54 WHEAT CULTURE. 



FIFTH THE SEED. Careful selection of and brining 

 the seed in salt, and drying in lime or plaster. 



SIXTH HARROWING AND ROLLING. The land, just 

 before seeding with the drill, should be thoroughly har- 

 rowed and rolled, to crush all lumps and completely 

 powder the soil, so that the largest possible portion of it 

 will be available to nourish the young plants. Another ob- 

 ject is to make a soft, mellow seed-bed into which the drill 

 can drop the wheat, and have fine earth to fall back into 

 the drill furrows to cover the grain perfectly at even 

 depth, with no hard, coarse lumps to hinder or smother 

 the growth of the young wheat. 



SEVENTH HOEING OR CULTIVATING the growing wheat 

 in fall and spring, often enough to keep down weeds and 

 keep the soil mellow and moist, which will greatly in- 

 crease healthy growth, letting in air and sunshine more 

 freely, and will also facilitate the applying of remedies 

 for diseases, as well as the dislodging of insects when 

 they infest the crop. 



EIGHTH EARLY HARVESTING Much will be added to 

 quantity, quality, and safety of the crop by early harvest- 

 ing, while the wheat is in the soft, dough state, which 

 tends to prevent injury by rust, loss by shelling and bad 

 weather ; enables the work to be better done by not 

 crowding so much into a short space of time, and the 

 work is more pleasant, as the straw is softer and tougher ; 

 furthermore, as has been shown in previous pages, early 

 harvest makes heavier grain, while the same weight of 

 grain makes more and better flour. 



MORE KNOWLEDGE NEEDED. 



No matter how much a farmer may know or ave 

 learned by reading, or from experiments made by his 

 neighbors, he can be further enlightened and benefited 

 by making experiments himself on questionable points, or 



