CULTIVATION OF WHEAT. 267 



fifty per cent, to the cost of them as they come from the hands 

 of the farmer. If this presses upon us the need of raising more 

 on our own soil, it also encourages it. There is no reason wliy 

 we should not, in Massachusetts, raise a very large proportion 

 of what we consume ; and especially is this true of corn. We 

 apparently neither know nor develop our own agricultural 

 resources. Belgium sustains a population nearly three times as 

 numerous to the square mile as in this State, and has some 

 surplus food. Oar soil may not equal Belgium in fertility, but 

 under proper culture — inlelligent, improved culture — we ought, 

 at least, to supply all the cereals consumed by our people except 

 wheat. If this be true, the importance, as time goes on, of 

 doing it cannot be overrated ; and no subject could come before 

 this Board demanding such thorough discussion and knowledge 

 as cereals — their nature and best modes of cultivation. We 

 regret our means of adding to these is so small and our space 

 so limited. We must be very brief. 



WHEAT 



Stands at the head of the list, both as the food demanded by 

 man, and also as richest in all the elements which go to nourish 

 and sustain life. It is so little cultivated that our experience 

 in regard to it is exceedingly limited. One thing is clear. The 

 wheat plant likes new ground best. Here little manure is 

 needed. But on such grounds as we put it, there will be the 

 need of deep subsoil ploughing and thoroughly pulverizing the 

 upturned soil ; if it were possible, precede it by a crop of clover 

 to turn in. Lime and salt, also, are almost indispensable to a 

 crop of this grain, especially on our lands. In fact, almost 

 every fertilizer we use will help to mature a good crop. 



But as M. Ville would add to his perfect manure, containing 

 nitrogen, potash and phosphate of lime, an especial manure for 

 cereals, viz., nitrogen, so, if we add to our manured land some 

 sulphate of ammonia, we shall find that even the worn soil of 

 Massachusetts can produce wheat of good quality and quantity. 

 Winter wheat, we should think, would do best here. Sow it 

 early in the autumn, so as to have both the root and ground 

 covered with a good coat of leaves, and seed at the rate of two 

 to two and a half bushels per acre, and we shall not find it a 

 difficult task to raise wheat here. At any rate, we feel as if 



