WHEAT. 



was kept, an extract from which is given here, 

 as it refers to an insect which was observed 

 after the blossoming of the plants, and to which 

 the destruction of many of the seeds was owing. 

 Observations of this kind might be easily and 

 generally made, and they would be useful as 

 information regarding the nature and habits 

 of the insects which attack wheat; and answers 

 to the how, when, and where, on the sub- 

 ject, which would thus be obtained, afford the 

 only guide to the invention of means for their 

 destruction. 



1838. Extract from Journal. 



July 5th. All the wheat is in blossom, except 



Nos. 13 and 15. 



14th. Very rainy and windy weather. 

 Whether will this be found to 

 injure or improve the quality of 

 the grain ? 



16th. Since the rain of the 14th, an orange- 

 coloured substance, like rust, has 

 been observed in the seed-vessels 

 of some of the ears, as if the rain 

 had got in and rotted the pollen. 

 A very small fly has been ob- 

 served about the ears in the even- 

 ing. Many of the ears are filling 

 rapidly; some are already full, 

 and others are only in blossom. 

 19th. In the ears of wheat, which were 

 before-mentioned as having abor- 

 tive grains, owing, as was thought, 

 to the pollen having been rotted 

 by the rain, I now find small 

 orange-coloured grubs, about the 

 tenth of an inch long, doubtless 

 the offspring of the small fly ob- 

 served about a week ago. 

 Aug. 4th. All these grubs have disappeared. 

 27th. Nos. 4, 10, and 11, are ripe and 



pulled. 



28th. Nos. 3, 5, and 6, are ripe and pulled. 

 29th. Nos. 7, 8, and 9, are ripe and pulled. 

 30th. Nos. 2, 12, and 16, are ripe and 



pulled. 



Sept. 1st. Nos. 1 and 14 are ripe and pulled. 

 2d. Nos. 13 and 15 are ripe and pulled. 

 The account of this experiment is thus 

 finished, and there now remains but to state 

 what will have already occurred to the reader, 

 especially if he be a practical man, that it is 

 not one nor many experiments, if conducted on 

 a small s$ale, which will accurately determine 

 the point this tends to ascertain. 



Soil. Although wheat can be cultivated on 

 any soil, yet heavy loams, strong clays, and 

 marls are considered to be the best wheat soils, 

 and the larger the proportion of alumin in the 

 soil, the heavier will be the grain, and the more 

 productive the crop. 



Sandy soils (says a modern writer) are un- 

 favourable to the growth of wheat, for they are 

 deficient in that degree of firmness which is 

 necessary to support the roots of the plants. It 

 is therefore a crop which should never be 

 sc~vn on such land ; or if grown, it should only 

 be upon one ploughing of a clover ley, and j 

 then afterwards folded by a flock of sheep. | 

 (Brit. Hush. vol. ii. p. 140.) 

 Very fine descriptions of wheat are grown ; 



WHEAT. 



on gravelly, chalky, and flinty soils, which 

 have a dry subsoil. 



In England the cultivation of wheat varies 

 in different districts, and according to the na- 

 ture of the soil. Upon heavy clays, the course 

 of cropping is commonly a twelvemonth's fal- 

 low, with from four to six ploughings, &c., and 

 a dressing of manure or lime, or both. On 

 this description of land, wheat also very com- 

 monly follows beans, which have been care- 

 fully cleaned; and, thirdly, is sown extensively 

 u)pon clover-leys. On lighter soils, a crop of 

 turnips or rape sown in May, and fed off by 

 sheep early in the autumn, is frequently sub- 

 stituted with advantage instead of a year's 

 naked fallow. And, again, a practice, but 

 which I strongly condemn, is still followed in 

 several parts of England, of sowing dressed or 

 folded rye-grass leys with wheat. (See ROTA- 

 TION OF CHOPS.) On soils adapted for turnips, 

 and where the drill and horse-hoe are employ- 

 ed, a course I much approve from the ley's 

 return, from a small expenditure, consists of: 

 1st, turnips; 2d, oats or barley; 3d, clover; 

 4th, beans or peas ; and then, 5th, wheat. 



The quantity of seed varies considerably; 

 and, although I have witnessed large crops 

 grown from one bushel of seed drilled per acre, 

 the rows at foot intervals, yet the general 

 practice may be taken at from two to three 

 bushels per acre. The time of sowing is from 

 September to March ; the winter varieties 

 should be in the ground by the end of Novem- 

 ber, and the spring varieties as early as the 

 season will admit. For the diseases of wheat., 

 see FLT IN WHEAT, MILDEW, and RUST. And 

 I may observe that, although subject to several 

 diseases, yet upon the whole it is the hardiest 

 of the cereal grasses, and flourishes under a 

 greater variety of seasons and climate. 



Sowing. Wheat is either sown broadcast, or 

 by the drill or dibble. Drilling is the most 

 preferable mode. When it is sown in drills, 

 the usual distance between the rows is from 

 9 to 12 inches; but it is conceived that the 

 larger intervals are the better, and that they 

 may in most cases be even more than 12 

 inches. The best period of sowing, it has been 

 said, is from about the middle to the end of 

 September. The early part of October, how- 

 ever, is well suited to the sowing of wheat, and 

 it may be continued till the middle of No- 

 vember. 



The proportion of seed that is necessary 

 must depend upon and be regulated by a va- 

 riety of different circumstances, but in general 

 from two to three bushels, according to the 

 state of the soil, the nature of the climate, and 

 the period in which it is put into the ground, 

 may be the most suitable proportion for soils 

 of a medium state of fertility, under the broad- 

 cast method of husbandry ; but where the drill 

 or dibble system of culture is practised, a con- 

 siderably less quantity may be sufficient for 

 the purpose. See SEED. 



In the case of summer-fallow the quantity 

 of seed need not exceed two bushels to the 

 acre. When the sowing takes place in spring, 

 the quantity may be extended to three bushels, 

 rather less than more. 



The cultivation of wheat is very rapid by 



1135 



