42 



Cultivation of Wheat. 



Vol. IV. 



laid down to grass. In this case, all " farmers 

 wlio work it right, give but one ploughing, 

 and harrow in the seed by passing the harrow 

 twice in a place the same way with the fur- 

 rows." 



If the clover sod is completely subverted 

 by the furrow slice being turned j^«^ whereby 

 all the vegetable matter is completely shut 

 in, or buried ; the sward thus turned in will 

 begin to decompose, according to the favora- 

 ble state of the weather and other circum- 

 stances, in from ten to fifT.een days. This, by 

 many, is considered as the proper time for 

 putting in the wheat. 



This process is what is called sowing or put- 

 ting in wheat upon a clover ley, and is consid- 

 ered as one of the great improvements in mod- 

 ern agricultuie. It has been adopted for years 

 p'jst in New England, with great advantage. 

 Even in the Middle States in pursuance 

 with this practice, together with the use of 

 plaster and lime, the face of the country in 

 many places has been entirely renovated. 



Much diversity of opinion prevails even 

 among practical farmers, in regard to the 

 proper period for sowing wheat on a clover 

 ley. Some contending that the operations of 

 ploughing, harrowing and seeding should im- 

 mediately follow each other : Mr. Bordi.ey, 

 in his valuable work on husbandry, advocates 

 this system. The practice, however, does 

 not generally prevail. 



On the other hand, Mr. Macro, an emi- 

 nent English farmer, says : " From upwards 

 of twenty years' experience, I am of opinion 

 that the best way of sowing clover lands with 

 wheat, is to plough the land ten or fourteen 

 days before you sow it, that it may have time 

 to get dry and after rain to make it dress well. 

 I have often tried both ways, on the same 

 lands, and always found that ploughing sev- 

 eral days before seeding answered best." 



Both modes give crops superior to what are 

 produced on fallow : Farmers may therefore 

 try both methods for determining which to 

 prefer; that is, as well immedinte sowing, on 

 ploughing in the clover, as the method of sow- 

 in? not till ten or fourteen days, after having 

 ploughed in the clover — suppose a half each 

 way. 



Webb Hall, in his Prize Essay on the 

 growth of wheat, says that the ley should be 

 broken up at least a month before the seeding 

 of tlie ground — both, that time should be al- 

 lowed for the decomposition of the sward; 

 and, chiefly, that the land may be allowed to 

 settle. 



If it be desirable to sow wheat after a fal- 

 low crop of peas, barley, rye, oats, &c., the 

 land should be immediately ploujfhed or tho- 

 roughly harrowed after it is cleared, that the 

 .scattered grains may have sufficient time to 

 vegetate — then one good ploughing with suf- 



ficient harrowing is a good preparation for 

 the seed. 



Seed-wheat should be selected from the 

 earliest and most perfect growth of the pre- 

 ceding year, and thoroughly cleansed from 

 rye, cockle, imperfect or shrivelled grains, 

 weeds, extraneous substances, &c. Too much 

 attention cannot be bestowed on this part of 

 the operation if you wish to harvest a clean 

 crop, as every kind of seed will produce its 

 'ike. Too much care cannot be observed in 

 the selection of seed. 



It has been satisfactorily ascertained by re- 

 peated experiments of distinguished agricul- 

 turists, that steeping seed wheat about twelve 

 hours in weak lye, brine, or common lime wa- 

 ter, -will prevent smut, and destroy the larvae 

 of insects, and the germ of smut and other 

 diseases to which it is subject. If immedi- 

 ately rolled in plaster, or a mixture of lime 

 and plaster, the crop will be sufficiently in- 

 creased to pay three times the expense.* 



This process should never be omitted, be- 

 cause, besides detecting the shrunk and shriv- 

 elled grains, and many seeds of o1;her plants, 

 which will float on the surface of the water, 

 it entirely removes the dust of smut and rust, 

 and thus prevents their propagation. This 

 practice is flilly sustained by the experience 

 of eminent English farmers, as detailed in the 

 " Farmers' Series of the Library of Useful 

 Knowledge." 



A practice of steeping, very general in Eng- 

 land, and to some extent practised in the 

 United States, is thus described by Professor 

 Low. Let a tub be provided, and partly filled 

 with urine, and let a quantity of wheat, as a 

 bushel, be put in at a time. Let the wheat be 

 well stirred, and all the lighter grains which 

 come to the top skimmed carefully off and 

 thrown aside as useless. The wheat should 

 remain from five to ten minutes, but never 

 more than ten minutes, in tlie pickle. 



The successive portions of wheat thus pic- 

 kled, are to be allowed to drain a little, and 

 then to be laid upon the barn-floor in layers, 

 hot lime being at the same time sifted upon each 

 layer. The purpose of spreading the lime is 

 to dry the grain, which should then be carried 

 immediately to the fields and sown. 



The Professor does not mention the quan- 

 tity of lime. Half a peck must be amply 

 sufficient for a bushol of wheat, and it should 

 be carefully stirred, that every grain may re- 

 ceive a portion. Qnick-lime fresh from the 

 kiln, which has been recently slaked, with 

 some of the liquor used for the steep, is to be 

 preferred. Some caution is requisite in the 

 use of lime — for if not properly slaked, so 

 great a degree of heat might be raised as to 

 destroy the vegetative power of the seed. 



•A Practical Farmer, in Gen Far. vol. v. p. 861. 



