454 



EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



what the labor would cost, but whether the result would com 

 pensate the labor. 



The quantity of seed sown to an acre is ordinarily two 

 bushels, more frequently less than more. The quantity depends 

 somewhat upon the nature of the soil, a larger quantity being 

 sown upon inferior than upon good soils. Somewhat depends 

 likewise upon the time of sowing. If sown early in September, 

 the plants have a longer time to grow, and tiller more abundantly 

 than if sowed later. Early in September is the time ordinarily 

 recommended for sowing wheat, where the previous crop can 

 be got off and the ground be made ready. In situations where 

 the winter is severe, late sowing is. strongly recommended, so 

 that the wheat may make little or no progress before the early 

 spring. In this way the crop is secured from the injury of the 

 frost, which, when it destroys the young lateral roots, is ex 

 tremely unfavorable, if not destructive, to the crop. The wheat 

 crop does not surfer from the severity of the cold where it is 

 uninterrupted, but from alternate freezings and thawings. When 

 the ground is expanded by the frost, the small roots of the young 

 plants are broken and mutilated, and the plants, being often 

 thrown out of the ground, perish. 



The diseases common to wheat in the United States are 

 equally common in Europe the smut, the rust, and the mildew. 

 A remedy, or rather preventive, of the first, in almost all cases 

 successful, is well known in the United States the washing 

 wheat in brine, and sprinkling it with lime. Probably the only 

 advantage of the brine over simple water is, that its adhesive 

 nature makes the lime stick to the seed. A solution of green 

 copperas is equally effectual ; and sometimes arsenic is used. 

 The last is objectionable, from the danger of having the sub 

 stance about the premises. The wheat may be prepared two or 

 three days before sowing, but it must not be allowed to become 

 heated. If laid in a heap upon the floor, it should be occasion 

 ally stirred. 



The rust and the mildew seem mainly due to atmospheric 

 causes. When the wheat is particularly forced by alternate 

 sunshine and rain, attended with extreme heat, when every 

 species of vegetation is urged to the top of its speed, and espe 

 cially where the land itself is very rich and the air stagnant or 

 confined, it seems as if more sap were forced into the plant than 



