402 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



the growth of noxious weeds, then he may claim 

 to have found the connecting link between the 

 vegetable and animal kingdoms, nay, a link that 

 connects the vegetable kingdom with rational 

 Christian man . And he would do the world great 

 service by distributing seeds of the wonderful 

 plant. 



In another part of the same article, the Profes- 

 sor says : — "Half an inch seems to be the greatest 

 depth at which the carrot can be planted with cer- 

 tain success as to germinating." Some few years 

 ago, (my agricultural experience has not been a 

 long one) 1 was in the habit of sowing the seeds 

 at a depth of about half an inch, as the Professor 

 recommends. Passing through a neighbor's gar- 

 den one day when he was sowing his seed, I no- 

 ticed that he had made trenches not less than two 

 inches deep, and put his seeds at the bottom. As 

 I had furnished the seed, and felt interested in its 

 reputation, I took the liberty to suggest that it 

 was rather deep planting ; but he covered them 

 the full depth ; and the result w^as, that his came 

 up better than mine. Since then, I have not 

 been afraid to deposit my seeds of all sorts at a 

 depth that would insure sufiicient moisture, and I 

 verily believe, that more seeds fail from too shal- 

 low than from too deep planting. Especially in 

 dry seasons there is danger that the shallow plant- 

 ed seeds will be kept too dry, to permit their ger- 

 mination. MiNOT Pratt. 



Concord, Mass., July 24, 1854. 



WHEAT-GEOWING m MASSACHU- 

 SETTS. 



In our calendar for August, last week, w^e inci 

 dentally mentioned the cultivation of wheat bv 

 our farmers, and we now continue the subject 

 more in detail. 



Some twenty-five years ago, it was well known 

 that wheat could not be raised in Massachusetts, 

 except in a few favored spots on Connecticut 

 river. The reason was the land was too old ; 

 that wheat could only be raised profitably on new 

 lands. Yet wheat has always been raised in the 

 "old countries," in England, in Italy, in Ger- 

 many, in Russia, in as broad a range of latitude 

 as our whole country, from New Orleans to Pem- 

 bina in 49°. 



But since the establishment of Agricultural 

 Societies and the increased circulation of farming 

 newspapers, irt consequence of which it is no 

 longer held as treason, or even as a high misde- 

 meanor, to suggest new hints or express new 

 ideas upon the l)usiness of farming, it has been 

 really suggested tliat wheat might be raised on 

 our soil, and the experiment, bold as it may seem, 

 has been tried. The result of the experiment is^ 

 we believe, that wheat, though not considered so 

 certain or so profitable a crop as corn, may, not- 

 withstanding, bo raised to advantage in the State. 



We believe it is a fact, and rather a singular 

 one, of which we shall presently suggest the 

 ca,use, that in no part of our extended country, 

 with all its variation of climate and diversity of 



soil, have so good crops of wheat been raised as 

 England. From Maine west to Iowa, and from 

 Virginia north to Michigan, we think there has 

 been no tract of country that has produced on the 

 average as much wheat in quantity, as in some of 

 the wheat counties in England, Kent for instance. 

 In Mr. Colman's book on European Agriculture, 

 though he says that in some statistical works 26 

 bushels have been put down as the average, and 

 though there are persons who insist that it should 

 lie put lower, yet he could never find the farmer 

 who would allow his own yield to be at the low 

 rate. He says that under good cultivation he 

 has rarely known it less than 32 bushels. He 

 has found it 40, — and is informed on the very 

 best authority that the yield is often from 56 to 

 64. Indeed, he reports instances greatly exceed- 

 ing that, where it appeared that 37 and 40 bush- 

 els were severally raised by Mr. Barclay, M. P., 

 and a Kentish farm laborer represented that about 

 35 or 40 bushels are raised there, as an average 

 crop. We believe our best wheat crops have been 

 in Michigan, and in some parts of Wisconsin, 

 Iowa, and Northern Illinois. But the average in 

 the best of these would not come up to the Kent 

 county standard as we have stated it. In Vir- 

 ginia, it is greatly below it. 



As we have such a variety of climate in the 

 wheat-growing districts", our short-comings must 

 be attributed to one of two causes, soil or seed. 

 There are two principal requisites in soil, for 

 wheat. According to the opinion of most farm- 

 ers, the soil should be rather a stiff, tenacious, 

 clayey soil, and not mellow, light, or loose. We 

 think it should not be too rich also. In a mel- 

 low, light, and rich soil, it makes straw at the 

 expense of the grain. But the main requisite in 

 the soil for aliment of the plant, is phosphate of 

 lime. To this condition or to the seed, or to both, 

 the greater success in England, in wheat-growing, 

 is to be attri!)uted. England is a limestone coun- 

 try, and the farmers use bone manure, which fur- 

 nishes the phosphate of lime, on their filelds. — 

 The most of the western wheat-growing lands 

 are in a limestone country, but the soil is too 

 light and mellow, favoring straw too much. So 

 much for the soil. Nowevery farmer knows that 

 there is a great difference in the measure of difFer- 

 erent kinds of wheat grown on a given number of 

 stalks. In some kinds the kernel or berry is larger 

 and heavier, and in some kinds, there are a great- 

 er number of kernels to an ear, than in other va- 

 rieties. Let the best kind be selected, that which 

 is of the best quality, and bearing the largest 

 ears, the Kent county wheat, if it may be pro- 

 cured, or some other productive variety, and let 

 it be sown in sufficient quantity, (our farmers do 

 not seed so heavy as the English, our rule being 

 U to li bus. to the acre, the English 2 to 2^) on 



