Management of Wheat. 



67 



reduced by burning, tillage, and the mechanical application of 

 suitable earthy matter, wheat can be grown of good quality. Of 

 course these remarks on fresh broken-up land are general, though 

 not applicable to every case. 



It is an acknowledged fact, applicable to every description of 

 soil, that the land prepared for wheat cannot be too stale or solid, 

 provided it be free from weeds, and the surface sufficiently mouldy 

 to cover the seed. 



2. The application of Dung or Artifcial Manures. 



If a sufficiency of farm-yard manure could be obtained there 

 would be little necessity for any other, inasmuch as it contains all 

 the ingredients requisite for producing every kind of crop. But 

 let it be understood that the dung should be composed of the 

 excrements of animals well fed under cover. 



It has been before observed, that when dung is to be applied 

 in liberal quantities for the benefit of wheat, it should, if practi- 

 cable, be put on the land previous to sowing a preceding root or 

 pulse crop ; for thus those ingredients of the dung, which only 

 tend in their first effect upon the land to force an over-abundant 

 growth of straw, w^ill have been extracted, leaving the land in a 

 good state for wheat. Where root or pulse crops are not grown 

 the dung should be applied to naked fallows for wheat as early 

 in the summer as possible. 



Though the practice of manuring immediately before sowing 

 the wheat is objectionable, it is still adhered to in many parts of 

 the country. 



A compost of earth and dung is highly beneficial on light 

 chalky and silicious soils. 



Four or five loads per acre of farm-yard manure and half a 

 folding with sheep are a good manure for w^heat, and frequently 

 adopted by the farmers of the midland counties. 



A very large proportion of land is manured for wheat by means 

 of the sheep-fold alone, especially upon dry soils, where great 

 benefit is derived by its solidifying the ground ; it has also a 

 tendency to kill the slugs and other destructive insects, or at least 

 to put a stop to their ravages. Folding upon fallows is likewise 

 adopted with advantage ; upon loose light soils, folding after the 

 wheat is sown is of advantage. 



Some farmers adopt the plan of ploughing green crops in ; but 

 others consider it a better plan to convert all green crops into 

 animal manures, by feeding off with sheep or by soiling. 



Pigeons' and hen-house dung are frequently used as a top- 

 dressing for wheat, and are almost sure to be beneficial on any 

 soil. From 30 to 40 bushels are used per acre. Like all other 



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