PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS* CLUB. 417 



following rule as to tlie time for sowing spring wheat, which I am 

 satisfied if a man follows strictly, he will have no cause to regret: 

 The ground is well plowed in the full. As soon after the 10th of 

 March as the frost is suHiciently out and the land dry enough, §ow 

 the seed and cover well. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in 

 the evening withhold not thy hand." I had been told by a man 

 of large experience in wheat-raising, that two acres sowed in 

 March, was worth three sowed in April. In the spring of 1855, 

 I commenced the 3d of April, the top of the ground thawed 

 barely enough to admit of harrowing, with a large snow-drift on 

 one end of the field; had to leave about half an acre and plant in 

 corn; sowed the first 15 acres with Eed River wheat; yield 24| 

 bushels per acre. Next cut off the corn stalks, raked and burned 

 them, harrowed the land, sowed broadcast, from the 10th to the 

 20th of April, 29{ acres with Canada Club; yield, 30| bushels 

 l^er acre. In 1856, sowed from th<^ 9th to the 16th of April; 

 yield, 27 bushels per acre. In 1857, spring very backward; 

 commenced harrowing for wheat April 22, in the evening, the 

 ground too hard frozen in the morning to admit of harrowing, 

 and six inches below the surface was still frozen hard as a rock. 

 From the 23d of April to the 4th of May, inclusive, sowed 73 

 acres sod ground; yield, 22^ bushels per acre; the breaking was 

 done lengthwise, and tlie sowing crosswise of the piece; the first 

 breaking very heavy, gradually becoming shorter in the straw, 

 and thinner on the ground, as the breaking was done later, until, 

 on that broke last, there was not more than from one-half to two- 

 thirds as good as on that broke earlier, but the quality was all 

 No. 1. Finished breaking July 22. In 1858, foiled to record 

 the time of sowing, probably the fore part of April; spring very 

 wet, sowed in the mud; 65 acres put on 120 bushels No. 1 wheat, 

 harvested 187 bushels by measure (which weighed 45 to 50 pounds 

 per bushel), from about one-third of the piece; concluded the bal- 

 ance would not pay for harvesting. In 1859, sold my farm and 

 raised no crop. In 1860, sowed from the 15th to the 20th of 

 March; yield, 265 bushels per acre. In 1861, sowed the 12th 

 and ]3th of April; harvested a little less than 24 bushels per acre. 

 In 1864, sowed the last week in March, and the first week in 

 April; harvested 27 bushels per acre. Average yield for the six 

 years named, about 22 1- bushels per acre; only two years out of 

 the six, I sowed as early as March, and I think no one will deny 

 that the yield was a very large average one. Leaving out the 

 [Am. Inst.] AA 



