THE ILIL.IJN'OIS F^HMiER. 



45 



still better to subsoil below this, to in- 

 sure against excess of rain or drouth, as 

 it has been demonstrated that under- 

 draining is of great value for this crop, 

 but as few of our farmers have subsoil 

 plows, we would recommend in this case 

 trench plowing to insure the breaking 

 up of the soil eight to ten inches deep at 

 least. After plowing, the land should 

 lay until the time of planting in April. 

 We prefer to cut our potatoes for seed, 

 leaving one to two eyes on a piece ; in 

 this way eight to ten bushels of seed will 

 plant an acre. From our experience and 

 observation, we can see no difference 

 between small and large potatoes for 

 seed, but if we should make any distinc- 

 tion, it would be to throw out the seed 

 end and use the eyes on the other part 

 of the potatoes. When ready to plant, 

 we take a light, free scouring plow, cut- 

 ting twelve to fourteen inches, and strike 

 our potato field into lands, running the 

 plow shallow as possible, say not over 

 three inches deep. We have the seed 

 deposited at convenient distances, ready 

 cut for planting, and with one boy or 

 man to drive the team, and one to drop 

 the seed, we commence by dropping in 

 the furrow single pieces a foot to fifteen 

 inches apart. One row around the first 

 land is thus dropped, and the dropper 

 then proceeds to drop around the next 

 land in the same way. In the meantime 

 the plowman will have passed around 

 three times, covering the seed with the 

 first furrow, and leaving two others. 

 The dropper now comes back to ttie first 

 land, and the team goes to the second, 

 and thus alternately. In this way an 

 acre and a half to two acres can be plan- 

 ted in a day, with two hands and one 

 team. At the same time if the plowman 

 attends to his duty and makes straight 

 furrows, the potato rows will also be 

 straight and workmanlike. Thus the 

 hoe is dispensed with, and the covering 

 the seed which is the most distasteful 

 and laborious part of the process is dis- 

 pensed with. But we must caution the 

 plowman not to plow too deep, for two 

 reasons. First, the seeds of weeds that 

 have been buried by the first plowing 

 should not be disturbed, and secondly, 

 the seed must not be covered too deep, 

 for if the planting is followed by cold 

 rains the seed may rot in the ground. 

 So soon as the young plants begin to show 

 themselves here and there about the field. 



it will also be observed that the weeds 

 are presenting their appearance. At 

 this time we now go on with a two horse 

 harrow and harrow the entire surface in 

 the most thorough manner. This will 

 not disturb the seed, but will destroy the 

 entire crop of weeds then presenting 

 themselves, it will put the ground in fine 

 tilth, and in a few days the young plants 

 will be up and present a most promising 

 aspect. They are then to have weekly 

 workings with the cultivator (we think 

 Young's cultivator will prove invaluable 

 for this purpose,) until the plants are 

 six inches high ; we then use the shovel 

 plow to hill them up slightly, for the 

 purpose of smothering out the weeds that 

 at this time begin to show themselves in 

 the rows. The weekly workings are 

 continued with the cultivator, until at the 

 time of blossoming, when we hill them 

 up with the shovel plow. After this we 

 give them three or four workings 

 with the cultivator to keep down the 

 weeds between the rows, but do not dis- 

 turb the hilis. Should any weeds grow 

 on the hills after this time, we go through 

 and cut them off with a sharp hoe, and 

 when ready to dig the ground is clean, 

 the hills are small, and a potato hook or 

 fork will take them out rapidly, if oper- 

 ated by an active man. 



From the Chicago Press and Tribune. 



Tii6 Farm and Garden. 



West Urlana^ Feb. 14, 1860. 

 A CHAPTER O^S" SPRING WHEAT. 



The cultixation of spring wheat has 

 now become one of the great leading 

 features of agriculture in the northwest 

 and extending as far south as the line of 

 the Great W estern Railroad of Illinois. 

 To a great extent, the culture of winter 

 wheat has been abandoned in the same 

 territory as unprofitable. This grain 

 delights in a heavy clay, or clay loam, 

 but will not thrive on sandy or dark 

 loamy soils, especially if the latter prove 

 rather moist. In the early settlement of 

 the country, this crop was looked upon 

 as very uncertain, and as a whole, un- 

 profitable; but further experience has de- 

 monstrated that the fault lay mainly in 

 ignorance of the proper preparation of 

 the soil and the time of sowing. 



OF PLOWING AND THE SOIL. 



This must be done in the autumn, for 

 it is useless to sow on spring plowed 

 land, as the chances are two to one 

 against success. Plow deep, at least 

 eight inches, and if the land is not very 

 rolling, throw it into narrow lands, say 



twenty feet wide, with a deep, dead fur- 

 row to carry off the water, as it is abso- 

 lutely necessary that the surface water 

 is quickly carried off, as a few hours by 

 standing it will seriously injure the 

 young plants. If these dead furrows 

 are not sufficiently deep already, they 

 should have the plow passed once or 

 twice along them, after the harrowing is 

 completed. The outside coating of the 

 straw is composed of sand and potash 

 combined, or what chemists denominate 

 silicate of potash, or liquid glass; this 

 is common to all the cereals and grasses. 

 In our clay loams there is about seventy- 

 five per cent, of sand or silex, and less 

 than one per cent, of potash. Had not 

 nature made a wise provision for the 

 preservation of this substance, so im- 

 portant to ][the wheat crop, this small 

 supply would soon become exhausted and 

 wheat growing would ^prove a perfect 

 failure. Potash must be exposed to air 

 and moisture in order to disintegrate or 

 dissolve its particles, that it may in turn 

 form a new combination with the silex 

 to supply the outside coating of the 

 straw, in order to give it the desired 

 strength to stand up. This disintegra- 

 tion of potash is a slow process even in 

 summer, and hence the value of summer 

 fallow for winter wheat. When land is 

 plowed in the spring, the potash which 

 has become dissolved during the winter's 

 exposure being buried by the plow be- 

 yond the reach of atmospheric influence 

 to any extent, soon becomes fixed and 

 requires re-exposure to again dissolve it. 

 Thus to all practical intents the spring 

 plowed land is deprived of its potash 

 to that extent and the crop supply is 

 deficient. Oats requiring less of pot- 

 ash, will produce a fair crop, yet not as 

 good as on fall plowed land. Corn also 

 requires an abundant supply to coat its 

 immense stalks, but for the continued 

 summer fallow consequent on its culture, 

 would also languish. The harrowing of 

 winter wheat in spring, or of spring 

 wheat when a few inches high, after 

 heavy rains have beaten down the soil 

 and encrusted the surface, is of great 

 value in areating the soil, in order to 

 increase the supply of potash, as well 

 as to retain that already disintegrated, 

 which, otherwise, from cutting off the 

 supply of air by this thin clay incrusta- 

 tion, would soon be beyond the power of 

 the young rootlets to absorb it. Every 

 intelligent farmer will thus see that 

 autumn plowing is in accordance with 

 nature, assisting her processes in the 

 preparation of the soil. The winter 

 frost acts on the upturned furrow, and 

 crumbles down and disintegrates its ele- 

 ments of fertility; and to farm success- 

 fully we must study and observe the 

 natural laws or our labor is thrown 

 away. 



We have thus explained the main rea- 



