540 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



and heaviest of all ; lookiug so beautiful when in bloom, 

 and occupying so much space in the stackyard, that the 

 yield was estimated at four quarters an acre. But, 

 alas ! the thrashing-machine told a different tale ; the 

 average was only 25 bushels per acre of wheat, weighing 

 601bs. the bushel. However, the land had produced a 

 crop much heavier than any of its predecessors, though 

 the terribly adverse season refused to develope and ripen 

 the ears as was expected. And, after all, so bad and 

 defective in quantity, weight, and quality were all the 

 wheats iu the district, that my yield is not so very much 

 below other people's. The present (fourth) crop is 

 coming on remarkably well, though it is the sixth white- 

 straw crop in annual succession, and tlie seventh corn 

 crop since the land was manured. You see that, in 

 consequence of my having taken in hand a piece of 

 ground much too greatly exhausted, I cannot come 

 before you with a high average yield. But I am sure 

 that you will at once draw the proper inference, that if 

 land in such a state, after such a flogging course of 

 crops, has produced three wheat crops in succession, 

 averaging 26 bushels per acre, the same cultivation 

 would undoubtedly have given a much greater yield upon 

 ground in a fair condition of fertility. And as my 

 second crop yielded 30 bushels per acre (and the harvest 

 of that year was generally deficient throughout the dis- 

 trict), you will agree with me that, on similar land in at 

 all a fair condition, a yield of at least four quarters might 

 be reaped in ordinary seasons. The deduction from my 

 experience so far is that, with the same amount of til- 

 lage, any moderately good loam taken at a suitable 

 part of the usual rotation — say after beans, peas, oats, 

 clover, or even roots not richly manured, unless drawn 

 off the land — would be pretty certain to yield 4 quarters ; 

 and (judging by Mr. Smith's experience) might yield 5 

 qrs. or even more per acre : and this for, say, at least two 

 or three years. This important result, with its application 

 to the improvement of our present system of husbandry, 

 I hope to make still clearer by-and-bye ; and now pass 

 on to the consideration of the mode of culture, and its 

 expenses and profit. The wheat is drilled in triple 

 rows, the " spaces" (a a a a) being 10 inches each, and 

 the "intervals" {Ob) 40 inches 3 so that from the middle 

 of one stripe to the middle of the next is 5 feet. Next 

 year's crop is of course sown upon the fallowed inter- 

 vals b b, and the stubble stripes a a fallowed in turn, 

 as indicated by the waved lines : 



aia 



lai a< 



So that though the crop is taken from the whole field 

 the rows do not follow upon the same identical places ; 

 and, indeed, instead of being a system of " wheat after 

 wheat, it is in reality an alternate course of " dead 

 fallow and wheat." Hence some people say, why not 

 sow 5 acres with wheat in the ordinary way, and fallow 

 the other half of the field alternately ? The answer is 

 that, by interpersing the stripes of fallow between the 

 stripes of corn, the tillage operations of the fallow 

 stimulate and support the growth of the corn. So that 

 my 5 acres of wheat stripes (measuring these by them- 

 selves), with fallow stripes between, produced in 1858 

 no less than 71 quarters per acre ; whereas had all the 

 wheat been by itself and the fallow portion by itself, no 

 such amazing yield could have been looked for. What- 

 ever may be the explanation, at any rate here is proof 

 that tillage in close proximity to the growing plants, 

 and the admission of air and light amongst the green 

 and flaggy stems do wonderfully promote the increase 

 of the crop, at the same time strengthening the straw 

 and saving the grain from the damage always inflicted 

 by lodging and mildew. For while over-heavy crops 

 sown on the ordinary plan, come up a mass of flaccid 

 stems, too weak at bottom to spring up against the 

 weight of rains and violent winds, the stalks of a Lois- 

 Weedon crop are stout, green, and strong, and bear 

 aloft the ears, to ripen and grow plump and heavy in 

 the sunlight. The details of management are abundantly 

 simple. After harvest, fork out couch from the closely- 

 mown stubbles. Broadshare or scarify the fallow inter- 

 vals, to keep down the weeds. Shortly before seed-time 

 again scarify and harrow ; prepare a suitable mould by 

 harrowing, taking care to set the harrows widely apart? 

 in order to miss the stubble rows. The drilling I 

 manage as follows:— 



a 



10 



40 



lOi 



10 



40 



10: 



The drill is arranged with 4 coulters, two toward each 

 end of the coulter-bar, with the distances already men- 

 tioned; and the horses walk along the middle of the 

 interval. Going in the direction of the arrow («), the 

 outside coulter has its seed shut off, and acts only as a 

 " marker" ; in returning in the direction of the arrow 

 (b), this coulter runs again in the same track, depositing 

 seed ; while the other outside coulter is used as a marker. 



