ON THE CULTURE OF THE CEREALS. 281 



ference is manifested in the soundness of the grain of the early planted, the filling of the ear, 

 and its weight. As great a measure in the cob may, perhaps, be obtained in the late planted 

 as the early ; and if the season is sufficiently prolonged, as it often is, then the late planted 

 may be equally good with the early, but this is fortimate. The object with the farmer is to 

 secure himself against contingencies, if possible — against droughts and frosts, which, though 

 he can not control, he can not ward off, yet may be prepared for them, which, with him, may 

 be just as well as though he could really control them : he, as it were, commands nature by 

 obeying her laws. 



Culture of Wheat. 



There seems to have been a greater diversity of opinion in wheat husbandry than in that of 

 Indian corn. The preparation of the soil, of the seed, and of the period of sowing, each find 

 diversities of management, with different experienced wheat growers of New- York. But there 

 are a few important points upon which farmers agree. Taking all the testimony in regard to 

 the preparation of the soil, it stands as follows : 1. The furrows should be run deep, not less 

 than ten inches, and many are in favor of using still the subsoil plough. 2. The crop should 

 be manured indirectly, that is by clover fertilized by plaster, and what yard manure can be ob- 

 tained ; the seed to be well washed with brine, and dried with plaster or ashes, in which it is 

 rolled. 3. The quantity of seed not to be less than one and a half bushels to the acre, and not 

 to exceed two, unless it was threshed in the machine, when allowance has to be made for in- 

 jured kernels. 4. The seed to be drilled in : the experience both south and north confirm the 

 expediency of drill culture, both in the saving of seed and the danger from frosts, and the 

 value of the crop. The foregoing are points which have been well agreed upon by New- York 

 farmers. The rotation of crops preparatory for wheat I find a diversity of opinion. Barley 

 and Indian corn have sometimes preceded wheat ; but this is a violation of a good rule ; clover 

 or peas are far better according to the testimony of good farmers, and it stands to experience, 

 from the composition of the respective crops. Clover, however, is preferred by a majority. 

 The pea root is less suited to the wants of the succeeding crop, though, so far as exhaustion is 

 concerned , it is unexceptionable. A good crop of peas, intermixed with a few oats, gives a 

 profitable crop for feeding swine and horses; but a full crop of oats would exhaust a soil, it 

 seems, too much, and hence violates a good rule in husbandry : yet if the farmer can command 

 fertilizers, 1 can see no objection, for his reward exists in two crops instead of one. 



The natural soil which is adapted to wheat is a clay loam, or a stiffish clay, and it is re- 

 markable that good crops are raised upon a sandy loam. It is not, therefore, a crop whose 

 culture is confined to a single kind of soil : the argillaceous soils stand the culture for years, 

 while the other requires more labor and more manure. In some of the best wheat soils of Mid- 

 dle and Western New- York, nature has provided a reserved soil which comes into use in the 

 progress of cultivation. Indeed a portion, and a large portion too, of this district has improved 

 in its ability to bear wheat, since the first settlement of the country. , 



The difficulties of raising wheat, however, do not lie with the soil ; insects are the great 

 [Agricultural Report — Vol. iii.l 36 



