No. 13. 



Wheat vs. Cheat. 



201 



of some kinds are said to require a more 

 powerful action of frost upon them than the 

 kind there described, and that some of the 

 seed require a frost of a second winter, in the 

 latitude and climate of Pennsylvania to pre- 

 pare them for grrowing'. A portion grows 

 the first year, and another portion after lying 

 in the ground one year, and undergoing the 

 process of two winters' freezing, will also 

 grow. Perhaps all might be made to grow 

 the first spring, if the seed were submitted 

 to an artificial freezing process much more 

 intense than that from the natural tempera- 

 ture of the climate. 



If, I should hereafter learn any thing fur- 

 ther relative to cultivating materials for live 

 fences, or any process to prevent the destruc- 

 tion of them deseiving a place in the Cabinet, 

 I intend to forward the same for publication, 

 and hope others will also forward any infor- 

 mation tliey may possess on the subject. 



Chester Co. Pa. Jan. 12, 1838. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabintt. 



Wheat vs. Clieat. 



McFarlane'3, P. O. Allegheny Co. Pa. 

 Jan. 17, 1838. 



Dear Sir:— In page 164, Vol.2, No. 11. of 

 the Farmers' Cabinet, there is an inquiry, 

 " can wheat be transformed into cheat !" I 

 agree with Mr. Featherstonhaugh, that it 

 can; Dr. Darlington seems to be of a dif- 

 ferent opinion, and rather ridicules the idea; 

 as I am not willing to go into a discussion on 

 the laws of nature (nor am I capable) v/ith 

 that gentleman, who no doubt has investiga- 

 ted the matter, I will only state one fact tliat 

 occured with myself, and others can draw 

 their own conclusions. 



I think it was in the year 1819 or 20, that 

 I prepared a piece of ground for wheat, on 

 what we call second bottom, of the Monon- 

 gahela River, a rich sandy loom, giving it a 

 good dressing of manure, viz., lime, stable, 

 and barn-yard, &c. It was put on separately, 

 in different sections of the field ; my seed 

 was of good quality — white smooth chaff", 

 there were a few grains of cheat aild also 

 cockle in it; to be particular to have clean 

 seed, I took it to a neighboring mill and put 

 it twice through a rolling screen. The quan- 

 tity sown was si.x bushels, and put in about 

 the last of September. The season was fa- 

 vorable and promised to my view an abun- 

 dant crop; it grew very rank and in the 

 month of May, I flattered myself that I was 

 going to have an extraordinary yield. But it 

 was all visionary ; when it began to shoot, I 

 could not find an ear of wheat in a rod. I be- 

 lieve, had I plucked all the ears of the six 

 bushels sown, they would not have produced 

 one gallon of wheat. It was perfect cheat, 



and was from four to five feet in height. I 

 cut it about the middle of June, and it made 

 excellent hay. 



Your's respectfully, 



R. C. Mc Farlane. 



1 o the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Cau Wlxeat lie transformed into Cheat t 



Dear Sir:— I have carefully read the 

 Farmers' Cabinet for which I subscribed 

 some time since, and find that some of your 

 correspondents — farmers I presume, deny 

 that wheat will, or can be transformed into 

 cheat. I have had more or less experience 

 in farming for upwards of fifty years, and 

 from personal observations was led to believe, 

 long since, that some grain can and will be 

 tranformed into cheat, but the experience of 

 last summer confirmed me in this opinion. 

 The circumstances were briefly these. — In 

 the spring of 1836, I obtained about half a 

 pint of (skinless) oats; the grain had no husk 

 like the common kind; they were sown in 

 a part of my garden, which I had owned, and 

 planted with different kinds of vegetables for 

 nearly forty years ; no grain having been 

 sowed within a quarter of a mile, or housed 

 or stacked near it. The oats grew finely un- 

 til nearly ripe, when they were beaten to the 

 ground by a heavy shower of rain, I did not 

 take the trouble to cut them, but on examin- 

 ing the heads they proved to be the same 

 kind as were sown. In the fall, the seed left 

 on the ground came up, but I expected they 

 would perish in the winter — in the spring, 

 however, they put forth and grew finely, and 

 when the heads came out, not a single grain 

 could be found, but as fine and flourishing 

 cheat as I had ever examined. It came up 

 last fall again, and at this time has a fine ap- 

 pearance. It shall not be disturbed, and we 

 shall see what it will turn to next summer. 

 Now I should like to know how it came to 

 be all oats the first year, and cheat the next, 

 if grain must always produce the same kind 

 as that sown. Perhaps Dr. Darlington, or 

 some other gentleman skilled in these mat- 

 ters, can impart the desired information. 



G. W. 



Martinsburgh, Va. Jan. 13, 1838. 



P. S. If you sow clean flax seed on new 

 cleared ground, why does the greater part 

 turn to what is generally called yellow seed, 

 wherever brush heaps have been burned? 

 This I have noticed in my own as well as in 

 other fields. 



No farmer ought to undertake to cultivate 

 more land than he can stock, and manage to 

 advantage. It is better to till twenty acres 

 well, than one hundred in a slovenly man- 

 ner. 



