294: THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 



harm. Farmers have neglected their summer fal 



lows." 



D 



The Conclusion of Wheat Growing. 



Now, if our farmers would only regard their own 

 most important interests, and the interests of those 

 who may cultivate the soil after them, every sheep, 

 every swine, and every bullock would be put in excel- 

 lent condition for the slaughter-house before leaving the 

 farm. Then there would, necessarily, be something left 

 behind to maintain the fertility of the soil, and thus 

 produce more abundant crops of grain and larger and 

 fatter cattle the next season. 



Were I asked by a farmer on the cold soil of Maine 

 how to produce wheat there, I would say, raise mutton. 

 Were the same question propounded by a Canadian, I 

 would answer, make mutton, and apply the manure to 

 the soil. Were the farmers of the West to inquire how 

 to raise better crops of wheat, from year to year, instead 

 of poorer yields, which is now the rule, still my answer 

 would be, make mutton, by feeding coarse grain and 

 turnips. This is what the farmers of our country must 

 eventually come to — making mutton — before they can 

 expect to produce such crops of wheat as once grew on 

 our virgin soils. By making mutton from year to year, 

 and applying the manure thus produced by the sheep, 

 farmers will learn that they will receive more money 

 from their flocks, and the yield of grain will increase 

 from year to year, instead of diminishing. 



Some chemists tell us that ammoniacal fertilizers 

 should always be covered up with a little earth, to pre- 

 vent loss by evaporation. This is correct. On the 

 contrary, they state that such fertilizers as lime and 



