116 YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 



our land were cleared the way it should be before it is seeded 

 to clover, and eaten down by sheep during the summer, 

 wheat might be raised here with one plowing, as in England, 

 especially if we used a little Peruvian guano at the time of 

 sowing. In western New York manure is seldom applied 

 directly to wheat ; some say it is injurious. But I apprehend 

 that, on most farms, the wheat would be very grateful for a 

 little good, well-rotted manure, either plowed in or spread on 

 the surface just before sowing. Wheat needs something to 

 give it a good start in the fall, and a little well-rotted manure, 

 not plowed in deep, would be very acceptable. A dressing of 

 Peruvian guano, say 150 Ibs. to 300 Ibs. to the acre, would 

 perhaps be better still. It will pay if we get $1 50 per bushel 

 for wheat. At $1 per bushel the profits from the use of guano 

 will be very slight, and may be on the wrong side of the 

 ledger. 



Gypsum, or sulphate of lime, seldom does any good on 

 wheat in western New York, although it has a very good eifect 

 on clover, and sometimes on peas. Some good farmers sow a 

 bushel of plaster (gypsum) on the wheat in the spring, but it 

 is done, not to benefit the wheat, but for its eifect on the clover 

 sown with the wheat. 



In regard te the time of sowing wheat, we have to steer 

 between the Hessian fly and the midge the Scylla and 

 Charybdis of the wheat-grower. If we sow too early, there is 

 increased danger from the Hessian fly, which deposits its eggs 

 in the young plants in the fall ; and if we sow late, the proba 

 bility is that the midge, which deposits its eggs in the grain 

 when in bloom, will destroy it. In western New York, from 

 1st to the 10th of September is now considered the safest 

 time. As we go south, the wheat is sown later, but ripens 

 earlier, and I believe we should find it to our advantage to get 

 seed wheat from a southern rather than a northern latitude ; 

 but there is some difference of opinion on this point. It seems 

 probable, to say the least, that the wheat would, for a year or 



