72 How THE FARM PAYS. 



which had spread or ' ' stooled, " and I am of the opinion that we 

 can raise more wheat in that way than by any other process; that is, 

 "by cultivation. The cultivation of wheat, in trials, clearly shows this, 

 and if I were making wheat my general crop, I would by all means 

 sow in drills seven to nine inches apart, and cultivate it; but grass 

 being my staple crop, I have no occasion to do so. 



Q. You say you sowed the wheat on the mangels about the 20th of 

 Sept. At what date, do you remember, were the mangels harvested? 



A. I think about the usual time, the middle of November, or per- 

 haps it might have been the end of November. Any time before 

 frost will serve for harvesting mangels, and we generally leave that 

 until the last work in the fields. 



Q. Was there no injury done to the wheat by the leaves of the 

 mangels shading it? 



A. I rather think it improved it, as the shade for the "braird" 

 seemed to be a protection until strong enough to take care of itself. 

 As the season advanced, as you are aware, the leaves of the mangels 

 withered, and shaded less, so that by the time they were ready to 

 take off, the young wheat plants were relieved of the shade, and in 

 pulling up the mangels just enough soil came up with them to make 

 a nice top dressing for the wheat. The tops of the mangels also were 

 spread as a mulch over the wheat. 



Q. How late have you ever sown your wheat in the fall in the 

 vicinity of New York? 



A. I sowed a piece of wheat the latter end of December of last year. 



Q. What advantage was there in sowing it at a date when there 

 could be no germination until spring ? 



A. My reason for sowing it at that season was that I was slack of 

 work and the ground was in good condition, and I wanted to top- 

 dress the piece of land that I sowed, as it was in the centre of a 

 twenty-two-acre lot seeded down with grass on both sides, and I 

 wished to make the whole field uniform. 



Q. What was the result of this late sowing ? 



A. It lay dormant until early spring, but when the weather opened, 

 it, of course, was ready for germination long before I could have pre- 

 pared the ground for spring wheat, and the result of the crop is that 

 to-day (12th July) it is nearly ready to cut, being only about ten days 

 later than that sown at the usual time. It is not what we would 

 call a good crop, nor yet a poor one, but, I think, will be a fair yield. 



Q. But if it had not been for the peculiar circumstances of the 

 case that you wished to get a uniform field of grass you would 

 not have sown the wheat at that late date, in preference to spring 

 sowing, would you ? 



