1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



517 



it will prove to be the most valuable of the 

 many contributions which Mr. Wilder has 

 made to horticulture, and will worthily bear 

 his name. With his permission, we are au- 

 thorized, and do hereby name his strawberry 

 seedling. No. 13, 'The President Wilder.' " 

 It is recommended by others who have seen 

 the fruit and vines, but we are not aware that 

 it has been grown on any other grounds than 

 those of Col. Wilder. How it will succeed 

 in other localities and under less skilful culti- 

 vation remains to be tested.- Mr. J. M. Mer- 

 rick who is satisfied that this new variety is all 

 that is claimed for it, remarks : — My experi- 

 ence in purchasing and treating new varieties 

 of strawberries, like that of most other ama- 

 teurs, has been one of disappointment; and I 

 have become very skeptical about new and 

 highly praised seedlings. 



In reply to a writer in the Horticulturist 

 who is perplexed with sixty bearing varieties 

 on his grounds, claimed by the originators as 

 particularly excellent, and who asks the Pomo- 

 loglcal society to weed out the "suckers," a 

 correspondent of the Country Gentleman says, 

 "the Society need not trouble itself; these 

 worthless varieties will weed themselves out. 

 Let our perplexed friend make a memoran- 

 dum this year of all the highly lauded and 

 unproved sorts, and keep it five years, and he 

 will find nearly all forgotten, and very few in 

 cultivation." Still we hope President Wilder 

 will prove as great an acquisition as Hove\ 's 

 Seedling. But as it is not certain that any 

 plants will be offered for sale this year, 

 the question of its adaptation to general 

 cultivation can hardly be decided the ensuing 

 season. 



PKEPAEATION OP SOIL IN AUTUMN. 



We have noticed articles in several west- 

 ern agricultural papers, during the year, in 

 favor of winter wheat ; and recently we ob- 

 serve correspondents intimating that farmers 

 are at work putting in a large breadth this fall. 

 We are glad to observe this, for we are strong 

 believers in winter wheat. 



It is often said that it cannot be raised suc- 

 cessfully where the soil is not permanently 

 covered with snow in the winter ; that on the 

 prairies the winds blow the soil from the seed, 

 and the freezing and thawing throws out the 

 plants, and renders the crop uncertain. But 

 early sowing with the drill or the plough will 



obviate this difficulty. Wheat superficially 

 covered with the harrow or the brush is doubt- 

 less exposed to injury from the winds and the 

 frosts, but when it is well covered and makes 

 a good stand in the fall, it will be injured but 

 little by the winter, and is a surer crop than 

 spring wheat. 



It is earlier and less liable to be injured by 

 the droughts in June and July. We think 

 this has been proved abundantly during the 

 past season. It is the spring wheat that has 

 been shrunken by the drought. The berry of 

 the winter wheat was generally full and plump, 

 and ripened before the dry weather deprived 

 the straw of sap. 



Spring sowing is apt to be delayed by the 

 cold and wet. When this is the case, it will 

 be late, and the drought will take it while the 

 berry is forming, and it will be small and 

 shrivelled, and it will be more liable to be at- 

 tacked by insect enemies. The soil in August 

 and September is warm and mellow, and the 

 grain will germinate immediately, and not lie 

 in the soil and rot, as it often does in the cold, 

 wet lands in the spring. 



These remarks are equally applicable to the 

 East and to the West. We usually apply 

 manure with the wheat crop, whether it is 

 sowed in the fall or spring. Manure applied 

 in the fall keeps the ground light and mellow, 

 while it gives access to the sun and air, and 

 the plants make an early start in the spring. 



When spring grain is to be sowed on stub- 

 ble, or after corn, it is best to spread the 

 manure, and plough it in, in the fall, espe- 

 cijlly if it is not thoroughly rotted, and fine. 

 In the spring, when the grain is to be sowed, 

 the plough or cultivator will mix it intimately 

 with the soil, and it will be, where it should 

 be, in the seed bed, ready to nourish the 

 springing plant. The frosts of winter crumble 

 it, and prepare it to mix with the soil. Little 

 or no fermentation takes place during the cold 

 season, and the gases are not given off until 

 the genial rays of the sun warm the ground, 

 and then they are absorbed by the earth, and 

 pervade the whole mass. 



An idea has prevailed that manure applied 

 in the fall loses its strength by the action of 

 the rain and air. If it is covered three or four 

 inches we think it loses but very little. The 

 salts that are leached out by the rain are re- 

 tained in the soil, and the convenience of ap- 



