AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



^ 



PUBLISHED BV JOSEl'H UKECK & CO.. HO. 52 NORTH SIAllKKT STKEKT, (Agb.cultur^l Wabehocse.) 



IOL.XVI. 



BOSTON, \VKl)^M!:snAY EVENING, APRIL 18, It^SS. 



^^ .41. 



^■®^JiSi-Q^&WWl^.£i,'S,i 



lilracls from the Report of Ihfi Commissioner of Agr. Survey 



SPRING WHEAT. 



" Kinds ok spring WHEAT.-^There are six kin<ls 

 Sjiriii;; Wheat kiiovvti arjiorij; lis, desij;n;ite(i h_v 

 ul or HcuidBiital names. When well (oriiiod 

 y Hi-e marked hy slight difTereiK-es of color and 

 pe ; liul no analysis has within my kiiowledire 

 n made to ascertain any differences in their 

 ritioiis properties. 



I. The red bearded Virginia summer Wheat was 

 t noticed about 1795 ; and was relehrated for 

 ;arly maturity and produ-.tiveneas. It is sonie- 

 es known as the Lawler wheat from the name 

 he person, who introilnced it. It is still culti- 

 jd in many [larts of the state, and innch ap- 

 ved. 

 I. The Gilman Wheat, a bearded and prodiic- 



variety, has been known among us since the 

 r 1S16. Accident brought some of this wheat 

 1 the hands of Nath'l Gilman, of Exeter, N. H., 

 1 cultivated it with cai-e, and front him it 



been jjenerally diffused in New Kngland. My 

 1 crops of this variety have been from 16 to 25 

 he's. Mr Post, of Leiinx obtained this year 40 

 hels to ilie acre. This is a beautiful variety. 

 . The Tea Wheal, a bald wheat, lias been ciil- 

 ted several years, and is a most valuable grain, 

 i said to have originated in a few grains found 



chest of tea. 



. The Siberian Wheat, cultivated in western 

 V York, and represented as excellent. This is 



to yield from thirty to forty bushels to the 

 •, and to be proof agair^st smut or rust. Its 

 in is not stated, but it appears to differ little 

 ; all, from the Italian. Its yield must depend 

 n the condition of the land and the cultivation, 

 reventive against smut in any wheat is ascer- 

 eil ; and it is the farmer's fault, if bis field is 

 itted. It is stated that this wheat has hitherto 

 ired secure from rust ; but as mildew an<l rust 

 e, it would seem, from pretty general experi- 

 1, an intimate relation with ihe state of the at- 

 phere, though other causes may operate to 

 luce them, we believe that no particular spe- 



of wheat (iirnishes a certain security against 

 le calamities.' 



\ The next kiml is the Italian, which has been 

 th raised in the inlerior of New York ; and 



last year cultivated in several parts of the 

 led States. This kind of wheat was brought 

 ii Florence in Italy about five years since ; and 

 been since that time very successfully culti- 

 d. Of the samples of Siberian and Italian 

 at now before me,tbe Italian is qui'e superior ; 

 latter was raised in Lanesboro' by one of the 

 t careful farmers in Massachusetts ; and the 

 ler was received by the Governor from the 

 mt Office in Washington. The Siberian is 

 plump and is probably not a fair sample. The 



ed this year on 7-8 of an acre. In Berkshire 

 county, where the Italim and Siberian have been 

 i:iiltivate(l side by sirle, the preference has been 

 iriven to the former. In Neiv Y'irk, the result is 

 stated to be otherwise. A controversy, stimulated 

 by private interest among the growers of this 

 wheat, has been going on, as lo the comparative 

 merits of ihe two kinds. It would be unsafe to 

 pronounce a preference without fartlicr experi- 

 ence. They Imtli promise well and may be re- 

 commended for cultivation. 



6. The Black Sea Wheat is another variety, 

 which may be safely commended to the farmers. 

 We speak of the spring variety, raised first in 1831, 

 in Fitclibiirg, Mass. There is a wheat under the 

 Siime name niised in New York, of great prodiic 

 liveness, which is a winter wheat. The Black 

 Sea spring wheat, was first introduced by Payson 

 Williams, of Fitchbiirg, Mass. A friend in Smyrna 

 found this grain on board a. vessel from the Black 

 Sea; and sent :i bushel of it to Mr Williams. His 

 I'uliivation has foryearsbeen extraordmarily liberal 

 and in a corresponding degree successful. Five 

 years since, he obtained 55 1-2 bushels to the acre, 

 weighing 65 lbs. to the bushel. This year his 

 crop is reported at 38 1-2 bushels. 



7. Another variety has been brought into the 

 country from Portugal called the Seven Weeks 

 Wheal. It was imported by a public spirited gen- 

 tleman in Slockbridge, Berkshire ruunty, the Inst 

 year, but did not arrive in season to admit of a 

 fair trial. It is said to yield well under good cul- 

 tivation ; and to come to maturity in seven weeks 

 from the time of sowing. How well it will suc- 

 ceed in our latitude remains to be determined. 1 

 have sent to Lisbon for a quantity for distribution 

 among the farmers, ileeming it, fi om the represen- 

 tations made, worthy of a fair experiment. The 

 kernid is long, and of a dark color ; the quality of 

 the flour is not ascertained. 



Having spoken thus fully of the different kinds 

 of spring wheat raised in the state, it must be left 

 to every fanner, to choose for himself. 



Selection of seed. — The next point of im- 

 porttiiice is to choose for seed that which is full, 

 healthy, and perfect. Many farmers believe that 

 shrivelled and imperfect grain is as good for seed 

 as that which is sound and fair ; and as a bushel 

 of shiivelled grain contains more seeds, and will 

 produce more plants, and at the same time can be 

 obtained at a cheaper rate, it is often preferred. 

 This is a great error. It contradicts all the analo- 

 gies of nature. It is a universal rule in the pro- 

 pagation of animals and vegetables, that like pro- 

 duces like ; that imperfections and diseases are 

 transmitted and aggravated by projiagating always 

 from the same without selection ; and that to im- 

 prove the race the most perfect are to be chosen 

 for the parents of the future stock. To this law 

 of nature, the wheat plant presents no exception. 

 Experiment has decided this point. In an exact 

 trial made (or this purpose in Scotland, in 1783, 

 t was founil,that while seed wheat selected froirj 



an wheat has been found productive on soils 



loderate fertility ; 35} bushels have been rais-' a crop perfectly sound and ripe produced 15 bush 



els for one sown, seed vvhiili was shrivelled and 

 imperfect produced only 5 1-2 for one. 



QuANTirr OF seed to'an acre. — Of spring 

 wheat this ought not to be less than two busliels ; 

 and many of the best cultivators in this country 

 and abroad, are accustomed to recommend two 

 and a half, and some three bushels. We speak of 

 broad-cast sowing; the drill cultivation of wheat 

 has never been praciised among us, excepting in 

 gome small experiments. With the habits of our 

 Ijeople it can hardly be expected lo be introduced. 

 I'he best crops, which have been raisied in the 

 state, have been from abundant sowing. In Mr 

 Williams's great crop of 55 bushels to the acre, 

 three bushels of seed were sown. The land, how- 

 ever, in this case, was put into the highest condi- 

 tion for the preceding crop. An observing and 

 successful farmer on Connecticut river slates, that 

 he has for several years seeded thus abundantly 

 for his rye as well as wheat, and with much ad- 

 vantage. Wheat is a plant, which, where it has 

 op|iortunity, tillers very iniicli, or throws out an 

 ahiiiidance of side shoots. There is time for thia 

 with winter wheat, which is eleven months in the 

 ground. It is not so however with spring grain, 

 which is matured in three or four months. It 

 will be found likewise with wheat, as with Indian 

 corn, that the ears of grain growing upon the 

 suckers are generally much inferior to the ear 

 produced upon the main stalk. One object of 

 thick sowing is to avoid this throwing up of suck- 

 ers. It is ascertained, likewise, that thickly sown 

 wheat is less liable to blast or mildew, than that, 

 which is thin and scattered. 



Preparation of the seed. — The preparation 

 of the seed is of great consequence. Two objects 

 are to be answered by it ; to get rid of the light 

 and imperfect seeds, and likew'rse foreign seeds or 

 the seeds of weeds ; and to fiii'liish a preventive 

 against smut. The Bmut, which in respect to its 

 nature has been long matter of dispute, is now 

 generally conceded to l>e a minute plant, the seeds 

 of which adhere to the grain of wheat. Tliese 

 seeds must be destroyed ; and this is to be done 

 by the application of some caustic or cleansing 

 substance to the grain before sowing. Various 

 steeps or washes have 1 een successfully used — 

 very small solutions of ar.senic, of blue vitriol, and 

 of green vitriol, have been employed sviib perfect 

 siicce.ss. But a strong brino is equally efficacious ; 

 let it be if coiivenient the brine of a tieef barrel. 

 Let the seed wheat be first thoroughly washed in 

 water, and all the dirt, and light and imperfect 

 seeds be floated off; and then after steeping it for 

 a time in strong brine, let it be taken out, on the 

 barn floor, and thoroughly sprinkled with finely 

 slaked lime until every kernel shall have taken up 

 as much as can be made to adhere to it. It is 

 then ready for sowing; but should the weather 

 prove unfavorable, or the sowing for any reason 

 be delayed, the wheat must be occasionally sprin- 

 kled, so as to prevent its becoming dry. Some 

 persons recommend the use of urine, or liquor 

 from the barn-yard, but it is believed to have no 



