1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



277 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHEAT CROP. 



The excellent article and commendable spirit 

 of your correspondent "E. C. P.," on the subject 

 of wheat-growing, cannot fail in part to enlist the 

 cordial approval of the farmer. In regard to the 

 crop of rye, it should be the last crop he should 

 cultivate, or merely enough for family brown 

 bread. The same soil and labor will give more 

 bushels of winter wheat than rye — then why not 

 sow wheat? But your correspondent says — "I 

 know the wheat crop fails three times where corn 

 fails once," that it is "an uncertain crop." In 

 answer to this I beg to say, while the corn crop is 

 almost a sure one, barley and oats often mildew, 

 and the same danger attends the maturing of 

 spring wheat, yet the chances are about equal. 

 Warm land, early sowing and plenty of horse 

 manure plowed in, will almost insure a crop. In 

 regard to winter wheat and the mischances of 

 winter killing, this should be considered as no 

 discouragement ; it can be avoided by getting 

 into the ground early, to the depth of two or three 

 inches — well rooted and a good fall growth will 

 insure a crop five years out of six, without win- 

 ter-kill, in your region. 



In regard to phosphates and the crops of the 

 West and Western New York, if they would ap- 

 ply barn-yard manure on soils that are capable 

 of being exhausted and are exhausted, the phos- 

 phates would be returned to the soil, lime, of 

 course, being a component part. Yet slaked 

 lime or ashes are excellent fertilizers to harrow in, 

 or sow after the grain is up. 



The farmer, by practicing with deep plowing 

 and manuring liberally (as above suggested) will 

 have little occasion to employ artificial phos- 

 phates and guano, and deplore the loss of the 

 wheat- growing properties of the soil. This is one 

 of the long-standing popular errors of the day, 

 — now pretty nearly exploded. Wheat v;ill grow, 

 (as I know by six years practical experience in 

 good old Essex) on every farm in New England 

 that will produce rye, barley or oats. At one 

 dollar a bushel it pays equal to either of the ce- 

 real crops. 



I should not advise the farmer to experiment 

 on a small scale. Evidence of great success all 

 around you, has opened the conviction that by 

 adopting the large scale the New England States 

 •will raise their own flour in five to ten years. 

 This we have a right to infer from the progress 

 of the past two years. 



I always look over these wheat communications 

 ■with deep interest, as I trust I comprehend this 

 important, much and long-neglected branch of 

 farming in the old States. With few deductions 

 (in my humble judgment, to which I have taken 

 the liberty to refer) the communication of "E. 

 C. P." is profitable reading for the farmer. Mak- 

 ing my best bow, Mr. Editor, I wish you many 

 more such. H. Poor. 



Brooklyn, L. I., April 23, 1861. 



Fruit Trees pruned at this season bleed pro- 

 fusely. We recommend the trial of hydraulic ce- 

 ment and "boiled" plaster, mixed dry and rubbed 

 into the pores of the bleeding limbs. We have 

 been applied to for a remedy in a case where shel- 



lac dissolved in alcohol would not answer, and 

 throw out this hint, having tested it successfully 

 to all appearance, though whether the bleeding 

 was so strong in the case we tried that shellac 

 would not stop it, we cannot tell. The idea is 

 that it will set in the pores and prevent the pas- 

 sage of the sap. The loss of sap does no injury 

 to the tree, but it scalds and kills the bark, mak- 

 ing a bad wound. — The Homestead. 



For the New Ensland Farmer. 



EIGHTH ANNUAL KBPORT OF THE 

 SECRETARY. 



This handsome volume of more than 500 pages 

 has just come to hand. The first 250 are from 

 the pen of the accomplished Secretary, and need 

 no encomium. They have the usual fullness and 

 completeness of his discussions. Everything but 

 the cattle disease, I like ; for this I have no fancy, 

 because I think we know little or nothing about 

 it, and that the honorable commissioners know 

 about the same as the rest of the people. From 

 the beginning I have thought the money expend- 

 ed on this topic was nearly wasted. Next come 

 about 60 pages of reports from the several dele- 

 gates to the County Societies ; there should be 

 twice as many, because this affords the only 

 means we have of judging of the ability of these 

 gentlemen, who should be the representatives of 

 the genuine yeomanry of the State, and who 

 have the very best opportunity of understanding 

 what they do, and what they omit that ought to 

 be done. Then come 50 pages of selections from 

 addresses, some of which are very good. Then 

 come about 100 pages from the farmers them- 

 selves ; in which I am pleased to find, as hereto- 

 fore, the old counties of Essex and Norfolk fully 

 represented. Why is there not more, from the 

 valley of the Connecticut, and the region West ? 

 Are the cultivators there so busily engaged that 

 they cannot stop to tell what they have done ; 

 or are they ashamed to speak of the crops they 

 grow, especially their tobacco ? I wish they 

 were, and to use it also, for next to intoxicating 

 liquor, I believe it stupefies and destroys more 

 than any one cause. "O, that men should be 

 such fools as to put enemies in their mouths 

 to steal away their brains !" p. 



April 10, 1861. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SULPHUR A PREVENTIVE OP WORMS 

 IN ONIONS. 



Mr. Editor : — Dear Sir,— On the 13th of 

 April, 1860, I sowed my onion patch, and here- 

 with give you the result of my experiment. The 

 soil, a dark loam, was all manured alike with 

 compost manure. On one half of the land, I 

 sowed the seed as usual, using a drill barrow ; 

 on the other half of the ground, with the seed, I 

 mixed flour of sulphur, one-half pound to one 

 pound of seed, and for the reason that sulphur is 

 so much heavier than onion seed not over a half 

 pint of seed and sulphur should be put into the 

 hopper or seed-box at a time. In this way the 

 seed and sulphur will be sown uniformly together. 

 My onions came up and looked equally well in 

 both cases, until the first week in June, when, af- 

 ter a warm rain, those without sulphur began to 



