iriomehtbus question then P$^&tf!tft o the farmer, why 

 is this degeneracy, andjv^afiTthe reme dy? 



_^~ --TtfTJrfdW" $Tis is the object of this pamphlet. If our 

 seed was of the same strength it formerly was, and the soil 

 in the same fertile condition, I know of no reason why we 

 should not raise as good crops as our fathers did. But our 

 seed is degenerated and our land impoverished. But my 

 present object is to give the manner of improving our 

 seed, and shall leave the improvement of the land for a 

 future occasion. I propose then to give the improvements 

 which others have made, and the manner in which it has 

 been accomplished. 



General Harmon' 's Improved White Flint. 

 "Dr. Emmons says this variety is considered by Mr. 

 Harmon as new, having been produced by himself by a se- 

 lection of the best seed, and liming and sowing on a lime- 

 stone soil. It is larger than the White Flint, and yet the 

 cuticle of the kernel is equally thin, delicate and white. It 

 weighs, according to the statement of Mr. Harm an, when 

 prepared for seed, 64 pounds to the bushel. Two bushels 

 and eighteen pounds of this wheat produced 106J pounds 

 flour and 32 pounds of bran; loss, one-half pound. 



"Some twenty years ago General Harmon sent a quan- 

 tity of the above named wheat to the Patent Office for dis- 

 tribution. At that time I received a small sample, but as 

 I knew nothing of the culture of winter wheat I sowed it 

 so late in the season that most of it was destroyed by the 

 midge. After two trials I gave it up, saving what little the 

 midge left, perhaps half .a gill or so, which was put in a 

 package properly labeled, where it remained in my seed- 

 box till about seven years ago, when I received six or eight 

 packages of Patent Office wheats. These, with the White 

 Flint, were carefully sown in drills, the Flint yielding the 

 best of the lot From that small beginning I have every 

 year since raised fair crops and sold many bushels for seed. 

 The crop of 1861 weighed 64 pounds per bushel, making 



