374 I Assembly 



Chairman. — Our regular subjects,— the Cow Disease, and Wheat 

 Sowing, — are now in order. 



Mr. Elliott, of New Jersey. — I wish to say, that we should pre- 

 cede the wheat sowing, by free conversation on the subject. The 

 general plan in Europe, and here, of plowing in tillage crops, is 

 strongly advocated. 1 have sown Indian corn broad-cast — let it 

 reach seven feet in height, and I have then plowed it all under, so 

 that none of it was seen above ground. This corn was sowed in 

 June and plowed under about the middle of August. I have a diffi- 

 culty in this plowing; it does not leave crevices sufficient to let in 

 the grain; the furrow is flat, and about twelve inches wide. 



Unless we sow wheat early, it is apt, for want of sufficient root, 

 to be frost-heaved in spring. My early planted wheat grows so 

 well, like a grass, that it in a good measure keeps off the frost. 



In England, I used a roller called a presser, which makes drills of 

 an inverted conical form; these receive the seed, and the presser 

 covers it about two inches deep. 



In Jersey, sow wheat no later than 1st to I5th September; — by 

 no means later on any poor land. On rich land, you may sow ten 

 days later. 



Mr. Meigs. — How do you prepare your wheat for sowing? 



Mr. Elliott. — By taking half a puncheon, filling it nearly with 

 brine that bears an egg; take a wicker busbel basket, put in the 

 seed wheat, then sink it gradually in the brine till full; stir the seed, 

 that all lighter matters may rise to the surface; take off all this, and 

 continue to stir the seed until no scum appears. The smut balls, &c. 

 &c., are all out; then take the basket, let it drain, then spread the 

 wheat and sift powdered slaked lime over it, enough to enroll every 

 grain; the beard of the wheat, which carries the smut, is destroyed 

 by the lime, so that now I have pure wheat. My father had a smutty 

 farm; he tried this plan, and for twenty-six years, he always had 

 pure wheat. I have tried it thirty-five years, with the same success. 

 Before my father tried it, the millers would not buy the wheat from 

 his farm. 



Mr. Meigs. — I wish to know what time you cut your wheat? 



