For Five Dollars for%var.le<l free of posta;^o the Cal>inct will be fnrnisTiecl for seven 

 years, couimeuciug ivitli tUc first or uny 8ubse<xueiit volume* 



;n 



^V 



Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and Rural and Domestic Economy. 



Vol. IV.-No. 3.] 



September 16, 1839. 



[Whole No. 56. 



PUBLISHED BY 

 PROITTY, HBBY & PROUTY, 



AT THE 



Agricultural Ware^House and Seed Store, 



NO. 8 7 NORTH SECOND STREET, 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Price one dollar per j ear.— For conditions see last page. 



iTf-Any gentleman remitting Five Dollars \\i\\ be en- 

 titled to the Farmers' Cabinet for seven years, tom- 

 mencing with the first or any subsequent volume.— 

 The volumes now published can be sent by mail, in pa- 

 per wrappers; Postage, under 100 miles twelve cents — 

 to any pari of the United States over 100 miles from 

 the place of publication, eighteen cents per volume. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 

 Cultivatioai of Plants. 



[WHEAT.— Continued from page 11.] 



Good wheat land, ought, therefore, always 

 to possess a certain degree of consistence, for 

 although light soils composed chiefly of sand 

 and gravel, will often produce wheat of good 

 quality, yet rich heavy loams and strong clays, 

 with a proper portion of sand, always yield 

 that winch is the weightiest in the bushel and 

 the most productive in the crop. 



If along with a small quantity of sand, it 

 have about fifteen per cent, of lime, it may 

 be classed among soils of the best quality for 

 the production of the crop — provided it also 

 contains a sufficient portion of nutritive hu- 

 mus, or mould. Soils of this description are 

 generally of a dark brown color, and work 

 freely, in consequence of the mixture of lime, 

 which prevents them from being too adhesive. 



A general rule, applicable to all cases in 

 which wheat is sown, is, th;tt the land sliall 

 be in the best condition that circumstances 

 allow, with respect to tillage, cleanness and 

 fertility. As wheat is the most valuable of the 

 ccedl grasses, so itrequirosgreater care than 

 the others to produce it. It is an error in 

 practice to sow with a gmin crop any land 

 which is out of order — but this error is greater 



C.4B.— Vol. IV.— No. 2, 41 



and more hurtful in the case of wheat than of 

 almost any other grain crop. 



As the wheat crop generally receives no 

 further culture after it is committed to the 

 earth, the soil intended for its reception should 

 be brought into as fine condition as possible. 

 To accomplish this, manuring and thorough 

 culture are indispensable. If this is attended 

 to, the soil will be in a loose, mellow and fer- 

 tile state, and possessing such a depth of tilth 

 as will have a tendency to preserve it in good 

 condition. 



Most crops require high manuring and a 

 rich soil, and it is scarcely possible to carry 

 this to excess, especially in the case of corn. 

 But with wheat the case is otherwise. Land, 

 naturally very rich or very highly manured, is 

 apt to cause during the hot season of summer a 

 too rapid growth of straw, at the expense of 

 the seed ; and rust, lodging, and ultimate fail- 

 ure is fi-equcntly the consequence.* 



In modern tillage, wheat more generally 

 follows clover than any other crop, years of 

 practice having confirmed the opinion enter- 

 tained by many intelligent farmers, that clo- 

 ver is the best preparation for a crop of wheat. 

 The practice is as follows : The clover field 

 having been mowed, or fed off, is generally- 

 turned up the second year of its having been. 



[JVote.—Il is an established la w in vegetable economy 

 that an extraordinary growth of the straw and leaves is 

 always at the expense of the fruit or seed. Hence fruit 

 trees very rarely bear while in a very thrifty state, but 

 require first to be checked in their growth before they 

 can produce fruit.] 



[JVo£c.-Now, as it is during the heat of summer, a 

 season when vegetation advances most rapidly, that 

 wheat mntures its seed; it is more liable, on this ac- 

 count, to suffer from too vigorous a growth, than other 

 plants which ripen their seed later in the season, such 

 as Indian corn.] 



* Genesee Farmer, rol. v. page 273. 



