No. 216 1 167 



ner: About two bushels of wheat or more was first taken and put 

 into an empty hogshead, with one head out, and clean water from the 

 well was pumped into it. The wheat was subject to frequent chan- 

 ges of the water, and the whole kept continually stirring during the 

 operation. This brought all the oats, cockle,* and the light diseased 

 kernels of wheat to the surface of the water. They were carefully 

 skimmed off and put into a pail for provender. The first running of 

 the water when drawn off, was dark and apparently colored by much 

 of the wheat being more or less diseased by the smut. Then about 

 eight quarts of clean slaked lime was mixed with the wheat. The 

 process of washing and rinsing was continued until the water ran off 

 free from all impurities. The whole with the lime stirred into it was 

 left in the hogshead over night, which produced the effect to moisten 

 and swell out the kernels of wheat full and almost ready to burst 

 open. In this state of things the wheat was too damp to handle, 

 and common wood ashes, made of oak, hickory or maple, being the 

 fuel used by the family, was mixed and stirred into the wheat until 

 it became dry enough to handle. The wheat thus mixed with ashes 

 and lime was immediately sowed and harrowed in. 



The quantity of wheat thus sown would equal about six bushels to 

 the acre. The field of wheat when it came up, looked well; it was 

 of a dark green color. Neither the worm, fly, nor the weavil at- 

 tacked it. The time of sowing was in the latter part of April or 

 the first of May, The seed procured for sowing had been strongly 

 tainted with smut. Yet the new crop showed that the smut had been 

 completely eradicated from it, and the berry of the wheat had much 

 improved in size and whiteness of color. 



The health and vigor of the straw was such that the wheat did not 

 lodge in the field, though the growth was remarkably stout, nor did 

 the mildew attack it, and the yield was the greatest I had ever known 

 or heard of before. 



This field was cropped the following year \rith Indian corn, and 

 the yield was large and bountiful. 



The second field of wheat contained about one acre. It was sown 

 at the same time of the first and with the same seed, but without ma- 

 nuring. This field was also a granite and mica slate soil, and had 

 the year before been planted with a crop of Indian corn and manur- 

 ed with the manure from a hog pen, put into the hills at the time 

 of the planting. The crop of wheat was good. When the field was 



• Lolium Zizania.-A. kind of Poppy. 



