THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 121 



of soil, so that the roots must necessarily strike deep 

 before they can reach the necessary sustenance, they 

 will be lifted out and broken by the frost after freezing 

 only a few times. 



Now, if we could invert only a few inches in depth 

 of the soil say three or four inches and then pulver- 

 ize the soil below this thin stratum of surface soil, thus 

 keeping the largest proportion of humus and available 

 fertilizers near the surface of the earth, there is no 

 doubt but that we should see a very remarkable differ- 

 ence in more abundant crops of grain ; and at the same 

 time it would be of a better quality, as its growth 

 would not be stinted by the frosts of winter. 



To show that this theory of cultivation is philoso- 

 phical and practically correct, I will simply refer to the 

 practice formerly in vogue, of sowing wheat on newly- 

 cleared land, after the surface had been simply har- 

 rowed or without ploughing any part of the ground. 

 "Winter-killing of wheat, when put in thus, was seldom 

 complained of. As there was but little depth to the 

 soil, all the roots spread out horizontally ; and it was 

 almost impossible for the young plants to be injured by 

 the freezing and thawing of the surface of the field. 



Thousands of acres of the finest quality of wheat 

 were cultivated, when the country was new, on ground 

 that was simply harrowed over, having never been 

 ploughed. The most abundant crops that the best 

 wheat-fields of the country ever have produced, or ever 

 will yield, grew where the timber had just been cut off ; 

 and where the logs and brush were burned to ashes, 

 which were harrowed into the thin stratum of leaf 

 inould that formed the seed-bed of the future crop. The 

 land, in numerous instances, was so exceedingly rooty 



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