WHEAT. 277 



the average depth for most soils. A recent experiment, by a well known agriculturist, on the 

 depth at which wheat should be covered, resulted as follows . of fifty grains deposited at the 

 depth of eight inches, only two came up and these formed no heads; at a depth of seven 

 inches, one -fourth came up, but formed no heads. Ten out of fifty came up when covered 

 five inches deep, but had defective heads. At four inches covering there were a few perfect 

 heads, but the majority were objectionable. Of those covered three inches, all came up, but 

 the best yield was from those covered only two Cinches deep. We regret to state that in these 

 experiments the conditions of the soil, or its quality, was not stated, nor the state of the sea 

 son, but from the results obtained, we infer that the soil was moist, and that the season 

 afforded the average amount of rain. 



After-Culture of Wheat. It has been found by repeated experiments that 

 loosening the soil about the roots of the growing wheat-plants adds materially to the crops, 

 when done at the proper time and in the proper manner; hence, when wheat is sown broad 

 cast, harrowing in the spring is often resorted to, and although it may result in the loss of 

 some of the plants, this process is thought to produce such an increased and rapid growth- 

 combined with the tillering which it produces, that the benefits derived more than compensate 

 for the loss, tillering being desired when it occurs so that the heads will ripen about the 

 same time. In England the practice of drilling wheat and hoeing between the rows or drills 

 has been generally followed for several years, and the increase in the amount thus produced 

 seems to well repay for the additional labor. The practice of cultivating the growing crop 

 has been adopted only to a limited extent in this country, but will probably become in a few 

 years the common method, especially where wheat is sown in drills. Some of the wheat hoes 

 and cultivators that have recently been invented have proved very efficient and valuable 

 implements for this purpose. These should be employed to loosen the soil and exterminate 

 the weeds, but care should be used not to break or disturb the roots of the growing plants. 

 The former practice in England of hoeing drilled wheat by hand, involved much time and 

 labor. This process would not, of course, be practicable in this country on farms where its 

 extensive culture is carried on. It is a good plan to go over a field of winter wheat with the 

 roller in the spring, in order to press back those roots of the plant that have been thrown 

 out by the action of the frost. This should not be done, however, until the frost is entirely 

 out of the ground. 



Harvesting. The time for harvesting wheat is when the part of the stalks near the 

 ground has turned yellow, and the interior of the kernel has passed from a milk state into a 

 harder consistency, sometimes denominated the &quot;dough state,&quot; which is when it is easily 

 compressed between the thumb and finger. If cut before this time, repeated experiments 

 have proven that the kernels of grain will shrink and give light weight and reduced measure? 

 although the straw will be more valuable for fodder, as a portion of the nutriment that goes 

 to perfect the formation of the kernel at that time still remains in the stalk. If the wheat 

 stands later than this period before harvesting, the grain will be liable to waste from shelling 

 out in the field, and the straw will become quite hard and less valuable for use as fodder. 

 Where only a few acres of wheat are raised, it can be cut by hand, but large fields require 

 the use of the reaper. Cutting by hand is a slow and laborious process, and where the field 

 is large, much of the grain will become over-ripe and shell out with a consequent loss; there 

 fore, it is always best to hire a reaping machine where one is owned on the premises. 



The improved reapers and binders of the present time, that will reap and bind from six 

 teen to eighteen acres of any kind of grain per day, with the aid of only one man and a pair 

 of horses, show the advancement made in agriculture since the period, comparatively but a 

 few years remote, when all the grain harvested was cut by hand. The McCormick reaper 

 and twine-binder of which we have previously given an illustration represents one of these 



