THE WHEAT CROP. 45 



the land should be sufficiently dry to carry the sheep, of 

 which a large number should be folded on it at once, so 

 as to get over the surface rapidly. The wheat should be 

 eaten down close to the crown of the root, and not merely 

 its leaves only; and then when the sheep are taken off 

 and vegetation is again unchecked, stems are sent up from 

 each knot of roots formed by the "tillering" process of 

 the plant, and being now of equal growth, present at the 

 time of harvest an equal plant all over the field, with 

 none or few of those short straws with small heads (tillers), 

 which not only ripen irregularly, but lessen the produce 

 returns of wheat grown under the ordinary conditions. 



There can be no doubt that, cceteris paribus, autumn- 

 sown wheat is more productive than spring-sown, it being 

 the growth of say ten months (October to August), against 

 six months (February to August). The roots have an 

 opportunity of developing themselves, and penetrating 

 deeper into the soil, by which they are placed in far more 

 favourable conditions as regards mineral food, moisture, 

 and temperature, than when they are forced to remain 

 nearer the surface. To compensate for these advantage- 

 ous natural conditions, spring-sown wheat requires a soil 

 richer in available food, so that it may feed quicker ; that 

 it may, indeed, be able, in six months, from a limited 

 depth of soil, to abstract as much food as the autumn- 

 sown, obtained from an increased depth of soil in ten 

 months. If this is not provided by the farmer in the 

 superior condition of his land, his returns will not be so 

 productive from his spring as from his autumn wheats; 

 while he must always bear in mind, that the former are 

 more liable to be influenced by climatal effects rain or 

 drought than the latter. 



The vast increase of turnip cultivation during the last 

 twenty years has greatly affected the period of wheat 

 sowing throughout the country. The practice of spring 



