THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



541 



Sow 3 peckbpei acic, that is, usiug the same drill-wheel 

 that would sow 6 pecks aa acre, if the rows had been 10 

 inches apart all over the ground, instead of averaging 20 

 inches as they do. And be sure to get the wheat in early 

 because of this thin sowing and the effects of the after- 

 tillage. When the wheat is well up, take a plough 

 (with two horses in length) once along each interval, the 



coulter running within G inches of the wheat ou the 

 near side, and the furrow-slice covering up the old 

 stubble. The furrow may be 5 inches deep, without the 

 upturned earth falling upon the wheat on the other 

 side the interval ; and a subsoiler, drawn by say 3 

 horses in length, breaks up the furrow bottom to a depth 

 of 5 inches more, making a total depth of 10 inches. 



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The fallow interval thus treated is represented in the 

 engraving at A. In spring, say in February, or as soon 

 as the land is dry enough after a time of frost, perform 

 the same operation along the opposite side of the inter- 

 val, as at B. In March or April hand-hoe the wheat- 

 rows. In April, when the upturned furrow-slices are in 

 a crumbling state, tear them down by passing a narrow 

 harrow along the intervals ; and then stir deeply with 

 a good grubber, set about 26 or 28 inches wide, the 

 horses walking in length. It will be necessary to go 

 over the field with a hand-rake, to pull off any clods 

 that may fall upon and bury the outside rows of wheat. 

 This stage of the fallowing process is represented at C. 

 Horse-hoe the fallow intervals deeply at least twice 

 during the summer; and hand-weed the wheat when 

 requisite. When the ears are fully out and in bloom, 

 take a double-mouldboard or ridge-plough up the inter- 

 vals, so as to partially mould-up the wheat on each side : 

 this will prevent many stalks from being blown down 

 by winds or borne down by heavy rains. A subsoil- 

 plough should break up the bottom of the furrow left 

 open in the middle of each interval, all this being repre- 

 sented in the engraving at D. The crop may be mown or 

 bagged close to the ground ; and bear in mind not to 

 obliterate the lines of stubble by harrowing or otherwise, 

 because these form the " guideways " for the next sow- 

 ing. It may be necessary to gather the soil again into 

 the middle oftheintervals, say bya " ponyplough." You 

 will observe that the subsoiled furrows of A, B, and D lie 

 open to the weather for many weeks ; and, by the end 

 of the year the whole interval has been exposed and pul- 

 verized to a depth of 10 inches, forming an uncommonly 

 fine dead fallow for a succeeding wheat-crop. And as 

 far as cleanliness is concerned, I find that the couch has 

 decreased so as to be now little or no trouble ; and a 

 thick mat of buttercups and thistles which pestered the 

 field is also rapidly diminishing. Annual weeds have 

 been annoying and expensive, owing to the access of 

 air and light into every portion of the crop, but are be- 

 coming less troublesome every year ; and, according to 

 the experience at Woolston, my non-inversion husbandry 

 will ultimately wear them all out. In fact, after bearing 

 six white corn crops in succession, the piece is so free 

 from filth that I should simply have to plough, harrow, 

 and sow, if I chose to have any other sort of crop after 

 the present year's wheat. Now, as to expenses. 



You cannot tell, excepting approximately, and by as- 

 suming some debatable items for granted, what a wheat 

 crop costs in ordinary farming; but, as in this experi- 

 ment I use no manure and graze no stock, I have sim- 

 ply to reckon the outlay for tillage operations. During 

 the experiment, wages have ranged from 10s. up to I2s. 

 per week, with an addition for harvest ; and I allow 

 2s. 6d. a-day for ahorse and implement — which should 

 be enough, seeing that it is equivalent to .£'37s. lOs. for 

 three hundred working days in a year. At these prices 

 the cost per acre of the several operations has been as 

 follows : — 



£ s. d. 



August — Scarifying fallow intervals 1 6 



Sept. — Forking out couch 3 



„ — Scarifyiugand twice harrowing intervals 2 

 Oct. — Dtilliug aud harrowing 2 5 



„ — Seed 3 pecks (at 5s. per bushel) 3 9 



Dec. —Ploughing and Bubaoiling 3 6 



Feb. or f Ploughing and subsoiliug, aud remov- 1 q o » 



March L ing clods off wheat J 



April — Hand-hoeiug the wheat 16 



,, — Harrowing aud scuffling the intervals.. 1,4 

 May — Hand-weeding the wheat 9 



„ — Horse-hoeing the intervals 10 



June — Horse-hoeing the intervals second time 10 



„ — Mouldiug-up wheat 8 



„ —Subsoiliug 2 



„ — Hand-weeding wheat 4 



Aug. — Mowing and harvesting 1 1 



„ — Thrashing and marketing .,.,,.,... 10 



£2 19 2 



To this must be added, for rent SOs., tithe Ss., 

 rates and direct taxes say 7s. ; making together 2 5 



So that the total expense per acre is £5 4 2 



The outlay being so low, I am able to show you a profit 

 even from the poor yields obtained on my over- 

 exhausted ground. Taking wheat at 40s. per qr., a 

 yield of 21 bushels just meets the expenses; and all 

 above this quantity is surplus for profit and interest of 

 capital. Then, the straw is all clear gain besides, for 

 none of it has yet been returned to the land. How is 

 my ton-and-a-half of straw per acre to be valued, being 

 used as it is for cattle-fodder and for bedding ? Surely 

 I shall not be too high in taking it as worth 14s. 2d,, 

 which, deducted from the expenses, will leave £4: 10a. 

 as the cost of the grain, and thir, will be repaid by a 



