500 



WHE 



WHE 



and Mr. Brooks fourteen bushels 

 to the acre) yet as the grain was 

 of good quality, and free from blast 

 or smut, establish the fact that the 

 climate of Massachusetts is not un- 

 favourable to the cultivation of 

 wheat. 



Bezaleel Taft, Jun. Esq. of Ox- 

 bridge, likewise states in substance, 

 that his father, about fifteen years 

 since, procured a bushel of spring 

 wheat from Barry, on the Onion 

 river, in the state of Vermont. The 

 produce of this was fifteen bushels. 

 He continued to procure his seed 

 from that quarter for several years, 

 but at length sowed the seed of his 

 own growth prepared by washing 

 it clean, stirring it well in two or 

 three changes of water. After 

 washing it was soaked about ttvelve 

 hours in a weak ley ; and after 

 turning off the ley, about two quarts 

 of slacked lime was stirred into a 

 bushel of wheat. 



The ground selected for the cul- 

 tivation of wheat was such as would 

 be most sure to produce a good 

 crop of Indian corn, and the wheat 

 was sowed as early in the spring as 

 the soil could be stirred and remain 

 light. 



Five pecks of seed were sowed 

 to an acre, and the crops have been 

 from twelve to twenty-two bushels ; 

 and about sixteen upon an average 

 to an acre. 



This communication was dated 

 the 19th November, 1814, and the 

 writer says, " For the last three 

 years, I believe this town has pro- 

 duced annually about a thousand 

 bushels, and the last season we had 

 at least four times as many bushels 

 of wheat as of rye from the same 



numbers of acres, in the Same 

 state." 



The writer considers wheat as 

 more favourable to a future crop 

 of grass than rye or oats, as it 

 shades the grass less ; and when 

 the crop is removed, it is not so 

 apt to be scorched, having been 

 more accustomed to the rays of the 

 sun. In that quarter of the coun- 

 try, wheat is invariably washed be- 

 fore it is sent to the mill, not to 

 free it from smut or mildew, but 

 from du.*t which adheres to it in 

 consequence of the sandy nature 

 of the soil. He says, that " an ac- 

 tive man will wash ten bushels in 

 two or three hours. Care ought 

 to be taken not to have it remain 

 longer than necessary in the water. 

 We usually dry it on blankets or 

 sheets in the sun. Care should 

 likewise be taken not to have it 

 get too dry, as the flour in that 

 case is not so nice. One day's sun 

 is sufficient to dry it in the summer, 

 and two in the fall. If suffered to 

 become too dry, the hull or bran 

 is brittle, and cuts to pieces in 

 grinding, so as to mix with the 

 flour. When only dried sufficient 

 to prevent its clogging in the mill, 

 the flour separates much better 

 from the bran, and is far preferable 

 for use." — Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural Repository^ Vol. III. pp. 218. 

 219,220. 



Mr. John Jenks gives a state- 

 ment of his experiment relating to 

 the same subject. His ground was 

 two acres, and seed four bushels. 

 A part of this seed was soaked in 

 weak ley, and part in sea water, 

 and the parcels kept separate. 

 Both were soaked eight hours, the 



