116 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Stockbridoe presented tlie following 



REPORT OF COMAUTTEE ON WHEAT CULTURE. 



Your committee, deeming it important to obtain information 

 from intelligent practical farmers in different parts of the State, 

 in relation to the cultivation of wheat, distributed a circular to 

 them, propounding the following questions, viz. : — 



1. Is wheat cultivated in your town and vicinity ? If so, to what extent? 



2. What kind of soil is preferred for tlie crop ? 



3. "Which succeeds best, spring or winter wheat ? Name tlie kinds 

 that for yield and quality, are generally preferred ? 



4. Do you prepare your seed in any manner for sowing ? If so, what 

 are its advantages ? 



5. Are your lands generally manured for wheat ? If so, what manure 

 is used, and how applied ? 



6. What obstacles do you encounter in its cultivation ? 



7. What specific means do you employ to prevent or avoid the various 

 diseases and mishaps of the crop ? 



8. What instrument do you use in covering the seed ? 



9. Have you had any experience in drill-sowing? If so, please state 

 the result ? 



10. What, in your opinion, is the average yield per acre in your 

 vicinity ? 



11. Has the crop been injured the past season by the louse that has 

 infested our fields ? 



We arc under obligation to the following gentlemen, who 

 returned our circulars with very full and suggestive answers, 

 viz. : John T. Z. Thompson, Halifax ; Samuel H. Bushnell, 

 Sheffield ; Horace Collamore, Pembroke ; J. S. Purple, Gill ; 

 Austin J. Roberts, Lakeville ; E. W. Gardner, Nantucket ; 

 James M. Knowles, Eastham ; S. F. Dudley, Shutesbury ; Elihu 

 Belding, Whately ; C. Parsons, Conway ; Henry Colt, Pittsfield ; 

 E. W. Stebbins, Deerfield ; Otis Gunn, Montague ; H. A. Fuller, 

 Springfield ; Henry W. Cushman, Bernardston ; James Howard, 

 West Bridgewater; Ira B. Maynard, Leverett, and Joseph 

 Kingman, West Bridgewater. The information thus obtained, 

 we have endeavored to embody in the report, and thus to 

 dispense it to the farmers of the State. 



