216 THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 



the cost of the land, with the value of the clover seed 

 added ; and it is impossible to manure as cheaply and 

 at the same time as effectually in any other manner. 



Thaer, in his work on the Principles of Agriculture, 

 after enumerating a number of crops suitable to be 

 grown before wheat, concludes by saying, " Lastly, the 

 best way of obtaining good crops of wheat, is to sow the 

 grain on broken-up clover land ; " and he further recom- 

 mends that the clover should be ploughed a month pre- 

 vious to sowing the wheat. The recommendation coin- 

 cides with the practice of many of the best farmers in 

 England, who prefer sowing wheat on a stale furrow, 

 under the impression that land which has become some- 

 what compact in consequence of having had time to settle, 

 is more congenial to the growth of wheat, than that which 

 has been recently ploughed. It is also thought important 

 not to have the ground too finely pulverized, as the grain 

 is supposed to stand the winter better when the land is 

 somewhat cloddy on the surface. This is also the opinion 

 of many of the most successful wheat-growers in the in- 

 terior of this State, and it also coincides with my own 

 experience. The reason for preferring a cloddy surface 

 is, that it does not so readily form a crust after showers, 

 and the clods, as they crumble to pieces during the 

 winter and spring, supply fresh, mellow earth to the 

 roots of the plants. — J. Harris. 



Manuring the Surface for Winter Whe vt, 



In preference to mingling the manure thoroughly with 

 the soil, as deep as it is ploughed. By ploughing the soil 

 to a good depth once, and by working only a few inches 

 in depth of the surface — rendering it fine and mellow — 



