270 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



often brings a return of from twenty to thirty dollars worth of grain. Too great importance 

 cannot be placed upon finely pulverizing the soil, and having the fertilizing element near the 

 surface, where it can be within the reach of the plant when it first gets started. Some 

 farmers apply the fertilizers with the drill at the time of sowing the grain ; when this is done, 

 it is better to mix the fertilizers with about twice the quantity of earth, or to apply it broad 

 cast and harrow it in, taking care that it is not covered too deeply; either of these methods 

 prevents injury to the seed that might result by having the strong chemical fertilizers coming 

 in direct contact with it, which would have a tendency to injure the germ. 



Ground bone or superphosphate of lime is a very valuable and available fertilizer for 

 wheat; it also hastens its maturity from one to two weeks in many soils. It should be lightly 

 harrowed in, and never mixed deeply with the soil. From two hundred and fifty to four 

 hundred pounds or more per acre should be applied, according to the nature of the soil. It 

 is estimated by good authority that twenty-five bushels of wheat, with straw, takes from an 

 acre of ground 51.85 pounds of ammonia, 33.70 of potash, and 26.10 of phosphoric acid, 

 which is equal to about 57 pounds of bone phosphate lime. 



Selection of Seed. In order to secure the best results in the culture of wheat, it is 

 not only important that the soil be sufficiently fertile and thoroughly prepared for the reception 

 of the seed, but that the seed upon which the future crop is dependent should be of the very 

 best quality, perfectly sound, fully developed in kernel, well ripened, and entirely free from 

 any imperfections of any kind. The natural law of &quot; like producing like &quot; is as arbitrary in 

 the culture of grains as in the propagation of animals, or any other department of nature, 

 and the deterioration of the wheat crop so common in some sections is largely due to care 

 lessness or indifference in the selection of seed. The best soil, and most careful cultivation 

 will not produce a good crop from inferior seed. The difficulty and time required for sepa 

 rating the largest and most perfect kernels for sowing, is probably the reason why so much 

 inferior seed is sown. Many years ago, before the grading fanning-mills and separators were 

 invented, farmers were obliged to resort to various devices for separating the best kernels 

 for this purpose. One method was to dip up from the pile at one end of the barn-floor a 

 small quantity of wheat in a saucer, and throw it upon the floor at the other end as far as 

 possible; by this means the heaviest grains would go farther than the light ones, and when a 

 sufficient quantity had accumulated at the farthest end of the whole mass, the best seed was 

 secured. 



Another method was to put up a wire sieve several feet long, giving it a sufficient slant to 

 have the grain, when poured in at the highest end, pass over its surface; by gently shaking 

 this sieve, the small grains would drop through, and the large ones go on over the opposite 

 end. Others selected the perfect heads from the bundles of wheat and shelled them by hand, 

 which was a long and labored process to obtain a quantity of seed. The grading-mill saves 

 much of this labor and time, but it is by no means without objection, since many imperfect 

 seeds find their way among the selected ones, though it is perhaps the best practicable method 

 where -very large quantities are required for sowing. &quot;Where practicable, the selection of the 

 best heads, with a further grading by sifting out all the smaller seeds, will give a better 

 selection, and by carefully cultivating these, and permitting no weeds to grow among the 

 wheat, yearly repeating this process, combined with the best cultivation, will not only prevent 

 deterioration in the quality and quantity of the crop, but improve it in all respects. 



One of the best means of securing the choicest grains for seed is to take only those growing 

 in the lower half of the head, these being invariably larger and more plump than those of the 

 upper half. This process of selection, of course, involves much labor and time, but it might 

 be accomplished easily where only a small amount of seed were required, for a choice plot 

 or for experiment in growing for seed. Some very successful wheat-growers save all the grain 

 for seed that shells out itself in handling the sheaves, since the largest and heaviest kernels 



