THE GENESEE FAKMER. 



363 



CULTIVATION OF WINTER WHEAT. 



No soil can produce wheat unless it contains, in an 

 available condition, all the inorganic elements of 

 plants. It does not follow, however, that if these 

 are present in sullicient quantity, the soil will pro- 

 duce good wheat. Indian corn is composed of pre- 

 cisely the same elements as wheal, and the propor- 

 tions are nearly identical; yet we have much laud 

 that produces excellent corn, that is not adapted to 

 wheat culture. We know so little in regard to the 

 nianurial requirements of Indian corn, that we can 

 oiler no cliemical explanations of this fact. We 

 know that wheat requires in the soil, a large quantity 

 of ainmouia, for the production of a good crop; and 

 nearly every well established fact in regard to corn 

 culture goes to show that the same is true of this 

 crop. We come to the conclusion therefore, that 

 while it is probable there are some chemical causes 

 why one soil is better adapted to wheat culture than 

 another, yet that, so far as we cOin see at present, 

 the difference is owing principally to the mechanical 

 conditions and texture of the soil. 



Wheat delights in a compact, calcareous loam, 

 rather clayey than sandy. We have heard farmers 

 say that they preferred a sandy to a clayey soil for 

 wheat, but this opinion arises from the fact that most 

 of our clay laud needs underdraining. A calcareous 

 clay that is underdrained, or naturally dry, is better 

 for wheat than a sandy soil under similar conditions. 

 Why it is, we know in part; — the double silicate of 

 alumina and soda parts with its soda and absorbs 

 ammonia from rain water, the atmosphere, and from 

 aoy other bodies containing it. 'Sand does not pos- 

 sess this property; and herein lies one reason why a 

 clay soil is better for wheat than a sandy one. Clays, 

 too, have the power of absorbing and retaining 

 moisture to a much greater extent than sand. But 

 we can overcome both these drawbacks by an ex- 

 tensive cultivation of clover, peas, turnips, ic, on 

 the sandy soils. These plants absorb ammonia from 

 raicf water and the atmosphere, and thus accomplish 

 the same end as the double silicate of alumina and 

 soda, while the carbonaceous products arising from 

 their decomposition in the soil give the soil an in- 

 creased capacity for absorbing and retaining mois- 

 ture. These considerations lead to the conclusion 

 that the farmer has the ineans in his power to 

 make a sandy soil as good in every respect for 

 wheat-growing purposes as a clayey one, so far as we 

 can see to the contrary with the little light we pos- 

 sess on this subject, except in its mechanical condition. 



As we have said, a wheat soil must be compact. — 

 If it is not so naturally, mechanical means should be 

 employed to compress it. Treading light wheat land 

 in the fail or early in the spring with sheep, is fre- 

 quently beneficial, and a good heavy roller is decid- 

 edly advantageous. Crosskiil's Clod Crusher, compres- 

 sing land, as itdoes, similarly to the treading of sheep, is 

 found very useful on sandy wheat fields in England. 

 We are earnest advocates of deep plowing and thor- 

 ough pulverization of the soil, but these must not be 

 carried to excess in wheat culture. It is easy to 

 make the light land too fine and loose for wheat. — 

 When wheat is sown on a clover sod after one plow- 

 ing, it is not advisable to plow it too deep; if the sod 

 is all covered and a good " seed bed " obtained, that 

 is enough. Subsoil and plow deep for corn and 

 root crops, aad, if you summer fallow, for wheat also; 



but if wheat is sown at one furrow on a clover sod 

 Many instiinces are recorded where it has had a 

 turned under immediately before seeding, we should 

 seldom go more than six inches deep. The best 

 large field of wheat we ever saw in England, was on 

 a calcareous loam that had been two years in red 

 clover, grazed with sheep, which, a considerable por- 

 tion of the time, were ajlowed a ft. of oil-cake per 

 day. It was plowed about three inches deep, just 

 before sowing, and a bushel and a hal f of seed drilled 

 in per acre, one foot apart in the drills. The yield 

 was 55 bushels per acre. 



The question of thick or thin sowing, which was 

 agitated so fiercely a few years ago by Davis, Mechi, 

 HuxTABLE, and other ultra agricultural reformers, is 

 now pretty much decided. A peck of seed to the 

 acre is amply sufficient, as they contended, if it all 

 grows, and the crop escapes wire worms, winter kill, 

 &c. ; but it is found that those who practice such ex- 

 treme thin seeding always lose more from these 

 causes than those who sow thicker, and that these 

 losses more than counterbalance the gain from saving 

 a bushel or two of seed per acre. Taking into con- 

 sideration the many pests that infest our wheat crop, 

 we are inclined to think, that, if anything, we sow too 

 thin. Two bushels per acre is none too much when 

 sown broadcast, or a bushel and three pecks when 

 sown by the drill. The majority of English farmers 

 sow three bushels per acre, and we know some of 

 them who sow 3 J and even 4 bushels per acre. This 

 would be greatly too much in our climate, but we 

 must not err in the other extreme. 



The best artificial fertilizer for wheat is unques- 

 tionably Peruvian guano. The lumps of guano 

 should first be sifted out and crushed. It can then 

 be mixed with muck in equal parts, or sown alone, 

 broadcast, at the rate of from 200 lbs. to 400 lbs. per 

 acre. It should be harrowed or cultivated in, thor- 

 oughly incorporating it with the soil, before sowing 

 the seed. This we prefer; on very sandy soil, it 

 might be advisable to sow 100 lbs. per acre in the 

 fall, after the wheat is sown and another 100 lbs. early 

 in the spring. On heavy land it should always be sown 

 in the fall, and thelongerit isinsorporated with the soil 

 before the seed is sown the better. The earth is a 

 stomach in which food for plants is digested and pre- 

 pared: and time should be allowed for it to accom- 

 plish this before the plants require nourishment On 

 light soils, however, there is danger of its leaching if 

 sown too early; and there is less necessity for doing 

 so, as from the admission of air, light and heat, chem- 

 ical changes take place much more speedily in sandy 

 soils than in those of a closer texture. 



Plaster is frequently recommended for wheat, and 

 there are are many instances recorded where it has 

 proved very beneficial, but the mass of testimony is 

 against it. In the wheat growing districts of this 

 state, it is frequently sown on wheat in the fall; but 

 it is rather with an eye to its effect on the clover, to 

 be sown the following spring, than to any action it 

 has on the wheat. Many will object to this and 

 contend that plaster does good on wheat. To this 

 we would say, that if plaster acts well as a manure 

 for wheat on your land, by all means use it. When 

 it sells from ^2 to $5 per ton, as in Western New 

 York, it is the cheapest of fertilizers on all soils where 

 experience shows it to be beneficial. At present, ex- 

 perience — or what is simply a short cut to experi- 

 ence, experiment — is the only guide in this matter. — 



