C79 



F A R M E R S' R E G I S T E R. 



[Nrt. 11 



corrected. The eanie land now produces Iroru 

 twenty-four to thirty bushel?, of exrollent quality; 

 and in no instauce has any recurrence of its (br- 

 mer imheahliy condition been observed. Th» 

 mischief was not contiiied to tlie wheat crop: the 

 barley, oats, tares, and clover, sud'ercd in tiiosame 

 proportion, and have equally derived benefit liorn 

 the chalkiiii;. 



The value of ciialk, for the purposes I have 

 mentioned, does not extend, on this farm, beyond 

 the first and second qualities of land, the hard 

 compact gravelly clay, and the gravel with the 

 less proportion of clay: when applied to the third 

 quality of soil, the light-colored loam, its effects 

 appeared to be injurious; probably this soil was 

 already sufficiently mixed with it, which rendered 

 the addition, if not detrimental, at least useless. 



Rotation of crops. 



The beet poil on this farm is the compact gravel- 

 ly clay. It is cultivated (except the course be in- 

 terrupted by very unfiivorable seasons) by the ro- 

 tation of crops gpiierally adopted by the best form - 

 ers in this part of the country: — 1st, wheat; 2nd, 

 turnips; 3rd, barley; 4th, clover and rye-grass. 

 Occasionally, after two or three wet seasons, in- 

 stead of sowing wheat on the clover lay, the land 

 has been permitted to lie fallow the ensuing sum- 

 mer, has received three good ploughings, and the 

 earth been well pulverized by repeated harrowing 

 and rolling. The practice of (allowing lands of 

 any quality has been objected to by many eminent 

 agriculturists, as unnecessary, and as not conler- 

 ring any benefit proportioned to the loss of one 

 eeason. It is a question which can be resolved 

 only by the experience of a considerable length of 

 time, and the calculation of the loss or profit can- 

 not be very satisfactorily made. But the system, 

 as applied to this sort of land upon the occasions 

 to which I have referred, has certainly improved 

 the succeeding crop, especially in its quality. 



1. Wheat. — The wheat generally sown on the 

 best land, and on that which is in high condition, 

 are the while sorts; and of these sorts, the prefer- 

 ence has been given to the velvet-husked. This 

 wheat, when it enjoys the advantage of being 

 60wn on land in high condition, is equally pro- 

 ductive with the brown, and sells from thirty to 

 forty shilling per load higher. The straw is usu- 

 ally short, compared with that of other sorts, and 

 therefore less liable to be beaten down in stormy 

 seasons; and the fur upon the husk appears to af- 

 ford considerable protection against the blight or 

 mildew, one of the destructive scourges of our 

 climate. This wheat should be cut as soon as the 

 internal part of the grain is set, and when upon 

 pressure, it is found the milky fluid is absorbed. 

 It will ripen quickly as it stands in the shock. 

 When thus cut, the sample is always briiThter, and 

 clearer, and weighs heavier, than wlien it is suffer- 

 ed to remain longer in the crround. When the har- 

 vest is late, and these obvious causes of blight, 

 the warm drizzling rains and morning fogs, are 

 to be ex|iected, the hazard of exposure to this 

 mischief is diminished; a week is often of impor- 

 tance at this critical period; and by being in ad- 

 vance upon the general commencement of the 

 harvest, laborers are more easily obtained,, and 

 the wheat secured by means of additonal hands, 

 which cannot afterwards be obtained. 



On the second and third qualities of soil, this 



white wheat does not on an average succeed well. 

 In favorable seasons, and when tliese portions of 

 the soil iiave been in high condition, it has j)ro(iured 

 an ample return; but in the event of a dry, or 

 very cold and wet summer, the crop, compared 

 with that of the brown wheal, planted under the 

 same circunislaiiccs, has been deficient, the ear 

 imperfectly filled, and the grain meagre. The 

 red-slraw Jjtimmas has been found the best adapt- 

 ed, on an average of years, (o the two last quali- 

 ties of soil. It appears to resist better the bad 

 effects of unfiivorable seasons; and, fi'om the depth 

 of its color, it disguises better any injury it may 

 have sustained. 



Sowing. — From three to four bushels of wheat 

 and from five to six bushels of barley, are sown to 

 an acre. The whesit crop, upon an average of 

 a number of years, has yielded twenty-six bush- 

 els !^er acre; the barley crop, eight sacks per acre. 

 In ihe most favorable seasons, the average of the 

 wheat has been rather more than thirty-six bush- 

 els per acre and in the worst seasons, when wet 

 and cold prevailed, as in 1828 seventeen bush- 

 els per acre. 



Period of sowing. — In many parts of this dis- 

 trict, upon very light land, the wheat is sown, if 

 the season permits, as early as the end of August; 

 but upon the farm now described, none is sown 

 earlier than the last week in September, nor later, 

 if it can be avoided, than the middle of Novem- 

 ber. If sown earlier than the first-mentioned pe- 

 riod, it grows rank, and mats together in warm 

 and long protracted autumns, and in this state it 

 suffers from a succeeding alternation of frosts 

 and wet; if sown later than the last-mentioned 

 period, especially on the second and third quali- 

 ties of soil, it hardly shoots its roots to a sufficient 

 depth to prevent them from being loosened, or 

 partially exposed, and often, in considerable quan- 

 tities, thrown entirely on the surface, by the swell- 

 ing of the ground in frosty weather. 



Tares. — The ground from which the wheat has 

 been reaped is ploughed as soon after harvest as 

 other works, indispensibly necessary, will permit. 

 A portion of it, is sown with winter-tares, the 

 latter end of September. This crop is of great 

 value, if it be not injured; but it is so liable to be 

 thinned by the alternation of warm days, and 

 cold winds, and frosty nights in spring, that it can- 

 not be relied on as a certain resource for stock. 

 For this reason, the larger portion of land intend- 

 ed for tares is sown in February, March, and April 

 with the sort called the spring-tares, mixed with a 

 bushel of oats to an acre. They are evidently a 

 different plant from the winter-tares, the leaf 

 which first expands is different, the seed is larger, 

 it grows with more luxuriance, and produces, in 

 general, a heavier crop. Within these \&vf years, 

 a variety of the spring tare has been imported, 

 probaly from Holland, and sold in our markets 

 under no fixed name. This seed is small, like the 

 winter tare, and springs up with a similar leaf; but 

 it throws out more numerous branches, and has a 

 coarse and hardy appearance. The stem is short- 

 er, and it preserves an erect position longer than 

 the varieties in common use. It succeeded well 

 on the second quality of land. 



Tares afibrd a main supply of food for stock in 



the month of June, and part of July. If the 



crops be luxuriant, and the eeason wet, they 



I should be cut with a scythe, and put into cakes for 



