1838.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



53 



Jions of spring wheat, and we have just looked for the 

 received opinions of French agriculturists on the same 

 subject. Rozicr's ToKrs Complct d'Jp;ricul{urc,' iic, 

 it may be presumed, presents a fair exposition of general 

 opinion. In his article on wheat, there are but a few 

 passages on this variet)-, which, however, show suffi- 

 ciently that it was valued but little. A version of 

 them will be here given. 



"In 1784, I made the trial of sowing spring wheat 

 (ble de mars) in autumn; it grew without beard. I 

 have also sown autumn wheat in the month of March, 

 and it became bearded. 3Iay not then this spring wheat 

 be but a degenerate product (degenerescence) q/ the 

 autumn wheat? It is known that in 1709, all the wheat 

 in France was entirely killed by freezing; and Louis 

 XIV caused to be purchased in Egypt, wheat which 

 arrived at JNIarseilles in the beginning of March. It 

 was distributed throughout all the northern provinces 

 of France, to re-sow the land in spring. Much was 

 sown; it grew superbly, audit is from that time known 

 as wheat of March." ***** 



•'Spring wheat has a yellow grain, very short and 

 slender. It also is of two kinds; the one is bearded, 

 the other not; which makes the straw of the latter pre- 

 ferable for food for cattle. This wheat also gives a 

 bread that is too dry; it is necessary to mix rye with it 

 to render it more sweet and palatable." * * * 



"As to spring wheat, it is very valuable for lands 

 exposed to the inundations of rivers, during winter, 

 since that kind is not sown but in March." — It is evi- 

 dent that the author would have much preferred au- 

 tumn wheat, if the peculiar disasters to which the 

 lands were subject, did not render it impossible to sow 

 in autumn with success. 



The article of Rozier, quoted from, above, also refers, 

 but in still fewer words, to our other new-old acquaint- 

 ance, Egyptian wheat. This is described as a "yel- 

 low wheat, bearing many heads upon the same stalk;" 

 and it is named the "miraculous wheat, or wheat of 

 abundance," which designations are both admirably 

 suited for a humbug; though not its character, as there 

 given; which is, that it is "hard to thrash out, and its 

 flour, very dry and rough, is not good alone, and must 

 be mixed with rye." 



We close with the opinions of the excellent practi- 

 cal farmers of Belgium, as to what spring wheat is to 

 be valued for, and the contrary. Radcliiie's 'Report 

 of the Agriculture of Flanders,' furnishes the follow- 

 ing passage : 



"The heavy rains of the latter season, having made 

 it impossible to sow the wheat till December, and the 

 bad weather which succeeded having injured the clay 

 soil considerably, the growing crop made but a poor 

 appearance. 



Upon the defective crops of wheat, the farmer in 

 the month of March was sowing, and covering with the 

 hand-hoe, the tnticum cesiivuni, or spring wheat, by 

 which means, notwithstanding the unfavorable wea- 

 ther, he expected to reap a full crop in August. 



It seems an important advantage in thil species of 

 grain, that, though sown even so late as April, it will 

 ripen at the same time with the winter wheat sown 

 the preceding October. For which purpose, or as a 

 crop in itself, when from bad weather, or any other 

 interruption, the winter sowing has not been accom- 

 plished, the spring wheat is esteemed of great value. 



but IS not considered to produce as much, or of as goo'^ 



quality, as the winter grain." 



PLAN AND DESCRIPTION OF AN EXCELLENT 

 GATE, AND A COULTEK. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



£^ssex, February \Oth, 1838. 



Dear Sir — Being always desirous of contribut- 

 ino'someihinif (even il" it be no more in amount, 

 than "the poor widow's mile, ") towards the pro- 

 motion of our i!Ood cause, and of your paper, 

 which is constantly rendering such essential ser- 

 vices to it, I now send you two dravvingf?, which 

 I confidently hope, will prove highly usel'ul to our 

 agricultural brethren, in every jjart of our country. 

 The first drawing represents a gate, in the struc- 

 ture of" which, I have endeavored to combine all 

 the peculiar advantages that I have noticed in a 

 great variety of gates, which I have carefully ex- 

 amined to ascertain which was best. The second 

 drawing represents a single coulter; for the use 

 of which the season is now rapidly advancing. I 

 hasten, therefore, to send it to you, as I deem it 

 far superior to any, out of" five or six kinds of" 

 which I have made trial; antl indeed, to all of 

 which I have ever seen any description; for it 

 unites strength, durability, cheapness, and simpli- 

 city in a greater degree than any of those ; while 

 its efficiency is equal to that of" the best. All this 

 I may safely say; lor it is not my own invention. 



But, before I proceed to my description, permit 

 me to indulge my constitutional infirmity of di- 

 gressing, by indilinnr you a brief homily, upon 

 what I will take the liberty to call — The Morals of 

 Gates; in humble imitation oftlie illustrous Frank-- 

 lin's '■'■Morals of Chess;'''' a theme, by the way,- 

 not comparable, in importaoce, to mine; for his 

 was nothing but a mere game contrived to kill 

 time, whereas 7nine is an invention which has 

 been of the greatest use in rural affairs from time 

 immemorial. 



First '.hen, considering the antiquity and uni- 

 versal utility of gates, the rarity of good and the 

 frequency of bad ones, would hardly be credible, 

 were it not far our daily experience of the fact; al- 

 though all persons are aware of the numerous evils, 

 that may arise from the latter cause. Among 

 these, it is not one of the least, that even our 

 characters olten sufi'er from it, with strangers; for 

 whenever they pass a bad gate, no remark is 

 more fi-equently made by them than — 'Hhis must 

 he a bad, careless farmer — a lazy, slovenly fellow.'''' 

 On the contrary, the sight of a good gate inspires 

 them, at once, with a belief that the owner is a 

 good manager, although, possibly that may be 

 the only good thing about his whole establish- 

 ment. Here the gain is obvious; the means of 

 attaming it so cheap, and the advantage to the 

 proprietor so great, in other respects, that he is 

 inexcusable to neglect them. Again, good gates 

 contribute much to preserve good understanding 

 among neighbors, by preventing the depredations 

 of each other's stock; than which, nothing, in the 

 long catalogue of neighborhood grievances, is 

 more apt to produce bitter and lasting quarrels 

 between those who are bound, both by duty and 

 interest, to five in peace and good will towards 

 each other. Those quarrels are almost inevita- 



