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of September to the latter part of October, but the seed is often put in thirty 
days later. Spring wheat is sown from the middle of January to the first of 
March ; almost the whole acreage is sown broadcast, drilling being apparently 
unknown in most sections. Winter wheat is harvested from the first of May to 
the middle of June, and the spring crop-in June, sometimes extending into 
July. Of the mode of culture our Lampasas correspondent says : 
Few farmers prepare their ground before sowing, none mauure, and the usual mode is to 
sow on the rough or stubble ground, plough in and run over with a tree- -top. With this 
miserable culture the average yield is about 12 bushels to the acre. 
This system seems widely prevalent in the State, and the only wonder is that 
the average yield reaches the figures named—the crop of 1866 being estimated at 
12 bushels to the acre; with proper cultivation the yield could doubtless be 
doubled. 
In recommending early sowing, onr Burnet correspondent writes: 
By sowing early, the wheat sade better stocked before cold weather sets in. It thus 
becomes a valuable winter pasture, yielding nevertheless a crop. I think pasturing proves 
disadvantageous to the growth of the wheat, except .in cases where wheat is too forward 
in the spring, when it is likely to be killed by-fiost. Precaution, therefore, requires the 
wheat to be kept down by pasturing. An experienced farmer informs me that the pasturing 
of his wheat-field had paid him for “seed and work, and still he made a crop of fifteen bush- 
els of wheat to the acre. I do not recommend this practice, however. 
6. Natural grasses are found in great variety in this State, many of them 
classed under local names, and millions of acres of woodland and prairie are 
covered with a luxuriant growth, which furnishes common pasture for 
innumerable herds throughout the year. Wire-grass,. millet, clover, prairie- 
grass, Bermuda, musquit, sedge, crab-grass, sage, buffalo, rescue, &c., &c., are 
named by our correspondents in the various counties, and of the’ cultivated 
grasses Hungarian appears to be most successful, several northern clovers and 
grasses having proved failures, owing, perhaps, to the extended droughts. 
There is so much land in common upon which the wild ‘grasses grow, that sel- 
dom other than milch cows are kept in pastures, and those only i in winter. 
During eight or nine months of the year the range is fine, and cattle, horses, 
and sheep keep very fat, and dry cattle do well the balance of the year. Our 
Hopkins county correspondent writes : 
We depend principally upon the wild grasses, which are’ very-luxuriant, many raising 
their crops ‘upon the grass,” as it is termed, working the teams in the daytime and letting 
them gather their living upon the prairies at night. Many animals live exclusively on the 
prairies, with no care or attention from their owners, except marking and branding in the 
spring, when young, and never seeing them again until old enough for market. For nine 
months of the year “these natural pastures are, sufficient to keep both horses and cattle, not 
only living, but fat. The cost may be set down at nothing, as many own hundreds of cat- 
tle without seeing them more than once a year, though under such circumstances many stray 
off and cost time and money to get them back. 
In DeWitt county they have a great variety of native grasses, our corre- 
spondent having gathered thirteen distinct sorts in a neglected garden of half an 
acre. He reports a species of millet grass, which appeared spontaneously in 
their fields about ten years ago: “ It generally comes up after corn is laid by, 
and grows rapidly, maturing in about eight weeks. It stands from three to five 
feet high, and very thick, affording an immense yield to the acre. It is cut 
with scythes out of the corn rows, and makes very fine hay, horses preferring 
it to the best blade fodder. The seeds are like millet, but larger, and are liable 
to shed off if not cut pretty green. Some German farmers leave ont a piece of 
farm land, giving it frequent ploughings and harrowings while working their corn, 
when this grass springs up and yields an immense crop, which they cut with 
their rw m machinés. Our botanists class this grass as a new variety under 
the name of ‘ Panicum Texanum:’” ‘The same correspondent adds : 
Sheep in this county are a considerable interest. We own about 100,000 head, principally 
grade merinos. From neglect during the war, and poverty since, we have suffered ou 
flocks to degenerate. Three pounds of wool to the fleece is about the average yield, worth 
