FARMERS' REGISTER-WHEAT-REAPING GREEN. 



rso 



tied, and a resort to it, and to such temporaiy loans 

 as can conveniently be made, may enable the board 

 to meet the exigencies of the company, until either 

 an increase of caphal stock, or a permanent loan 

 on favorable terms can be etlected. 



LARGE WHEAT CROP. 



From the Gcnescc Farnicv, 



At the annual meeting of the Agricultural So- 

 ciety of this county, (Monroe) m October last, tlie 

 society's first premium for the best acre of vrheat, 

 was awarded to INIr. Jirah Blackmcr, of Wheat- 

 land, the acre producing, according to the certifi- 

 cates presented to the society, sixiy-eight bushels 

 and farly-thrcc pounds. The conchtions on which 

 the premium was gi-anted, not requiring a state- 

 ment of the manner of its culture, Ivlr. 13. has, at 

 our request, furnished the followmg: 



Mr.L. Tucker — Agi'eeableto the request which 

 I recently observed in the Genesee Farmer, I give 



the excellent collection published by the agricultu- 

 ral society of Chalons. 



It is generally Imown that for a seed to have ac- 

 quired all the qualities Avhich render it proper for 

 reproduction, it is necessary tliat the plant from 

 which it proceeds, should have undergone the 

 elaboration suitable, and passed through the pe- 

 riods requisite lor a perlcct fructification. It is 

 perhaps less Imown, although many writers have 

 enlightened limners upon this point, that the ali- 

 mentary qualities ui cereal plants are produced be- 

 fore the complete maturity of the grain; and that 

 a premature harv-est may, nevertheless, yield a 

 good product, if, aller having been cut, the plant 

 is subjected to a well regulated desiccation. Wc 

 extract then, with pleasure, from the coiTespon- 

 dencc of the society, a note of M. Procquez, a 

 farmer, and the mayor at Sompuis, (arrondise- 

 ment de Viiry') on the measures which he has taken 

 lor several years with respect to his foJlen wheat. 

 Tills note contains practical facts, which the so- 



you an account of the ciilture of an acre of wheat, ^^-^^ cgpecially desire in their communications with 

 lor which the first prem.mm was awm'ded by the-Lj^^j.-'j^^j.|^.i^j|.^j.-glg_ r^^^^ 



Monroe County Agricultural Society, in October 

 last. This acre v^-aspart of a field containing twen- ! 

 ty-two acres, which had lain four years in clover, 

 and been occupied as a pasture. It had never re- 

 ceived any barn manure, but had several times 

 been sowed with plaster orgjijsum. 



The acre which I selected, lay in a basin or hol- 

 lo^v, and the surface of the gromid gradually de- 

 scended towards it in every direction; and in a 

 time of heavy rains, or the enow gomg oflf in the 

 spring, it was generally flovv'ed with water, which 

 made it veiy rich. The natural soil is a sandy 

 loam with an excellent sub-soil. I had the stones 

 and other obstructions to the plough, removed, and 

 ditches cut to prevent the water from rumiing mto 

 it m a wet time, and flowing it. In the fore part 

 of June, the field was ploughed deep with a good 

 team — in August it was haiTowed and cross 

 ploughed quite deep; and the fore part of Septem- 

 ber it was again haiTowed and ploughed very fine. 

 On the 14th of September, it was sowed with a 

 little less than a bushel of seed to the acre, one 

 half white flint and the other red chafl", mixed to 



he results oi' the experience 

 of our correspondent, while rccalUng facts already 

 known, are not the proper ones for pubhcation, 

 particularly ui the country adjacent to us, in Avliich 

 the haiwest of each year is considerably diminished 

 in its most important product, by the circumstance 

 of the wheat ha\Tng fallen, in consequence of 

 hea\y rams, and without any accident on landa 

 where too great a depth of soil, too la\'isli an ap- 

 plication of manure, or any other cause of this 

 nature, produces too rank a vegetation. 



" It will, doubtless, not be indifferent to the agri- 

 cultural society," saj's M. Procquez, "how I save 

 my wheat which has fallen, or become entangled, 

 and how chance instaicted me in this plan, which 

 has perfectly succeeded. The first year that I 

 became a flu'mcr, I had seen in some periodical 

 works of agriculture, that a mould abundant, and 

 filled with iertilizmg principles, might be obtained 

 by spreading layers of earth mider the cattle, to 

 take it up aftenvards and carry it out to the fields. 

 I determined to make this expeiiment, which had 

 all the promised success, but being ignorant of the 

 strength of this manure, I applied three times as 



gether. It was harvested the 25th of July, when ^luch of it as was necessary: " At first, I was de- 

 it was quite green, and the kernel but just ou of J y .^^^ ^^^j^ ^^^^ ^^^- ^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ 



the milk. It stood the thickest on the ground of „H.^„*. v,^ ,^,/;„,,„.o„ ^♦■c.i,,..?.i.,.„t;,,„ "^c.^..^^!,, 

 any wheat I ever saw, and the straAv was large 

 and very tall, yet so firm that it did not lodge — the 

 heads were unusually long and well fiIIed,"so that 

 nine sheaves yielded a bushel. 



I would remark, that I am satisfied from expe- 

 rience and observation, that plaster is not only 

 highly beneficial to gi'ass lands, but of great ser- 

 vice to grain crops, and I almost mvariably fail of 

 a grain crop unless I plough deep. 



Yours, with respect, 



JIRAH BLACKMER. 



jneatland, March 17, 1834. 



ON THE ADVANTAGE OF CUTTING FALLEN 



WHEAT BEFORE IT IS RIPE. 



Translated for Hie Fanners' Register, from the Journal d'.Sgn- 

 culture etc. dcs Pays-Bas. 



Although many distinguished writers on agii- 

 •culture have protested against the practice of cut- 

 ling wheat befiji'G it has reached its complete ma- 



wheat; but my joy was of short duration. Scarcely 

 were the heads developed, when my wheat had 

 already fallen to a very unusual degree. I ex- 

 amined it often, and' perceived that the grain 

 was sufficiently large, but was evidently whhcring. 

 Judging that it would come to nothing, I resolved 

 to have" it cut, green as it was. The reapers re- 

 garded me as crazy to cut wheat so unripe. I, 

 nevertheless, continued my operation, adding the 

 precaution of leaving the sheaves for five or six 

 days upon the field before putting them mto the 

 barn. 



A month after, being in want of litter for my 

 cattle, I had my wheat threshed. What was my 

 surfirise when I saw a gram well filled, of a yellow 

 color, and presenting a combmation of such quali- 

 ties tliat I resolved to take it for seed ! Here I ac- 

 quired a new lesson. This grain yielded excellent 

 flour, which had little bran, and was very white; 

 but it was useless ^ov seed, for it produced me at 

 least two-thirds of smutted wheat, occasioning a 

 considerable loss. But experience must be bought, 



turity, we think it, nevertheless, our duty, to insert 



m our journal the follo^ving article extracted from ' and this loss hius proved to me that to avoid having 



