THE GENESEE FAEilER. 



267 



stage of forwardness it may be. * * * * The 

 crops of wheat on the best light soils vary from 18 

 to ciO bushels to tlie acre, and on the clay land 40 

 are sometimes got." 



Sowing Wheat eaely in the Fall. — Mr. Rus- 

 sell makes some interesting remarks in regard to 

 the fact that wheat requires to be sown earlier in 

 this country than in Great Bi'itain. A Canadian 

 farmer informed him that 



* * * " wheat could be sown much later upon 

 new land than upon what had been in cultivation 

 for some time. The reason he gave for this was, 

 that the richness of the newly-cleared land forced 

 the wheat to grow rapidly and longer in the 

 autumn, and thus to make up for late sowing." 



" Some days after this, I met a farmer who had 

 emigrated from Fifeshire nine years ago, and whom 

 I formerly knew. He had 100 acres of cleared 

 land, most of which was a light loam, resting upon 

 gravel. Upon this extent he had 50 acres in wheat, 

 his usual crop being 1000 bushels. He informed 

 me that all his ideas respecting the nature of the 

 soils best suited for wheat were completely changed 

 since he came to Canada. "Wheat, he said, was not 

 so exhausting a crop in Canada as in Scotland, as 

 it could be so easily raised on very light soils ; and 

 further, he maintained that farm-yard manure had 

 not so great an effect in increasing the yield of 

 wheat as it had at home. For this reason, many 

 farmers would not put themselves to the trouble of 

 driving it out, as the clover sod seemed perfectly 

 suflScient for raising a good crop. It would appear 

 that the decaying matter which the clover roots 

 and herbage yield is best adapted in this climate 

 for supplying the wheat plants with the food that 

 they require from the soil. But in my opinion the 

 practice of sowing wheat early in America has also 

 the effect of rendering less manure necessary. 



"Nor do I think that the explanation of the 

 matter is at all difficult, if we bear in mind the 

 peculiarities of the climate of the two countries. 

 In the first place, early sowing in America is ren- 

 dered necessary in consequence of the severity of 

 the winters, for the plants must be well rooted be- 

 fore the frosts set in. In Scotland, wheat sowing 

 is carried on throughout the winter when it is mild, 

 and if the crop has been too early sown on light 

 land, it becomes too thick, which is not desirable, 

 as it is well known that thick wheat usually dwin- 

 dles away during our long and cold springs, and 

 yields a small return. 



" In Canada, on the other hand, the compara- 

 tively high temperature of the autumns pushes for- 

 ward the wheat plants and produces a thick carpet 

 of vegetation, yet vegetation is entirely suspended 

 during the winter. The extra growth which the 

 wheat plant thereby obtains in the long autumns of 

 Canada is kept in reserve, in the shape of sap-stored 

 roots and leaves, until the spring or rather the 

 summer, for in this Siberian climate there is no 

 spring. Within certain limits, then, the more 

 autumn growth that the wheat gets in Canada, the 

 less need has it of manure in the early summer. 

 In Scotland, we see the application of a similar 

 principle in the growth of turnip seed. Bulbs of 

 late summer and autunm growth are first got, and 

 then the nourishment contained in the bulbs is 



drawn upon next season for the development of the 

 flowers and seeds. 



"More than this, the temperature in Britain is 

 low, and the Aveather often arid during the early 

 stages of the growth of the wheat plant, conditions 

 that demand a more abundant supply of manure. 

 But in Canada the weather remains cool, and keeps 

 vegetation dead until the first week of May, when 

 summer begins in earnest and incipient vegetation 

 is vivified by great heat and an adequate supply c:f 

 moisture. "\v hen these circumstances are duly con- 

 sidered, we need not wonder at the peculiarities in 

 the systems of wheat culture adopted at hom-e and 

 in the Western world. 



" One fact connected with wheat culture in 

 America is worthy of being noticed, as it shows 

 the remarkable effect of climate on the plant. In 

 no part of North America which I visited can the 

 common varieties of Avheat which are sown in 

 autumn be sown in spring and produce a crop of 

 grain, for they only grow leaves and stems, and do 

 not form ears. Wheat exhibits somewhat similar 

 habits when sown in June on rich land in Scotland. 

 There is a great deal of spring wheat sown in 

 Ameiica, called the Black Sea variety, whicli ap- 

 peared to be very similar to what is known in this 

 country as April wheat, a red awny variety. 



"It is further worthy of observation, that it is of 

 much importance in America to have a thick and 

 well tillered plant of wheat in spring. Late tiller- 

 ing produces coarse and vascular stems, which are 

 particularly liable to be attacked by disease. ' Sow 

 early to prevent rust and mildew,' I heard repeated 

 by the farmers in every part of America. The 

 most of the summer rains in Canada and the United 

 States fall in heavy thunder showers, attended with 

 a high temperature. Such climatic conditions favor 

 rust and mildew, indeed, actually renderino- the 

 crops grown on rich land so liable to their ravages 

 that the best soils for wheat in America are those 

 which would be considered inferior ones for the 

 same crop in this country. The further south that 

 I went, the poorer did I find that the soil required 

 to be to produce a healthy crop; and althouo-h 

 there is scarcely any winter in Alabama, a well 

 tillered plant seemed to be essential to obtain a 

 healthy ripening crop of wheat even on very poor 

 lands." 



The two statements, (1) that wheat "is not so 

 exhausting a crop in Canada as in Scotland," and 

 (2) that " farm-yard manure had not so great an 

 effect in increasing the yield of wheat as it had in 

 Scotland," appear somewhat contradictory. We 

 do not see why wheat is not so exhausting — Avhy 

 it does not require as great a quantity of plant-food 

 — in this country as in Great Britam. But if it 

 does not, providing the soil needs manure at all 

 a given quantity of farm-yard manure — which 

 contains all the elements of plant food — should 

 have a greater effect here than in Great Britain, 

 If it has a less effect, it must be ascribed to im- 

 proper application, or to the soil bemg in little 

 need of manure. 



Wheat Ceops in Lower Canada. — In alluding' 

 to the opinion that naturally good wheat soU be- 



