work, and let judgment guide. It is, after 

 all, a kind of gambling with the crop, to make it un- 

 dergo certain expensive processes without a knowledge 

 of its slate and prospects; both these must be well con- 

 sidered before any expensive course of management is 

 adopted to improve it. 



REPEAL OF THE MALT-TAX. 



Ever since the I'ecognition by the Legislature of the 

 principles of unrestricted competition the continuance 

 of the malt-tax has been an injustice and a contradic- 

 tion. From the very date of Free-trade the repeal of 

 the mult-duty has had an "opportunity." But it 

 never commanded so good a one as just at present. 

 It would almost seem, indeed, as if the Chancellor of 

 the Exchequer were amusing himself by ascertaining 

 how much his good friend " Mr. Farmer" really will 

 submit to. Almost every other class finds occasional 

 relief in some shape or other. So far, however, from 

 the burdens of agriculture being a dilficulty, or the 

 yet incomplete features of a great schemo, they aro 

 coolly made to tell heavier than ever. Not only shall 



the produce of the British soil still be encumbered, but 

 even ingenuity shall be tasked to play off something 

 more against it. And our rulers know well enough 

 what a safe card such a one as this is to put down. 

 Let the rurals grumble a little if they like, they have 

 got a character for doing so ; while we may coolly in- 

 stance Mr. M^hi, or some other as convenient an 

 authority, who is making his four or five hundreds 

 or four or five thousands a-year — it does not 

 much matter which we say — to show what a capi- 

 tal business it is, after all! And how little cause 

 ! they have to complain I Besides— and this is a very 

 j important consideration™the farmers are a class of 

 1 people without power. They have actually no proper 



