(t.s (I means of Increasing tk« Crop. 
-611 
phmtcd upon this system are those which, while sufiicicnt lor 
their full development, leave no unnecessary room,* Wh(;n the 
pcdio^roe wheat is used these conditions are, upon my land, best 
fulfilled by planting the grains singly, 9 inches apart every way, 
very early in September. This is equal to one bushel on about six 
acres, and if planted later the distance apart should be propor- 
tionally diminished ; so soon, however, as this reduction of the 
space afforded each grain interferes with its horizontal growth, the 
contents of the ears will also be affected ; but even when planted 
at the smallest distance of which I shall presently speak, this 
takes place in a slight degree compared with their reduced size 
under ordinary cultivation. 
It should, nevertheless, be borne in mind, that it is only when 
we fulfil all the conditions lest adapted for success that we can 
expect the fullest j)0ssible advantages of the system. What these 
may amount to will be shown by the following fact: — The 
Pedigree Nursery wheat planted singly, September *J, 1859, in 
lioles 9 inches apart every way, produced in 1860, notwithstand- 
ing the very disasti'ous character of the season, Ij bushels on 
698 square feet of unmanured land, or 108 bushels per acre ! 
Thus, then, there does exist a possibility of greatly increasing 
the wheat crop ; but even the above results will not surprise 
those who realize the fact, that while a crop of 40 bushels per 
acre is equal to only 500 grains upon a square foot, a single grain 
of pedigree wheat will frequently produce upon the same area 
four or five times that number, and in some instances even far 
more than that. 
We now come to the question — Can this system he adapted to 
field culture, and may similar results be expected from it when 
carried out upon a large scale ? 
To this a reply in the affirmative may unhesitatingly be 
given. It so happened that until the harvest of 1860 I had not 
sufficient of the pedigree wheat to test the system under field 
culture, and that the summer and autumn of that year proved so 
wet that I was altogether unable to fulfil the conditions best 
adapted for ensuring its success. The results obtained, notwith- 
standing these unfavourable ciixumstances, were, considering that 
the harvest of 1861 was not a yielding one, such as fully to 
demonstrate upon a large scale the value of pedigree in wheat, 
both when accompanied with but little of the advantage to be 
^ I have now before me a plant from a single grain from a field planted Sept. 10, 
1S61. This plant has upon it upwards of 40 stems, and measures 20 inches from the 
extremities of the leaves of opposite stems. The roots also extended 2 feet hori- 
zoutally, but the parent grain occupied only a square foot, as the extremities of 
the roots of adjoining plants feed upou the same ground, and those of the stems 
interlace upou the surface. 
