THE WHEAT CULTURIST. 311 



"With the exception of the crops raised in 1828 and 1831, 

 my wheat was the poorest this past season that I have 

 ever raised. The failure was mainly owing to the severe 

 drought in autumn, at seed time. Every wheat-grower 

 knows that it is impossible to obtain a remunerating 

 crop of wheat, when the seed sown in autumn does not 

 come up till after the growing season has commenced 

 the next spring." 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF DRILLING-IN GRAIN. 



By reviewing what is recorded under the heading of 

 The Habit of the Wheat Plant, page 49, and also page 

 126, the reader will understand the eminent import- 

 ance of depositing every kernel of wheat at a uniform 

 depth. 



This is aimed at when wheat is put in with an ordi- 

 nary drill; and, for the most part, the end sought is 

 secured, if the soil be of a uniform quality and condi- 

 tion, so that the teeth will run at a given depth. But 

 when the soil is mellow in some places, and hard in 

 others, some drills will ' deposit the seed in the mellow 

 places too deep, so that putting in with a drill will have 

 no advantage over sowing broadcast, so far as obviating 

 the injurious effects of freezing and thawing are con- 

 cerned. The teeth of grain drills should be set to run 

 not more than two inches in depth. One and a half 

 inches deep for winter grain is better than two, for rea- 

 sons already assigned, except where the soil is light and 

 dry, in which instance the seed should be deposited not 

 less than two inches in depth. Then, nearly all the 

 roots will be so near each other, that the expansion of 

 the soil will neither break the stem nor seriously dam- 



