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THE GENESEE FAKMER. 



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BRITISH AND AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



{^Continued from Page 17.) 



B. I see from the newspapers that the winter ia England and France has been as unusually mild 

 as with us. 



A. So it would appear; yet, as a general rule, the weather in Europe is reverse of what it is 

 here. Last winter, in England, was remarkably open, while here it was very severe. Last fall, 

 in England, was one of tlie wettest experienced for a long time, so much bo that a very large pro- 

 portion of the land intended and prepared for wheat, could not be sown. If, however, the winter 

 has been as warm as asserted, I have no doubt much of this land has been sown. Wheat is often 

 sown as late as December, and does well. 



B. What is considered the best time to sow wheat there, and how much do they sow to the 

 acre ? 



A. The last week of September and the first of October is considered the best by most good 

 farmers. The quantity of seed sown, varies exceedingly in different districts ; from one peck to 

 three and a half bushels. Some of the " new lights," such as Davis, Mechi, Huxtable, and SiurrH, 

 have advocated very thin sowing, and they have undoubtedly obtained very large crops from not 

 more than a peck of seed per acre. Their writings, example, and results, have had some influence 

 in reducing the quantity of seed sown per acre. Many farmers I met with who, twenty years ago, 

 thought three and a half bushels of wheat none too much seed per acre, now think two and a 

 quarter amply sufficient. Tiiey have, however, failed to convince practical farmers of the economy 

 of sowing only a peck or even a bushel of wheat per acre. They find that while in many instances 

 thin sowing produces excellent crops, those who adopt the system on a large farm have invariably 

 more or less laud that is much too thin, and either has to be plowed under and sown to spring 

 grain, or yield a very indifferent crop. The loss on these few acres more than counterbalances the 

 gain by sowing thin. 



B. I suppose they always drill in their wheat and horse or hand hoe it in the sprint. 



A. Most of the wheat is now drilled in. It is commonly estimated that the di-ill saves half a 

 bushel of seed per acre, and gives, at the same time, a larger crop. It is generally drilled about 

 six inches apart, .and is not hoed. Those who hoe their wheat, drill it about a foot wide ; but the 

 practice of hoeing is anything but common. 



B. In the last volume of the Genesee Farmer there was a cut of a horse-hoe for wheat that 

 appeared to me to be well calculated to perform the operation with economy and speed. I have 

 often wished we had some such an implement here. Our lands are now pretty clear, and I think 

 it would do good service on our Western New York lands. 



A. I have seen the wheat-hoc you speak of at work. It is a good thing, but like all the English 

 implements, it ia too heavy and complex. Unless the rows of wheat are drilled as straight as an 

 arrow, you are sure to cut up as much wheat as weeds ; and, in any case, it requires a strong man 

 with a steady hand to guide the hoe straight. 



B. I should think some of our implement makers could lighten, simplify, and cheapen this hoe, 

 improve it, or make a new one that would do good service and come into general use. Labor is so 

 much higher with us than in England, that the difference in favor of horse-hoeing is much greater 

 here than there. Don't you think it would pay to hoe our wheat if it could be done cheaply. 



A. I think it would, but I doubt very much whether the practice can ever generally prevail 

 here. The land would not be dry enough to hoe much before the first of May, when the wheat is 

 growing so rapidly that it would be difficult to hoe a considerable breadth before the plant would 

 be so far advanced as to be injured by it.. 



B. It appears to me that you think there is but little in the best system of British agriculture 

 that we can adopt here with advantage. 



A. If we understood the principles of their agriculture better, we might draw our own deduc- 

 tions from them and modify their practices and adopt new ones suited to our peculiar cireumstances. 

 It is in this way that we can profit by the experience of European farmers, and only in this way. 

 Tlie farmer who, by empirical experience, discovers the best way of cultivating the various crops 

 on his own farm, is worthy of much praise and greatly benefits the farmers of his immediate dis- 

 trict, who profit by his example ; but he who searches after and discovers the principles on which 



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