1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



4Q9 



For the New England Farmer. 



WHEAT CHOP IN VERMOHT. 



Mr. Brown : — I thought it might be a matter 

 of interest to the numerous readers of the JVew 

 England Farmer to learn something of wheat 

 raising in this section of Vermont. In this busy 

 age of the world when most of the young men, 

 and many of the more advanced in life, are leaving 

 their native New England hills for homes in the 

 far West, the advantages of New England farm- 

 ing and the native richness of New England lands, 

 more particularly in Maine and Vermont, are lost 

 sight of. 



Statistics are neither compared or examined; 

 and the great fact that the hundred thousand far- 

 mers in New England have happy and intelligent 

 homes, adorned with well educated sons and daugh- 

 ters, surrounded by all the comforts and many of 

 the luxuries of life, is entirely overlooked ; and as 

 though nothing either in soil, cliniate or a market 

 favored New England, and as though each and all 

 peculiarly favored the great West, the tide of emi- 

 gration bears its thousands weekly to Minnesota, 

 Wisconsin and Kansas, from homes sacred to all 

 the charms of education and early life ; from lands 

 susceptible of the highest state of cultivation ; from 

 hungry markets offering the highest prices for ag- 

 ricultural productions, and from the high moral 

 and religious sentiment of New England society. 



But to the more direct object of this communi- 

 cation. My neighbor, John L. Levering, Esq., 

 sometime in the year 1851, procured of the late 

 S. W. Cole, one quart of the variety of wheat 

 known as the "Kloss," "Banner," or more generally 

 as the "White Blue Stem." This wheat was from 

 a half bushel furnished the late editor of the JVew 

 England Farmer by the Hon. Kufus Mclntire, 

 of Parsonfield, Me., the straw of which is repre- 

 sented in Vol. IL, No. 22, of the Farmer as grow- 

 ing to the height of four or five feet. 



Mr. Lovering sowed his quart of wheat in the 

 autumn of 1852, and in the autumn of 1853 

 picked the heads by hand, that he might keep 

 his seed free from chess, cockle and other foul 

 seeds. In subsequent harvestings great careful- 

 ness was observed to keep out these foul seeds, 

 and with perfect success. The wheat seemed ad- 

 mirably adapted to our soil and climate, enduring 

 the winter well and yielding bountifully. Last au- 

 tumn, as early as the fourth day of August, having 

 properly prepared his land, Mr. Lovering sowed 

 five and one-half acres to this "V/hite Blue Stem." 

 No portion of the field winter-killed, and previous 

 to harvesting, the straw measured from five to six 

 feet. Three weeks since, the wheat was threshed and 

 measured, and two hundred and twelve bushels was 

 the result. As there was no gleaning or after rak- 

 ing, and as much of the straw was six feet in length, 

 a large number cf heads fell from the fingers of 

 the cradle, and the amount thus left upon the 

 ground could not have fallen short of eight bush- 

 els; giving as the entire yield of the field two hun- 

 dred and twenty bushels ; or forty bushels to the 

 acre. 



The measured bushel of this wheat weighs sixty- 

 three pounds. Two bushels ground at our mill at 

 Queechy Village, made but a few ounces less than 

 ninety-nine pounds of the best flour. Four bush- 

 els of this wheat will make a barrel of flour. 



This is the third crop taken from this piece of 



land since manuring. That the real value of the 

 soil in Vermont is little understood by persons em- 

 igrating West is unquestionably true. The for- 

 tunes that have been made in the West have not 

 been the legitimate result of agricultural industry, 

 but in most cases have been realized by specula- 

 tions in real estate. And in hearing of an occa- 

 sional fortunate speculator who has attained great 

 wealth, we are blinded to the thousand less fortu- 

 nate who have endured and are still enduring se- 

 vere privations for a scanty subsistence. 



Daniel Needham. 

 Hartford, Vt., Sept. lOih, 1857. 



Remarks. — The above is a great wheat story ; 

 but we know Col. Needham, the writer, and Mr. 

 Lovering, the producer of the wheat ; both are 

 men of integrity and intelligence, and we place en- 

 tire confidence in the statements made. Such a 

 product is seldom obtained by tha most successful 

 wheat-growers. We agree with the writer's opin- 

 ion, that the capacity of Vermont soil is not gener- 

 ally understood. Our late visit to Montpelier and 

 the region about it has satisfied us that much of 

 the Vermont soil can scarcely be excelled by that 

 of any State, and that the land, literally, is one 

 flowing with milk and honey. The facts commu- 

 nicated by Col. Needham will greatly encourage 

 farmers to produce at least their own flour. 



GUANO. 



There is reason to suppose that in Peru guano has 

 been used as a manure since the days of the Incas. 

 In "Von Tshudi's Travels" it is said that the 

 "White guano is found chiefly on the islands op- 

 posite to Chincha ; and that for more than six hun- 

 dred years the deposit has been removed from those 

 islands without any apparent decrease of the accu- 

 mulation." 



As the climate is there remarkably dry, rain 

 seldom falling except in very slight showers, and 

 those at rare intervals, the Peruvian guano is of a 

 more arid nature than the African, "as fewer of 

 the saline particles of the former being in solution, 

 they are consequently less liable to evaporation." 



The following, which we extract from a lengthy 

 article upon this subject in a beautiful work, will 

 no doubt be interesting to such of our readers as 

 possess curiosity on subjects of this kind. 



"Much has recently been written on the emploj-- 

 ment and utility of guano ; but the manner in 

 which it is applied as manure in Peru, seems to be 

 but little known. The Peruvians use it chiefly in 

 the cultivation of Maize (Indian Corn) and pota- 

 toes. A few weeks after the seeds begin to sprout, 

 a little hollow is dug round each root, and is filled 

 up with guano, which is afterwards covered with a 

 Httle dirt. After the lapse of twelve or fifteen 

 hours, the whole field is laid under water, and is 

 left in that state for some hours. Of the 'Guanc 

 Blanco,' a less quantity suffices, and the field must 

 be more speedily and abundantly watered, other- 



