summer-fallowing more or less every year. J3is 

 practice has been to top-dress his clover land in 

 the fall and the next spring to plow it up, and 

 prepare the land for wheat by plowing it twice 

 more, with repeated harrowings, rolling, &c. In 

 other words, he manures the land in the fall and 

 then gives it a good old-fashioned summer-fallow. 



Latterly, since his land has been brought into 

 such high condition, he occasionally takes off a crop 

 of barley and sows wheat after it. In this case, as 

 soon as the barley is off he plows it as shallow as 

 possible to start the barley which may have been 

 shed, seeds of weeds, &c. Then as soon as they 

 are started, plow them under and sow wheat. On 

 lighter soils the wheel cultivator may be used to 

 start the seeds, &c. 



■ Wheat is usually earlier on a summer-fallow 

 than after barley or oats— and this in midge times 

 is a very important point. 



In England, wheat is almost invariably sown on 

 a clover sod, one or two years old, at one plowing. 

 The land is turned over in shallow, narrow fur- 

 rows, and the wheat sown immediately. Some 

 farmers sow every day close up to the plow. We 

 sow so much earlier in this country than they do 

 in England, and the grass has, therefore, so much 

 better chance to grow, that we have thought this 

 method could not often be practiced with advan- 

 tage, but we find that many good farmers are 

 adopting it. The great point is to get the grass 

 covered completely. In some parts of England a 

 heavy roller, much resembling a wheel, and not 

 more than an inch wide at the point, is used to run 

 along the furrows after the plow and press in the 

 grass. We once saw it in use on Mr. William 

 Bennett's celebrated farm in Bedfordshire, and he 

 assured us that on his very light sandy soil it was 

 of the greatest value, not only for pressing in the 

 grass but also for consolidating the land — it being 

 well known that the great difficulty in growing 

 wheat on such light land is to get it firm enough 

 Where there is danger of smut, seed wheat_ 

 should always be " pickled." The spores of the 

 smut adhere to the grain, and when this is sown 

 they are taken into the circulation of the wheat 

 plant and affent the grain at the next harvest. To 

 prevent this, we must adopt some method of killing 

 the speres of the smut, or more properly " bunt." 



The method most commonly adopted is as fol- 

 lows : Let a tub or Waif barrel, as c, in the accom- 

 panying engraving, be placed to receive a quantity 

 of chamber-lye, two or three weeks before it is 

 needed, and tis soon as the ammonia is perceived 



pretty strong it is ready for use. If so strong thj 

 it smarts the eye, it should be diluted with wate 

 This is better than to use it fresh. Let two ba 

 kets, o and d, be provided. Pour the wheat im 

 the basket o from the sack a, and dip the basketf 

 of wheat into the tub of lye c as far down as coti 



UMUBLrvtmf 



MODE OF PICKLING WHEAT TO PREyENT SMUT. 



pletely to cover the wheat. After remaining in tl 

 liquid for a few seconds, lift up the basket, let tl 

 surplus liquid run out of it 7 and then place it upo 

 the drainer e, on the empty tub /, to drip sti 

 more liquid, till the empty basket is filled wit 

 wheat and dipped in the tub. Now empty tl. 

 basket d on to a clean floor ; and as every basketfi 

 is emptied, riddle a little slaked lime on to tl 

 wheat. Let the heap be repeatedly turned ov< 

 till every kernel is coated with lime. 



The philosophy of this operation is this : Tl 

 spores of the smut contain oil, and the ammonia < 

 the lye unites with this oil and destroys the spore 

 The lime dries the wheat and also assists in killin 

 the spores. 



Many other substances will kill the spores an 

 thus prevent injury from smut. The best of thes 

 is blue vitriol (sulphate of copper). For eac 

 bushel of wheat dissolve three or four ounces < 

 vitriol in a quart of hot water, and when co( 

 sprinkle the wheat with it, turning the wheat ove 

 on the floor till every grain is moistened with th 

 vitriol. Lime must not be used in this case, as i 

 neutralizes the vitriol. 



Every farmer knows how to sow wheat afte 

 some fashion, but comparatively few know how t 

 sow properly. The great error in sowing is to le 

 the hand fall as soon as it leaves the bag containin 

 the seed. Instead of this, the hand should b 

 thrown back on a level with the elbow, and if 

 little higher it will be all the better. Do not thro'V 

 the seed too high. The hand should not be raise* 

 higher than at the starting point. Stephens, ii 

 his Booh of the Farm, has the following remark 

 on the subject: 



