148 



AGRICULTURE 



surface" to favor germination and early growth. To secure this 

 firm seed bed, the land should be plowed deep several weeks 

 before seed tifne. To secure the fine surface, it should be harrowed 

 repeatedly, so as to pulverize the two or three inches of top soil. 

 The last working should be with the smoothing harrow, followed 

 by the roller just before seeding the grain. 



Seed can be sowed much more economically and evenly by the drill 

 than by hand, and it is covered uniformly to the desired depth. 

 Good seed on fertile, well-prepared land is apt to yield a bountiful 

 harvest. Failure to produce good crops is usually due to poor, 

 ill-prepared land and late plowing. 



A field of ripening wheat, with its golden waves rippling in the 

 breezes under the summer sunshine, is a beautiful sight. How the 

 heart of the farmer is gladdened by a bountiful harvest as the re- 

 ward of his labor ! The ripe grain is cut and bound into bundles, 

 called ' sheaves.' Formerly this had to be done by hand, but 

 there are now labor-saving machines for the purpose. The sheaves 

 are usually placed together in ' shocks Mo dry. When dry, the 

 wheat is threshed to separate the grain from the chaff and straw ; 

 the grain is sent to the mill to be ground into flour ; the straw is 



used for bedding or forage for 

 stock. 



Fertilizers. Wheat needs 

 to have the surface soil well 

 supplied with plant food. It 

 has no power to collect nitro- 

 gen for itself, and but small 

 power to collect potash and 

 phosphoric acid. Therefore 

 when these three elements are lacking in the soil, they must be 

 supplied by well-rotted stable manure and by commercial ferti- 



GRAIN 



STRAW 



This diagram shows the amount of fertility re- 

 moved from an acre of soil by a crop of wheat 

 yielding twenty bushels of grain and 2000 Ibs. 

 of straw. 



