68 WHEAT CULTURE. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

 TO PREVENT WINTER-KILLING. 



The most effective and beneficial mode of preventing 

 wheat from being injured by the freezing and heaving 

 of the soil is liberal mulching, top-dressing with fine 

 manure or compost from the barn-yard, or slaked peat 

 from the muck pile ; to be evenly spread over the fall- 

 sowed wheat field in autumn, when the ground is suf- 

 ficiently frozen to bear the wagon wheels. Spread just 

 thick enough to have the ground lightly covered, so that 

 when the soil freezes, cracks and heaves, the wheat roots 

 will be covered, protected and not torn out, but the 

 mulch or compost will fall into the cracks and cover the 

 roots, sheltering them from the effects of weather. We 

 have several times seen fields which were liable to this 

 freezing and heaving, with wheat drilled in, portions of 

 which were top-dressed in autumn, as above directed, 

 and on which a full crop of good, plump grain was 

 secured, while on the portion of the fields not mulched, 

 in every instance the crop of wheat was a total failure, 

 not showing straw or grain enough to be worth harvest- 

 ing. In fact, the grain obtained from the portion of the 

 field which was top-dressed much more than paid the 

 cost of the operation ; besides the incidental benefits of 

 this light mulching, as a surface manure, a protection to 

 the soil from scorching sun rays of summer, and shelter- 

 ing the young grass when the grain is cut off. In fact, 

 liberal, frequent, careful top-dressing the fall-sown 

 grains as well as meadows, is one of the most profitable 

 and reasonable methods for preserving fertility of soils 

 and protecting winter grains and grasses that farmers 

 can practise, and will be found always profitable. 



