Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 153 



sprtng wheat. 



Mr. H. G. Neal, Davenport, Iowa. — To one who has been engaged 

 in farming for some fifteen years on the prairies of Iowa, it seems 

 strange that men writing for the public eye should persist in spe- 

 cifying what month, or day of the month, spring wheat should be 

 sown, and the statement "that it should be frozen and thawed out 

 like any winter grain," is simply ridiculous. 



In the winter of 1855, I obtained some wheat of the variety 

 known as the Canada Club for seed, it being a comparatively new 

 thing in this country. In conversation with one who had been 

 largely engaged in raising spring wheat, he remarked, " remember 

 that two acres of wheat sowed in March are worth three sowed in 

 April." March proved to be very cold and snowy, the ground was 

 not thawed enough to commence harrowing till the 3d of April, 

 and then there was half an acre in one end of the field covered 

 with a snow-drift three feet deep. Sowed fifteen acres of Red river 

 wheat first, and from the 5th to the 10th sowed 29^ acres with 

 club, which was thrashed in November and marketed in December 

 and January, and weighed 882 bushels, or 30^ bushels per acre; 

 this was the third crop on the land. 



The spring of 1857 was more backward still. Commenced har- 

 rowing for wheat April 27, and finished May 9; breadth of land 

 sown, 73 acres (first crop), yield, 1,600 bushels, or a fraction over 

 22^ bushels per acre. All of these two crops made No. 1 wheat, 

 and be assured that, after the seeding was finished in the latter case, 

 there was no freezing of the ground until after it was harvested 

 and thrashed. Do not infer from this that I am an advocate of late 

 sowing. Far from it. There is a very simple rule for raising 

 spring wheat, which, if a man follow, he will have no cause to 

 regret; that is, in this latitude and longitude, have your land well 

 plowed in the fall, and as soon after the 10th of March as the frost 

 is out, and the land dry enough, so that the seed may be well cov- 

 ered. " In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold 

 not thy hand," and you can hardly fail of receiving a fair return 

 for your labor. 



CANNING FKUrr. 



Mrs. Martha S. L. Durfee, Covington, Wyoming county, N. Y. — 

 I will give the Club my way, which is less laborious. I pare the 

 peaches and put them in a stone jar, or porcelain kettle, a layer of 

 peaches and a sprinkle of sugar alternately, say from four to six 



