WHEAT. 83 



We find the letter in the ponderous work of the United States Government, like 

 (not to stray from our subject) good wheat in a mass of chaff. 



" Land that has been vvf.ll manured in a previously cultivated croj), such as corn and po- 

 tatoes, is, with proper plowing and harrowing, very suhable for winter wheat. It is always 

 best that the manure should liave boon ap|)lii'il in the jirevioiis crop, particularly if it is rank 

 or recently funned; or your wheat will produce too much straw, be weak and fall down. 

 There are a few exceptions to this nde. Bone dust, oily lish, street manure, &c. have often 

 been applied at the time of sowing, to secure a good croj). A .sandy loam, v\-ith a good sup 

 ply of calcareous earth or lime, forms the I)est soil for wheal — a cei-tain amount of sand or 

 -•"ilex, clay, and lime, being essential to secure a good crop.* When I say that the land 

 should be thorou'^hly plowed three or four times, and haiTowed as often, I am fully aware 

 of what is the usu.il practice, fuid also of the loss sustiiined by only one i)lowing and two liar- 

 rowings. I no not applv these observations 1o land just cleared from the forest, (though then 

 the more and better the plowing, tlie larger tlie crop,) or the prairie sod just tunie<l over, 

 but to the land in all the old States, and all laiuls long under cultivation. The ol)ject in 

 plowing the gi-ound so nuich, is to turn under more completely atmospheiic air, which con- 

 sists of nitroijen, oxygen, and carbonic acid, a thorough mechanical mixture of which with 

 the soil will insure a gi'c.at increase of crop ; it also acts as a manure. The ihoj-ough pulver- 

 izing of the soil, so as to make it (im^ is secured in this way, which renders it so nuich bet- 

 ter for the fine roofs in the early growth of the plant to get well rooted hefLire winter sets in, 

 thus .securing it from being wiuter-kille<l. 'J'liis also enables you to pasture your sheep and 

 young cattle upon it in the fore ptirt of November without any leai- of pulling it up. They 

 will secure it from the Hessian fly by eating oirihe larvae. 



" It is also very important to prepare the seed properly ; you should \m\c tlie most phimp 

 and clean seed tiiat can be obtained. Six shillings or a dollai- more per busliel for the best 

 of seed is no consideration, when the advantages are taken iuto the account. In a barrel or 

 half hogshead make a brine that will beai" an egg, from the old salt taken from your meat 

 and tish casks ; or, if you have not saved this, ordinary fine or coarse salt, the former dis- 

 solving much the soonest, and is generally prefen-ed for that reason. Put in one, two, or 

 tliree bushels of wheat, and mix well with the brines, and skun otT all the chess and other 

 foul seed and light wheat lliat rises to the top. There should be brine enough to cover the 

 wheat three inches deep. Stir up the wheat with a stick occasionally, and let it remain in 

 the brine three or four hours. Some persons let it remain all night ; but 1 think there is 

 s(jme danger of swelUng the giain and acting upon the farina too much by leaving it so long 

 in the brine, and there is no real necessity for it. Draw off the brine into another cask, juid 

 lay the wheat on an oblique surface, .so that the brine may draw off'; then to every bushel 

 of wheat add three or four quarts of fine air-slaked hine, aiid rake and shovel it through 

 every p;irt, so that every gi-ain is coated with the lime, and the seed as much separated as 

 possible from each otlier. (Some good fanners use more lime than the above.) If you 

 have not lime, and cannot readily obt<iin it, use niileached wood a.shes instead. You must 

 measure your wheat before you ])repare it, or you will likely, when you sow it, put less 

 seed in than is proper. You will also find it difficult, from the increased bulk to hold 

 enotigh each time in the hand. It is, therefore, better to sow twice, and at right angles; 

 that is, take rather less than usual in the hand, and when you have gone over the field, be- 

 gin imd sow it over again in the same direction, (across the first sowing.) You wiU thus 

 have it mare even, and secure sufiicient seed, which is rarely the case. \Vhen you have 

 taken pains to prepare your land wc-11. use plenty of good seed — a virtue rarely practiced in 

 this part of the world. The object gained by the above preparation of the seed is, first, you 

 destroy all the smut, which is a jiaiasitical plant j)Iaced on the furzy end of the grain ; also 

 all the eggs of insects, that frequently may be seen with a glass on the same part of the grain. 

 The salt and lime also act as a manure to stimulate the genu of the young plant, so as greatly 

 to invigorate it in the early stage of its growth. Yours, truly, R. T. L'>D1'.RHILL, M. D " 



* Mr. Town.'=end, to whose farm ancl good husbandry we have before alluded, pointed out a portion of 

 his oat-field where the crop was very manifestly the l)ek in the field, heavy as it all was, and observed that 

 ho had spread on that part IIX) bushels of lime "to the acre : and he, without perhaps having ever read a 

 word about the action of lime, called our attention cmphalically to see ho7P well it stood tip'. 



In another field where a load of stable manure had been dropped, althouiih afterward scraped up and 

 carried off, the oats had fallen, or " lodged." and smothered the arass, because the snaw wanted the 

 quality of strength, which it is the provincre and property of lime to impart, by means of the silica or flint 

 with which it invests it. These are facts which all young fanners will know beforehand, without waiting 

 for experience, when our country conies to abound in .such schools as now abound in Germany for teach' 

 ing the. principlfs of Agriculture. " The fruit of ihese excellent establishments," says a modem traveler, 

 •■ h.is been chictly to lay a foundation in the minds of a large class of the people, that disposes them to in- 

 dustrious activity, and has prepared highly useful agents for the management of farms and iiianufacturing 

 e8tabli8hm<'nt3. " Few young men would now think of offering thnn.'^dves for the place of bailiff or farming 

 agents, without pos'scssing tistimonials of their fitness from some of these colleges. The scitnlijic eiplonations 

 which any inquiring; traveler can receive at the hands of almost any young man so occupied on large es- 

 tates respecting the soil, cUmate. manners, dtc. of the locality, will ollcn excite surprise, and no less so the 

 calculations by which they judge whether irapinved processes ought to be adopted, and where additional 

 outlay or increased economy is tlia more judicious plan to follow." We would almost agree to live oa 

 yumpernickel to have the sume said for our countiT. [Ed. Farm. Lib. 



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