THE WHEAT CTJLTTIRIST. 



185 



clover sod shallow for wheat, corroborates what I have 

 advocated in this book — that a shallow stratum of mould 

 should be prepared on the surface of the land to induce 

 the roots to spread horizontally as much as possible, for 

 the purpose of resisting the action of frost in heaving 

 out the young plants. The writer says : 



" A wheat soil must be compact. If it is not so natur 

 ally, mechanical means should be employed to compress 

 it. Treading light wheat land in the fall or early in the 

 spring with sheep, is frequently beneficial, and a good 

 heavy roller is decidedly advantageous. Crosskill's Clod 

 Crusher, compressing land, as it does, similarly to the 

 treading of sheep, is found very useful on sandy wheat 

 fields in England. "We are earnest advocates of deep 

 ploughing and thorough pulverization of the soil, but 

 these must not be carried to excess in wheat culture. It is 

 easy to make the light land too fine and loose for wheat. 

 Wlien wheat is sown on a clover sod after one ploughing, 

 it is not advisable to plough it too deep ; if the sod is all 

 covered and a good ' seed-bed ' obtained, that is enough. 

 Subsoil and plough deep for corn and root crops ; and, if 

 the ground be summer-fallowed, let it be subsoiled for 

 wheat also ; but if wheat is sown at one furrow on a 

 clover sod turned under immediately before seeding, we 

 should seldom go more than six inches deep. The best 

 large field of wheat we ever saw in England, was on a 

 calcareous loam that had been two years in red clover, 

 grazed with sheep, which, a considerable portion of the 

 time, were allowed a pound of oil-cake per day. It was 

 ploughed about thi-ee inclies deep, just before sowing, and 

 a bushel and a half of seed drilled in per acre, one foot 

 apart in the drills. The yield was fifty-five bushels per 

 acre." 



