On Wheat. 299 



v 



parts of the field being turned into dust, was blown away, and the 

 roots of the wheat left so bare of covering as to be killed by the 

 frost. On the low ground of the field, and bj the hedge -sides, 

 which were protected from high winds, trodden down hard, and 

 where the wire-worm is scarcely ever found, the crop was good. 



This field was ploughed in the autumn by teams contending 

 for our parish ploughing prizes. Being in Scotland at the time, 

 I doubt if the seed was drilled in so deep as 4 inches, as I have 

 long desired that my wheat should be on those parts of my farm 

 where the soil is chiefly composed of sand. The ploughing 

 was done in that way which is generally thought to be the best ; 

 that is, the furrows were laid much on edge, but which I do not 

 like when the seed is to be drilled in. When it is sown broad- 

 cast it is right, because the harrows then catch plenty of mould 

 to cover the seed ; but when the seed is to be drilled, I feel 

 assured that on land like mine it is best to have a thick furrow 

 ploughed, and so turned over to lie as flat as possible ; thus, when 

 the seed is deposited in the earth by the drill, the land will be 

 quite solid, which is so necessary for the chance of a good crop 

 of wheat. 



Instead of the land of my clover-ley crop of wheat lying solid, 

 from the manner in which it had been ploughed and managed, it 

 lay so hollow that, in walking over it about Christmas, it sank 

 several inches at every footstep : this was bad, but could not be 

 remedied, for the roller could not then be used, nor would it then 

 do to feed a flock of sheep on it. Daily driving a flock over it 

 might have done some good. There was, I find, another thing 

 against my having a good crop — the land was ploughed when quite 

 dry, which a clover-ley, intended for wheat, ought never to be. 



I used the presser in putting in all my clover-ley wheat in the 

 autumn of 1841, and never reaped better crops than in 1842. 

 But the best was, from a favourable season, after turnips and 

 mangold-wurzel sown the first week in February, the weather in 

 November not being favourable. As there had been about 33 

 tons of the mangold-wurzel and 23 tons an acre of the turnips 

 carted off, the wheat, as may be supposed, was the heaviest crop 

 where the turnips had grown, excepting where a great quantity of 

 mangold-wurzel leaves had been ploughed in. I have for many 

 years sown wheat in November, after swedes and mangold were 

 carted off, and also after swedes eaten off in February, and gene- 

 rally, but not always, with good success, such late-sown wheat 

 being in some seasons liable to mildew, when that which had been 

 sown in the autumn has escaped. Several of my neighbours, who 

 never attempted it before, sowed in February, 1842, part of their 

 land after turnips, and obtained good crops. 



Should the land of a clover-ley have been so much neglected 



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