ON THE CULTURE OF THE CEREALS. 
281 
ference is manifested in the soundness of the grain of the early planted, the filling of the ear, 
and its weight. As great a measure in the cob may, perhaps, be obtained in the late planted 
as the early; and if the season is sufficiently prolonged, as it often is, then the late planted 
may be equally good with the early, but this is fortunate. The object with the farmer is to 
secure himself against contingencies, if possible—against droughts and frosts, which, though 
he can not control, he can not ward off, yet may be prepared for them, which, with him, may 
be just as well as though he could really control them : he, as it were, commands nature by 
obeying her laws. 
Culture of Wheat. 
There seems to have been a greater diversity of opinion in wheat husbandry than in that of 
Indian corn. The preparation of the soil, of the seed, and of the period of sowing, each find 
diversities of management, with different experienced wheat growers of New-York. But there 
are a few important points upon which farmers agree. Taking all the testimony in regard to 
the preparation of the soil, it stands as follows : 1. The furrows should be run deep, not less 
than ten inches, and many are in favor of using still the subsoil plough. 2. The crop should 
be manured indirectly, that is by clover fertilized by plaster, and what yard manure can be ob¬ 
tained ; the seed to be well washed with brine, and dried with plaster or ashes, in which it is 
^rolled. 3. The quantity of seed not to be less than one and a half bushels to the acre, and not 
to exceed two, unless it was threshed in the machine, when allowance has to be made for in¬ 
jured kernels. 4. The seed to be drilled in : the experience both south and north confirm the 
expediency of drill culture, both in the saving of seed and the danger from frosts, and the 
value of the crop. The foregoing are points which have been well agreed upon by New-York 
farmers. The rotation of crops preparatory for wheat I find a diversity of opinion. Barley 
and Indian corn have sometimes preceded wheat; but this is a violation of a good rule ; clover 
or peas are far better according to the testimony of good farmers, and it stands to experience, 
from the composition of the respective crops. Clover, however, is preferred by a majority. 
The pea root is less suited to the wants of the succeeding crop, though, so far as exhaustion is 
concerned, it is unexceptionable. A good crop of peas, intermixed with a few oats, gives a 
profitable crop for feeding swine and horses; but a full crop of oats would exhaust a soil, it 
seems, too much, and hence violates a good rule in husbandry : yet if the farmer can command 
fertilizers, I can see no objection, for his reward exists in two crops instead of one. 
The natural soil which is adapted to wheat is a clay loam, or a stiffish clay, and it is re¬ 
markable that good crops are raised upon a sandy loam. It is not, therefore, a crop whose 
culture is confined to a single kind of soil : the argillaceous soils stand the culture for years, 
while the other requires more labor and more manure. In some of the best wheat soils of Mid¬ 
dle and Western New-York, nature has provided a reserved soil which comes into use in the 
progress of cultivation. Indeed a portion, and a large portion too, of this district has improved 
in its ability to bear wheat, since the first settlement of the country. 
The difficulties of raising wheat, however, do not lie with the soil; insects are the great 
[Agricultural Report — Vol. hi.] 36 
