354: 



THE ILLINOIS FAKAIEE. 



Deo. 



and valuable fiber, must take its place on 

 the prairie farms. Corn shall not be fully de- 

 throned, but held in check by the flanking 

 cohorts of other valuable staples — a mixed 

 husbandry, a division of labor, distributing 

 it more evenly throughout the year, will be 

 the result of all this change. 



Spring Wheat. 



We have from time to time during the 

 past dozen years, endeavored to impress 

 upon our growers of spring wheat the ne- 

 'Cessity of early sowing. This year the crop 

 is light at the north part of the State and 

 in Wisconsin, in fact, throughout the whole 

 spring wheat region of the Northwest. Upon 

 inquiry, we find two reasons for it, or per- 

 haps three are alleged. The one that we 

 consider the most serious was the late sow- 

 ing. There is a general principle that no 

 seed should be put in the ground unless 

 the land is in good order, in most case? 

 we assent to this, for with most crops 

 the time of planting is sufficiently extended 

 to accomplish this, as in the case of corn, 

 we can plant in this latitude from the 25th 

 of April to the 10th of June, and in the 

 case of sod corn, ten days later; this gives 

 a range of nearly forty days, and during 

 this time the land will be in good order. 

 Potatoes have fully the same range. Oats 

 can be sown for a month, and we might go 

 on with other crops in the same way, but 

 when we come to spring wheat, we are 

 brought to a sudden stand. In the latitude 

 of 43 ® to 60 ° , the case is different ; the 

 season of growth is longer, and the ripening 

 does not take place until the last of August 

 or first of September, when the heated term 

 is over, and a good crop is more certain, 

 while with us the crop must be matured be- 

 fore the hot weather of summer sets in, or 

 the grain will suffer with I'ust. It is, there- 

 fore, absolutely necessary to success that it 

 be sown early, but in case of a wet spring 

 like the past, it is not possible to have the 

 land in good order in time to sow as early 



as desirable, and the question comes up, 

 shall we sow in the mud ? We answer with- 

 out any hesitation. 



sow IN THE MUD 



don't wait, if the season is late, sow as soon 

 as the frost gets out, two or three inches at 

 the surface, don't mind the mud, for the sub- 

 sequent freezing and thawing will pulverize 

 the surface and make it mellow and as fria- 

 ble as you could desire; so soon as thegrouud 

 is sufiiciently dry to roll, put on the roller 

 without delay. Should the weather come 

 off" wet, you may not be able to roll for some 

 time ; if the grain gets six inches high, do 

 not be alarmed, put on the roller, it gives it 

 a wonderful start. 



A few days since, we were on several 

 spring wheat farms, and found the yield from 

 ten to fourteen bushels to the acre, and in 

 one case twenty bushels. Upon asking the 

 reason for this extra yield over his neighbors, 

 his answer was, '■'■ This is mud wheat." 

 He had sown it in the mud, as the frost was 

 coming out, while his neighbors were three 

 weeks later, waiting for the land to get dry. 

 The result is six to eight bushels per acre 

 against them. Soon after the frost gets out 

 of the ground, the heavy spring rains set in, 

 which delays planting and sowing. In the 

 spring of 1860 these did not occur until af- 

 ter most of the sowing was done, hence the 

 crop was got in unusually early, and a large 

 was the consequence. If any person 

 will take the trouble to investigate the yield 

 of wheat among their neighbors they will 

 find early fall plowing and early sowing con- 

 nected with the best crops. 



Mr. S. W. Arnold, of Courtland, LeKalb 

 county, who is one of the most successful 

 growers of spring wheat, plows his land as 

 soon as the grain is taken off, not even wait- 

 ing until the whole crop is stacked. We 

 believe that spring wheat can be grown in 

 all parts of the State if properly put in. 



Experience is a dear school, but a valua- 

 ble one if we but improve the lessons. In 

 the first efforts at growing spring wheat on 



