FARMERS' REGISTER 



209 



siderable extent in Sweden, Denmark, and the 

 grain growini^ couiitriee in the north ol' Europe, 

 'i'hus, llie ^oil, alilioujrh il does not annually give 

 the same kind olproduct to the cultivator, is never 

 idle, bat producer in succession crops which are 

 ol'teu more valuable than wheat itselli 



As however wheat is not only one of the staple 

 articles ol' Europe, but also for our own country, I 

 propose to devoiethis article to a description ol'lhe 

 method of culture. 



1st. Preparation of the soil. — The wheat crop, 

 as I have stated in a Ibrnier chapter, usually suc- 

 ceeds the (allow crop, which consisted of potatoes, 

 beans, or turnips. This fallow crop is always 

 richly manured. Stable manure is in a majority 

 of instances used, and in most soils is preliirred. 

 !i is spread on the fields broad cast in the propor- 

 tion of twenty or twenty-five tons to the acre. In 

 about hall' the cases it is scattered over the fields 

 in the early part of the winter, and ploughed un- 

 der in December. Where time is wanting the 

 manure is not ap|)lied till early in the spring, which, 

 ! am inlbrmed, answeis equally well. Lime is much 

 used on light sandy soils, in some pans of the coast 

 of Holland, where the soil is poor and sandy, the 

 application of li.-ue has civen a dark, rich color to 

 the earlh, which now reiains its moibtureand |)ro- 

 <luces abundant crops. O." the sand lands between 

 Berim and Dresden, resembluig our Carolina pine- 

 barrens, I noticed it used in some fields with very 

 beneficial efl^'ects. Similar results have been pro- 

 duced in New Jersey by the application of lime 

 on bare sandy soil. Hone dust is much used 

 in England on light soils. It is generally pro- 

 cured from the continent. A lew mills for the 

 purpose of grinding the bone for manure exist in 

 England and Scotland, although they did not fail 

 un;ier my notice. A modi^l of one exists in the 

 agrisaltural museum of Edinburgh, which was 

 politely exbihited to me by Prolt^ssor Lowe. The 

 I'.onstruciion is very simple : but as I believe it is 

 well understood in the United States, and as 1 am 

 not much of a ntiechanic, 1 need not venture on a 

 description. The bone dust is used in the propor- 

 tion of twenty-five bushels to the acre; a greater 

 quantity has not been attended with any increased 

 beneficial results, it is sown broadcast on the 

 land : sometimes mixed with turnip seed. Night 

 soils, (a very valuable manure.) are limited to the 

 neighborhoods of towns, and principally applied 

 to gardens. This article is prepared in the vicini- 

 ty of Paris by a method rendering it not in the 

 least ofi'ensive. It has the appea/Mnce of large, 

 dried bricks, which are broken up when wanted, 

 and applied to the land in the manner of bone 

 dust. 



When the fallow crop has been removed, the 

 ground is ploughed and put in order for the recep- 

 tion of wheat : occasionally some manure is added, 

 but it is in general believed that the ground is suf- 

 ficiently enriched for the ensuing crop. The 

 ploughing is similar to that of our own country. 

 The wheat is sown from the middle to the end of 

 October, generally in drills, but sometimes broad 

 cast. The sowing or drilling ot the wheat does 

 not complete the labor till the time of harvest, 

 as is the case in America. The wheat is regu- 

 larly hoed between the drills two or three times, 

 and when the wheat is about a foot in height, it is 

 carefully weeded,— hence we seldom find in English 

 wheat either cockle, cheat, or the seeds of the va- 



Voi,. vm-27 



rioua weeds with which our fields are so often in- 

 iesied. The wheat is usually gathered with the 

 sickle. 1 saw no cradles, like those of America, in 

 use. 



2d. Quantity of seed to the acre.— In this par- 

 ticular i Ibund a great difierence of opinion be- 

 tween the British and American iarmer. In this 

 country a bushel of wheat is usually considered suf- 

 ficient ibr an acre ; Ibrmerly many persons only 

 Used three pecks per acre. 1 am inclined to think, 

 that we have erred in using too little seed. I re- 

 member visiting the fields of a Iarmer in New- 

 York many years ago, and observed that whilst the 

 heads of wheat were very fine, the stalks appeared 

 to stand very thinly on the ground. He had sown 

 three pecks to the acre, and the produce was nine 

 bushels. I suggested to him the propriety of using 

 a double quantity of seed. Three years after- 

 wards he sowed the same field again, using a 

 bushel and a half of seed to the acre, — the sea- 

 son and tillage were similar to that oi' the former 

 sowing. He subsequently inlormed me that his 

 land this year produced filieen bushels to the acre, 

 and that he was now an advocate Ibr thick sowing. 

 1 extract from ray notes on English husbandr/ 

 the Ibllowing quotation, which 1 either wrote down 

 from the dictation of some responsible agriculturist, 

 orcopicd from some agricultural journal of England; 

 I am inclined to think the latter, i have reason to 

 believe it is the usual mode adopted in England 

 and Scotland. 



" On rich lands in good condition, when the soil 

 is strong loam or clay, and well drained, two and a 

 hall to two and three-quarter bushels per imperial 

 acre may be sufficient, of the ordinary varieties. As 

 spring sown wheat does not tiiler vvell, one half to 

 three quarters of a bushel more may be necessary; 

 but strong clays are not well adapted to spring 

 sown wheat, although it is quite jjossible that a 

 suitable variety may be obtained fbr that purpose. 

 '•On medium soils one half-bushel more may 

 be requisite Ibr leuch season of solving, regulating 

 the quantity to the quality and condition of the soil, 

 and the preceding crops. When potatoes have 

 been raised in the fallow division, at least two or 

 three pecks more may be necessary than after a 

 clean fallow. 



"On high and light lands, wheat, after fallow, 

 should be drilled in from two to three inches deep, 

 to prevent throwing out in spring. With this pre- 

 caution, if the land is in good condition, littlj more 

 seed will be wanted than on medium ; but on such 

 lands wheat holds best afier grass, and in that 

 case requires two or three pecks more seed than 

 under any other circumstance." 



Asl have never seen the stalks of wheat so tliick- 

 ly crowded together in my own country as in Great 

 Britain, and as their average crop is decidedly 

 greater than ours, I have accounted for the ditier- 

 ence, at least in some measure, to the greater 

 quantity of seed used by the European agri- 

 culturists, after making due allowances for the 

 difference of climate and modes of cuiture. I re- 

 marked, that in England, in consequence of this 

 thick sowing, there was but one stalk to each 

 grain, whilst in America where the seeds were 

 i'ariher separated, there are usually side stalks, 

 lew of which produce equally well with the one 

 proceeding Irora the grain. The additional quan- 

 dty of seed sown is doubly compensated Ibr, by 

 the greater product to the acre. These, however, 



