336 
A NEW WHEAT FOR THE SOUTH. 
also, in the management of farmyard manure — 
its fermentation, namely, by which is meant the 
production of such a decomposition as converts 
the nitrogen present into ammonia. The impor- 
tance of this decomposition depends upon the 
fact, that, by this means, we obtain a manure 
which acts with greater rapidity than one in 
which this decomposition has not been effected. 
The fact is, that the formation of ammonia, 
takes place much more slowly, when it has been 
incorporated with the soil, than when it is 
heaped up in the dung heap ; and as the nitro- 
gen must pass into the state of ammonia before 
it is absorbed by the plant, we require to effect 
as much of that change as possible, if we are 
to have a manure of rapid action. 
. »-©-. 
A NEW WHEAT FOR THE SOUTH. 
Inclosed, I send you a small sample of 
wheat of the present year's crop. It resembles 
the white-flint, but is not so called in this neigh- 
borhood. The heads are rather short, but well 
filled, containing from thirty to forty or more 
grains. The awns, or beards, are from half an 
inch to an inch in length, very stiff. 
The crop, of which this is a sample, weighed 
68 pounds to the bushel. The flour is equal to 
any of the Genesee brands we get in this coun- 
try. This wheat, in this latitude, (33° 40',) if 
sown the last week in November, or first in De- 
cember, will mature by the last week in May. 
My last crop, I commenced sowing on the 27th 
of November, but on account of wet weather, I 
did not finish until the 7th of December. I sowed 
8-J- bushels, but did not measure the land, as I 
intended to sow one bushel to the acre. The 
land was in corn and peas. I gathered the 
corn, cut down the stalks, and chopped them up 
with hoes ; then sowed the wheat and turned all 
in together, having gathered the thickest of the 
peas, but let no stock on to eat the vines, as is 
usual in this section of the country. The 
wheat was sown in a very slovenly manner, by 
which I lost much, and was badly threshed for 
want of a proper machine ; but I finally meas- 
ured 85 bushels, weighing as before stated, 68 
pounds per bushel. 
The land upon which the wheat grew was 
what is called " mulatto land," being of a red- 
ish-brown color, with a red clayey subsoil, and 
had been planted with corn and cotton some 
twelve years, without any manure, except a 
handful of cotton seed to the hill, which I put 
on the corn last year, on a small part of the 
poorest of the field. The wheat was harvested 
on the 28th of May, but was not " dead" ripe. 
I am satisfied that I lost 15 bushels in the hai'- 
vesting and threshing. 
I think this the best wheat for this latitude ; 
for it may be sown so late as to escape the fly, 
and still ripens early enough to be free from 
rust. It has a thin-skinned grain, and is quite 
liable to the ravages of the weevil after it is 
cleaned. 
The universal opinion in this part of the 
country, founded on experience, is in favor of 
thin sowing of wheat, one bushel to the acre 
being the usual quantity. As it grows all win- 
ter, it is perhaps more disposed to tiller than at 
the north ; or perhaps, there is some deficiency 
in our soil ; for, when it grows thick, if the soil 
has sufficient strength to make good heads, the 
straw fails to hold them up and the wheat falls 
to the ground. P. Davidson. 
Raytown Oak Knoll, Ga., Sept. 14th, 1850. 
With the foregoing, we received a sample of 
a medium-sized but exceedingly plump, white 
wheat. Surely, if our Georgia friends can raise 
such wheat as this, there is no need for them to 
send to the north for flour. We think an ap- 
plication of ashes or potash, in some form, to 
dissolve the silica in the soil, and thus yield 
silicate of potash, would supply the requisite 
strength to the stem to enable it to support it- 
self with a full head. 
GARDEN AND FIRE ENGINES. 
These are made of two kinds, the single or 
forcing, and the double or suction and force. The 
first requires to have the water delivered in the 
box, and the other will draw water from any 
depth not exceeding 30 feet, and force it equally 
as well as the first. They are easily worked by 
two persons, and will throw the water some 60 
feet in height. Being placed on wheels, they 
can be moved wherever desired. Engines some- 
what resembling that denoted by fig. 81, have 
been in use for some years, but the present ones 
combine some advantages and improvements 
over any heretofore in use. « 
Garden and Fire Engine. — Fig. 81. 
ERRORS IN COMPOSTING FARM MANURES. 
The farmer's manure heap is usually the re- 
ceptacle for evei-y substance that has served its 
original purpose; but it is a mistaken idea that 
everything thrown in there will serve a useful 
purpose. We may, however, just say here, that 
this error has considerably influenced farm 
practice. Belief in the alchymy, rather than 
the chemistry of the farmyard, has led some 
persons to cart soil into the manure yard, and 
to carry it back again with the dung to the very 
field from which it was taken; adding materi 
ally to the bulk and expense of the manuring 
They presumed that they added to its value 
but the effect of the earth upon the farmyan 
manure would be merely to retard decomposi 
tion, and thus might be a loss or a gain, accorj 
ing to the circumstances of the soil and th 
crop. 
