1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



651 



and public prosperity, which secure the happiness 

 and prosperity of our country. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



FACTS OBSERVED CONNECTED WITH STEEP- 

 ING SEED WHEAT. 



In the latter part of last September, I had some 

 conversation on the subject of sowing wheat, with 

 a gentleman who cultivates a farm in the neighbor- 

 hood ofPetersburg, and who, in addition to his gen- 

 eral veryneat management, and the high improve- 

 ment of his land, is celebrated for making remark- 

 ably heavy and clean crops of wheat— usually 

 on a green or manure crop of field-peas or buck- 

 wheat. He slated his belief that his practice of 

 steeping his seed in a saturated solution of salt for 

 18 hours, (and he did not tear danger from 24 

 hours,) and then dusting it with quicklime, and 

 stirring the wet heap with shovels until every grain 

 was partly covered, was not only a safeguard 

 against smut, but against the attack of the Hes- 

 sian fly. He had been induced to believe that the 

 eggs of this insect were deposited on the grains of 

 wheat, and that if destroyed (as supposed) by his 

 process of steeping, &c. that the crop would be 

 safe from that source of danger, however early 

 the sowing. He had not examined particularly 

 for the presence of maggots — but. he had never 

 found his harvests apparently lessened by their 

 ravages, not even in the last crops (1835) which 

 was so generally and greatly injured by the fly. 

 His crop of that year had been almost ruined by 

 rust, (induced probably by the great luxuriance of 

 growth,) but he had not noticed any damage from 

 the fly. 



In passing along the road by the side of his 

 field, I had myself witnessed the heavy and 

 beautiful crops made every year ; but still was 

 not prepared to admit the absence of the fly, or 

 the valueof the supposed safeguard against them. I 

 attributed their apparent harmlessness to the great 

 fertility and excellent tillage of the land, which, 

 with very thick sowing, enabled the crop to with- 

 stand the ravages of the fly, and even to conceal 

 their existence from slight, observation. I re- 

 quested my friend to search for the maggots on 

 the young plants — and accordingly, before six 

 weeks had passed, he was enabled to find them 

 in such plenty as to prove that his usual steeping 

 process had not been the cause of his apparent ex- 

 emption from loss of this kind. 



But however incredulous I was as to (his sup- 

 posed effect, I considered it worth testing by experi- 

 ment: and the more so, as I knew from experience 

 that the process was valuable as a •security 

 against smut, and beneficial otherwise in "clean- 

 ing the seed of all matters light enough to swim 

 in strong brine. In addition to steeping and liming 

 my whole quantity of seed wheat, with some va- 

 riations of method, the following experiment was 

 made on a small scale, which presented a result 

 totally unlooked for, and'which induces me to offer 

 these observations. 



The latter part of September 1835 was so un- 

 usually cold, that I thought (though very erro- 

 neouslv) that we. might venture to begin to sow 

 wheat on October 1st, as safely as in ordinary 

 year? on October 10th. I beo'an my sowing Sep- 

 ember 30th. On that dav, I took a handful of 



my seed wheat, and put about half in a glass of 

 water, saturated with common salt. It stood 22 

 hours, then was taken out, drained, and, while wet, 

 dusted with as much quicklime as would stick to 

 the grains: 100 of these were placed on wet cot- 

 ton, floating on half a pint of water inaglass — the 

 water fresh and pure, except for the salt and lime 

 adhering to the grains. Several hundred grains 

 that had not been steeped, nor made wet previous- 

 ly, were placed in like manner on cotton in another 

 glass — and both kept in my house, in the like ex- 

 posure. At the same time, the remaining steeped 

 grains, and the dry, were sown side by side, in two 

 rows, and covered about an inch deep. The earth 

 was then remarkably dry tor the season: yet the 

 sprouts from the dry grains came up about 24 

 hours before the steeped, though the latter had 

 been kept wet 22 hours before both had been 

 put. in the ground. A like result was observed, 

 and about as much difference in time, between the 

 first sprouting of the two parcels in the glasses. 



As the sprouting was so evidently retarded by 

 the steeping, the doubt arose, and still remains 

 unsettled, whether the germinating power was 

 not weakened as well as retarded — and in some 

 measure, totally destroyed. I can only state the 

 imperfect results so far as known — and do so to 

 strengthen my request of others, to aid in more full 

 observations next season. I could not tell whether 

 any of the steeped grains which were sown, had 

 failed to sprout, as the number had not been no- 

 ticed before sowing them. Of the 100, floating on 

 cotton, sprouts continued to rise for 16 days after 

 so placing the grains — and at that time about 19 

 grains still had not sprouted. However, some of 

 them, or possibly all, might have done so if the 

 experiment had been continued. In placing grains 

 on floating cotton, some will be too deeply im- 

 mersed; and that will prevent sprouting. I only 

 know that more than four-fifths did sprout — and 

 that all of the hundred grains were alike treated 

 in the steeping and liming. 



The difference of size in the growth of the two 

 drills soon became imperceptible — and by the end 

 of October, it seemed to me that the growth from 

 the steeped grains was decidedly the most vigo- 

 rous and luxuriant of the two. In this, I may 

 have been deceived — but two other persons con- 

 curred with me in the opinion. Being afterwards 

 exposed to the grazing of cattle, no later observa- 

 tions could he made. But the object of the expe- 

 riment as to the fly, had been previously obtained. 

 Maggots were found, in equal plenty, on the 

 steeped row; and not one was found on the grains 

 not steeped, which grew in the glass in my house, 

 until the shoots were 6 inches high. It was a fair 

 inference, that if the eggs were on the grains, the 

 maggots ought to have been found on these plants, 

 as plenty as if exposed out of doors; and such is 

 stated to have been the result, in the experiments 

 of other persons. 



In the meantime, my first weeks' seed had been 

 equally exposed by steeping 18 hours or more in 

 brine, before being limed. Whether it was there- 

 by injured, could not be positively known. But 

 either from that cause, or too little seed being used, 

 the crop came up much too thin — and was after- 

 wards greatly injured by the fly before the com- 

 mencement of weather cold enough to suspend 

 their depredations. 



6. H 



