86 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [March, 



being killed by the frost has very much discouraged the culti- 

 vation of winter wheat. The returns, however, specify seve- 

 ral abundant crops of winter wheat, and in some towns they 

 have prevailed. I have no doubt that, were the cultivation of 

 winter wheat, among us, as careful as it should be, it would be 

 as safe as any crop that we raise. It would be sometimes advi- 

 sable, where winter wheat has been killed in patches upon the 

 field, to harrow the whole field in the spring and sow spring 

 wheat ill the vacancies. It is plain, however, that from such a 

 crop as this it would not be expedient to obtain the seed of a 

 succeeding crop. 



Depth of Sowing. — With respect to the depth of sowing, 

 several things are to be considered. The seed requires air, 

 moisture, heat, and the exclusion of light, in order to its germi- 

 nation. The wheat plant has two roots, the first what are 

 called the seminal roots, which are thrown out from one end 

 of the seed ; and there is provided in the seed the nourishment 

 for the throwing out of these roots and the support of the stalk 

 until it approaches the surface ; when it throws out another set 

 of roots, denominated the coronal roots, which extend them- 

 selves laterally in search of the nourishment in the soil. If the 

 seed be planted too deeply, it sutlers for want of air and mois- 

 ture, and the nourishment or milk in the seed becomes exhaust- 

 ed in bringing the shoot to the surface, and it comes up in a 

 weakly state. If it is planted too shallow, the coronal roots 

 are thrown out on top or above the ground, and often perish 

 from drought or frost ; besides, in such case the seminal roots 

 being too near the surface, they also sufter from exposure to 

 atmospherical influences, and the plant is imperfectly fixed in 

 the ground. The precise depth cannot be fixed, but these 

 things are to be taken into consideration. If it be winter 

 wheat, it should be sown more deeply than in the spring, as in 

 such case the plant is less likely to be thrown out by the frosts. 



It is true, that at any depth at which wheat is likely to be 

 sown, when frozen the roots would he v,s likely to be broken 

 in the one case as in anotlier ; but if broken when sown deeply, 

 they would be less exposed to the external frost than if planted 



