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CULTIVATION AND HYBRIDIZING OF WHEAT. 



By the Commissioner of Agriculture. 



I have heretofore taken occasion to draw the attention of farmers to 

 the fact that, in the midst of the decided i)rogTess which is being made 

 in knowledge, which is necessarily the result of experience, and not- 

 withstanding the great advantages which are afforded by the superior 

 skill with which im^^roved implements are used, the wheat crop of the 

 country has depreciated, certainly in quantity, and, perhaps, to some 

 extent in quality. Wheat is justly estimated, as to its relative value, as 

 a primary article of production, as well as a ijrofitable result of industry. 

 It behooves, therefore, all who are concerned in the production or use 

 of this valuable cereal to consider well all the circumstances which 

 affect its quantity or deteriorate its quality. 



This i)aper is indited for the purpose of making two suggestions, each 

 of which I commend to the serious consideration, and criticism, too, of 

 all who take any interest in the subject. 



The only marked change which has occurred in the routine of culti- 

 vation in the Northern and Middle States, and which is, doubtless, 

 being followed in the Western States, is the abandonment of the use of 

 rye as a rotating crop. This has undoubtedly been ijroduced by the 

 conviction that a second crop of wheat, which has lately become almost 

 universal, is more profitable than to follow wheat with rye. This is, 

 perhaps, a short-sighted view of the subject, for while the second crop 

 of wheat may j)roduce more money than the crop of rye, the ultimate 

 profit to the farmer is exceedingly questionable. In drawing ujion the 

 land for a second crop of wheat, you again call upon it for that which 

 you have already taken ; you call upon it to perform a work in which it 

 has been already engaged for nearly a whole year. To use an appro- 

 priate analogy, you call upon a man, without rest or food, to continue 

 through the night the work in which he has been engaged all day. 

 AVhile the body may endure the additional and extraordinary exercise 

 of power, it is left in a state of exhaustion, unfitted to respond to any 

 future immediate call upon his health and strength. The simile is 

 almost perfect ; the land is called upon to perform a task which it has 

 just finished, and it is thereby left in a state of comparative exhaustion; 

 and although from its great quality of fruitfulness it may be productive 

 and survive this extraordinary draught upon its natural capacity, yet 

 it is left in a condition of frailty which time only cures, and this, per- 

 haps, more than counterbalances the immediate profit of the second 

 wheat crop. 



There is another view of this subject which deserves consideration. 

 And here let me borrow another familiar analogy. The i^hysical ener- 

 gies of any animal are unequal to a continual draught upon the same 

 muscular jiowers of the body. To walk ixp a flight of stairs, or upon a 

 long continued level plain, bringing into requisition the same muscles, 

 produces a degree of exhaustion which a like amount of diversified work 

 would not effect. Now, while we may not be able to understand all the 

 physical powers of the earth involved in the growth of its productions, 

 nor to define how or what are its operations, all are convinced, from the 

 evidence of actual observation, that these powers become exhausted 

 from too severe use, and fail to respond to our great cupidity. 



What and how many kinds of crops shall make up a proper rotation, 

 is a question Avhich involves the mysterious inquiry, how the growth of 



