44 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



fails to produce a crop, though we get au abundance 

 of hauhn. 



This subject is one of great interest to farmers 

 and gardeners, and we shall be thankful for any 

 facts whicX corroborate or militate against the 

 principle which we have endeavored to illustrate. 



HOEING WHEAT IN THE SPEING. 



In a previous article, we have alluded to the ad- 

 vantages of bringhig seed wlK>at from the South, 

 for the purpose of getting the wheat so early that 

 it may escape the attacks of the midge. Something 

 can be done in this way^ but we must also en- 

 deavor to cultivate the soil, so as to enable it to 

 force the wheat forward. We must make it dryer, 

 and warmer, and richer — at least ricJier in the ap- 

 propriate food of wheat, i. e. richer in ammonia, 

 without mxLch carlonaceozis matter. 



TJaderdraining not only removes injurious, stag- 

 nant water, but it also makes the soil warmer, and, 

 consequently, plants growing on it ripen earlier. 

 The midge will force farmers to avail themselves 

 of this fundamental means of improving their farms. 

 But we do not now intend to give our views on 

 the best method of growing wheat so as to avoid 

 the midge, but rather to ask the experience of our 

 readers in regard to the effect of hoeing wheat in 

 accelerating or retarding its early maturity. 



"We have often seen wheat hoed in England, and 

 always with decided benefit; but we cannot say 

 whether it favored the ripening process or not. 



Moeion's Cyclopedia of Agriculture (one of the 

 latest and best English authorities) says : " All 

 di'illed wheat should be hoed in spring, both for 

 the puri^ose of loosening the surface and cutting up 

 ireeds ; it will always pay itself, either by an in- 

 treased crop or by saving in the after-cleaning of 

 the laud, and often i-t will make all the difference 

 between a very good and a very bad crop." 



There is one difficulty in hoeing wheat here 

 which is not met with in England. Our springs 

 are late, and the wheat begins to grow rapidly be- 

 fore the ground is sufficiently dry to hoe. Still, 

 some fai'mers have adopted the practice here on a 

 small scale, and, we believe, with very encouraging 

 results. Those, too, who have ha-rrowed their 

 wheat in the spring, liave found it beneficial. 



Unless the land is very hard and foul, the Dutch- 

 hoe is the best for hoeing wlieat. When the drills 

 are twelve inches apart, whea-t can be hoed by 

 hamd for about seventy-five cents an acre — and 

 we know of no cheaper method of eradicating red- 

 root and other noxious wocdr'. 

 In England, a machine has been in ase for some 



years for hoeing wheat, and, at the suggestion of a 

 correspondent, we annex a cut of it. It is drawn 



GAREETT S PATEKT HORSE-UOE. 



by one horse, and will hoe ten acres a day. When 

 the laud is free from stones, and not too hard, it 

 makes excellent work. It is made to correspond 

 with the drill used for sowing the wheat. The 

 hoes themselves are at a fixed distance apart, but 

 the set of hoes are fixed to a movable framework, 

 which can be easily moved to correspond with any 

 aberration of the drill. A man with a quick eye 

 and a steady hand can guide it so as rarely to cut 

 up any of the wheat, especially if it lias been 

 drilled with proper care. 



If our farmers will try the effect of hoeii>g wheat, 

 and the result is beneficial, some of our intelligent 

 mechanics will soon construct a machine which 

 will do the work well, and at a cheap rate. 



CORN AS FOOD FOR THE MILLION. 



Feikxd Harris : — I have been absent from hom( 

 seven months, and have not seen a number of thf 

 Genesee Farmer between May and December. Ir 

 the last named issue there is au interesting article oi 

 Indian corn, which being a staple of great value, anc 

 of almost universal production and consumption, ii 

 this country, the subject will bear further discussion 



You remark : " The principal injury corn is sub- 

 ject to, arises from the quantity of water it con- 

 tains when ground or shipped. The Biprcss make* 

 itself merry over the recommendation of our fi-iem 

 Dr. Lee, in the Patent Office Eep>ort : ' Wlier 

 farmers sell corn soon after it is ripe, there is con- 

 siderable gain in not keeping it long to shrink ant 

 dry in weight.' It thinks the practical inferenct 

 to be drawn from this recommendation of the Doc 

 tor, is ' obviously the short-sighted policy of export 

 ing water to this country.'' " 



The youth who said his "father's horse couk' 

 drato an inference, but he could not," was a fail 

 match for the writer in the Mark Lane Express 

 who infers that when an American farmer selL 

 corn it must be for exportation to England ! 



Water plays an important part in all vcgetabh 

 and animal products ; and Dr. Lee wished to le 

 corn-growers know tliat ripe corn contains usuullj 

 about 20 per cent, of it, and will shrink and los< 

 weight if long kept in a dry place. The policy o\ 



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