312 HANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



impossible, and the reader is referred to the various works on 

 the subject which are to be obtained from agricultural booksellers. 

 In considering all that I have myself read on the subject, the 

 following points strike me as being especially worthy of the atten- 

 tion of all wheat growers : — 



I. The land may, with advantage, be made as rich as possible, 

 — the application of fresh stable manure in the immediate prepa- 

 ration of the crop being avoided. 



II. It should be — either naturally or artificially — thoroughly 

 well drained. 



III. The seed should be selected with care, and of the sort 

 that is most likely to succeed in the climate and soil of the locality. 



IV. The seed should always be drilled rather than sown broad- 

 cast. 



V. The ridges made by the drill should not be leveled by the 

 harrow or roller until after the ground has settled in the spring. 



VI. The amount of seed should be from one bushel, or even 

 less, on very rich land, to two bushels on the least rich on which 

 it will pay to grow wheat. 



VII. Wherever sufficient help can be obtained, it will probably 

 pay to hoe the crop early in the spring, — and it will certainly pay 

 to remove all weeds growing among it. 



VIII. The crop should be cut from ten days to two weeks 

 before the grain is thoroughly ripe. 



By proper attention to these requirements, I believe that the 

 wheat crop of the United States may be increased from its 

 present average of about 12 bushels per acre (or less) to the 28 

 bushels (or thereabout) which is the average in Great Britain. I 

 also believe that much of the so-called worn-out land of New 

 England may be made to produce profitable crops of wheat. The 

 freight on 30 bushels of wheat from a farm in Minnesota to the 

 city of New York is more than the interest on the total value of 

 an acre of good land in New England, and New England is sup- 

 plied with its^breadstuffs very largely from the far West. 



