■itlir 
WHEAT CULTURE. 
The question bow to grow wheat success¬ 
fully is one of great importance to us, and to 
the “ coming farmer.” If the farmer wishes 
to drive his son to the overcrowded cities to 
seek an occupation, let him continue to rob 
the soil of its productive elements, and with 
his decreasing profits neglect to beautify the 
(arm and its surroundings, — neglect to im¬ 
prove his stock, and to procure all the best 
labor-saving implements for the farm, — the 
son will be quite likely to fly from the for¬ 
bidding prospect that Is before him. But , on 
the other hand, let progress be stamped upon 
all that pertains to the farm, and it will in¬ 
fuse new life into all. Fanning, to be per¬ 
manently successful, must be founded on the 
principle of returning to the soil the cle- 
mcrU3 distracted in the growing crop. 
Bccau.' r Held has been sown to wheat five, 
ten, or fifteen years, and produced paying 
yields of wheat, some argue that such land 
in inexhaustible, There arc lands in this 
Spite that have pro 1 iced eighteen crops of 
wheat, i 1 3Ueces.;lo i. a; 1 then their produc¬ 
tiveness sudlenly ♦ai! , ‘d i and they have not 
prod iced niu. e than a L: if crop of wheat for 
the Iasi ih.. 2 /ears. 
JV'-nlhiii of Crop*. 
Iu stockin'togr" i I use one-fourth of a 
bushel of seed per acre; on dry ground, 
equal parts of clov-r and timothy. The 
first, year the clover will exceed the timothy 
as two or three to one. 1 usually allow it to 
remain in "-aes thr j e years. Where the 
farm is so fen ;d as to admit of pasturing 
tit; land, it is ac/idedly preferable to pasture 
it flic last year or t wo of the three. The 
greatest amount of hay an•! pasture can be 
obtained from the 1 d v hen this plan is 
pniv.’cl, and the cut smd . ire worms will 
not. be so d' .gvrous to ho crop of corn 
which ia’ o follow the grass, it it be taken up 
while in pasture. At the close of the third 
year 1 manure ttic laud, and th. fourth year 
plant to corn, breaking the rod in the 
spring; the corn, if well tilled, will leave the 
ground in fine condition fn: wheat; but I fall 
plow all land designed fi r wheat. From 
our best wheat ■mils, if in high condition, I 
take three crops of wheat with success, and 
with the last crop stock down as before; 
bat if the soil is worn, or is not first-class 
wheat soil, I take but one or two crops of 
wheat, as the case may require, before seed¬ 
ing to grass again. With this rotation and 
the culture that will bo explained, I have 
averngad over twenty-two nod one-fourth 
bushels of wheat p r acre for the last ten 
years, on an nveruc'O of cue hundred and 
forty acres yearly on the same farm; and I 
make this statement, to show the success 
that has attended this mode of rotation and 
culture. 
Land l'laster. 
If plaster is used in connection with wheat 
growing it should be used on the clover the 
second and third crop, as it will have the 
greatest effect on clover, and thus increase 
the amount of material for the supply of 
manure and nitrogen; the clover with us 
taking the place of the turnip crop of the 
English farmer. The amount of plaster used 
with us in wheat growing is not large, but 
is on the increase. The plowing under of 
green clover and summer fallowing, where 
lands have failed to produce paying yields 
of wheat, will be found advisable; but it is 
far better to keep the land up to that high 
state of fertility that will render such a 
course unnecessary for spring wheat. 
SlunuriiiK fov Wheat. 
The counties which surround Lake Win¬ 
nebago, and some of those adjacent, have a 
calcareous soil, with an abundance of clay 
for the production of wheat; and even the 
prairies rest upon a clay subsoil, making this 
the best wheat growing region in Wisconsin, 
composed of prairie openings and timber 
land; the latter is well adapted to winter 
wheat, while by far the largest part of this sec¬ 
tion is best adapted to spring wheat. My 
experience has been with the prairie and 
opening soil and spring wheat, and some 
change will be necessary in the rotation to 
adapt it to winter wheat. 
I usually feed all the hay and com on the 
farm, and make all the straw into manure, by 
cattle and sheep, during the winter. Some 
portion of the manure is drawn out early in 
the fall, and plowed in on such clay lands as 
will bear the manure direct, without causing 
the wheat to rust; but on the prairie soil it 
should be applied to corn ; and, for this pur¬ 
pose, it may be drawn out late in the fall or 
winter, on sod land, at the rate of fifteen 
loads to tho acre, and left in heaps until 
spring, and in the spring spread very evenly 
over the r'v’imt, taking care to remove all the 
nvnure from inhere the heaps lay, as those 
places h >.ve got their share by the drenching 
of the rains. 
The two grew faults of farmers, after 
becoming convince. 1 of the benefit of manure, 
is p T ti .g !l.e mat .re too thickly on the 
km 1 and carelessne ss in spreading the same, 
causing the grain to lodge in places; and, as 
the growing crop only requires a limited 
portion of the manure yearly, all excess has 
a tendency to cause lodging and rust, and a 
greater loss of manure by evaporation and 
leaching. On some lands even ten loads of 
manure per acre may be ample. 
The reason why manure in moderate 
quantities helps to prevent, lodging of the 
grain, is that the silicate of potash, silica, 
or flint, which is the bone-earth of the straw, 
docs not enter in for the supjxnt of stock, 
but will be returned to the soil in the ma¬ 
nure, and with what little silica is annually 
rendered soluble by the atmospheric ele¬ 
ments, will produce a bright, glassy straw, 
and thus help to prevent rust and lodging. 
An acre of wheat will require from fitly to 
one hundred pounds of soluble silica for 
the st rawq and only one to two pounds for 
the grain ; so if the straw' is made into ma¬ 
nure and applied judiciously, it will help the 
grain to stand up. 
But if the straw is burned, not only are 
the gases lost, or enter into new compounds, 
but the salts or component, parts of the ash 
are made nearly worthless by the heat and 
changes they undergo. The writer has re¬ 
peatedly seen pounds of imperfect green 
glass formed by the fusion of the silicate of 
potash, Ac., in the burning of stacks of oat 
straw. Again, with the exception of the 
large amount of silica in the straw, the ele¬ 
ments of the wheat are nearly the same as 
those in the straw, but in different propor¬ 
tions; and as the straw is grown first, if 
there Is any deficiency in the soil it falls 
with the greatest weight on the grain, for 
the straw has the first choice of the produc¬ 
tive elements, and obtains nearly its full 
growth before the grain is formed. 
i'liohlMialc. 
The wheat grower, like the stock grower 
aud the dairyman, should contend against 
any exhaustion of this valuable clement of 
production. If the hay, corn, and corn 
stalks, and straw, be fed to stock and the 
manure returned to the land, the ex¬ 
haustion will be slow ; but the land, after 
several crops of wheat, w ill require a dress¬ 
ing of bone dust, phosphate, or “raw bone 
phosphate.” 1 am experimenting with the 
latter, on lands that have long produced 
wheat, and after another season will say 
what are the results with this commercial 
manure ou wheat growing with me. 
IXow to Prevent Smut. 
Smut in wheat belongs ton class of spores, 
and is propagated by some of the spores or 
particles of smut adhering to the sound 
grain, and on the germination of the seed, 
thej T poison the sap and produce spores 
again in the wheat; or if in the manure, they 
come in contact w ith the rools of the grow¬ 
ing grain and produce the same results. A 
single smut grain contains millions of little 
globules or spores. The antidotes to smut 
are blue vitriol, lime, ashes, salt, and many 
other alkalies and acids; but in experiments 
conducted on scientific principles, blue vitriol 
w'as found to stand at the head of the list. 
The mode of applying it. is to place, say ten 
bushels of clean seed wheat on the floor, 
and dissolve one pound of blue vitriol in hoi 
water, adding cold water after it is dissolved 
until you have two quarts of water for each 
bushel of wheat, and, w’iiile an assistant 
shovels over the wheat, sprinkle on the vit¬ 
riol water and let the wheat be shoveled over 
at least three times, taking care to sw r ecp up 
the scattering wheat each time, so that all of 
it will be fully saturated with the solution, 
and let it remain fl'orn twelve to twenty-four 
hours before sowing. By repeating this pro¬ 
cess yearly, for ten years, I so eradicated smut 
from the wheat, and from my farm, that 
there lias nut been one grain of smut found 
in my wheat for the last seven years; al¬ 
though sometimes we are compelled to finish 
sowing or cultivating a field in the rain or 
mud—circumstances that are generally sup¬ 
posed sure to produce smut. As a rule we 
intend that the land shall be in fine condition 
when sown to wheat. 
Meric of Sowing. 
The spring wheat of Wisconsin, Northern 
Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, is now mostly 
sown by “ Broad-Cast Seeders,” while win¬ 
ter wheat in Southern Illinois and elsewhere, 
should bo sown with the drill. The broad¬ 
cast seeder is one of the greatest labor- 
saving farm implements of the age; saving 
the whole of the laborious process of hand- 
sowing, and such is the perfection to which 
this implement has been brought in the 
West, that we can challenge the world on 
seeders. The cultivation of the soil by this 
machine, while sowing the grain, is more 
efficient, and thorough than by any harrow 
or cultivator known; but in order to reduce 
the soil to the finest tilth, it is advisable to 
use the harrow also. Eli Stilson. 
Oshkosh, "Wis., 1869. 
Mr. Stilson is one of the most prominent, 
thorough, and successful farmers of Wiscon¬ 
sin, and we, value his experiences highly. 
We trust other Western men will emulate 
him by giving their practices and experi¬ 
ences wide circulation through the Rural. 
- +++ - 
Cheap fanning makes poor farmers. 
GYPSUM AS A FERTILIZER. 
[The following paper was road by Prof. J. H. 
Lattimohk of the University of Rochester, be¬ 
fore the Western New York Farmer’s Club, Feb. 
17, 
Among the inorganic constituents of 
every part of every plant,—root, stem, leaf, 
or seed,—lime and sulphuric acid may be al¬ 
most universally detected. These two sub¬ 
stances when combined form sulphate of 
lime, or gypsum —a mineral widely diffused in 
most soils, and often occurring in vast 
masses. When cryetalizcd in transparent 
plates it is selenite , when of fibrous struc¬ 
ture it is satin spar, when compact and some¬ 
what translucent, it is alabaster. It more fre¬ 
quently occurs in stony masses, more or less 
colored by earthy impurities, and is then 
called gypsum. 
Its composition may be approximately 
staled by saying that one-third of its weight 
is lime, one-half sulphuric acid, (oil of vit¬ 
riol,) and one-fifth water. When pulverized 
and heated from three hundred to four hun¬ 
dred degrees Fahrenheit, the water is ex¬ 
pelled, and gypsum becomes pilaster of Paris, 
which possesses the remarkable aud useful 
property of returning rapidly to its solid 
condition, or setting, when moistened with 
water. 
Gypsum is soluble in water in the pro¬ 
portion of one pound to fifty or sixty gal¬ 
lons, and is found in the water of most wells 
and springs in varying quantities. 
We are to consider what relation gypsum 
sustains to plants. Since all plants contain 
sulphur, they must obviously obtain it from 
some soluble substance which contains it. 
Gypsum, being such a substance, may be 
absorbed by the roots of the plant, both the 
lime and the sulphuric acid being directly 
appropriated to its nourishment. Indeed, 
by means of the microscope, minute crystals 
of gypsum have been detected in the cells 
of some plants. But, besides furnishing the 
only known natural supply of sulphur to 
plants, gypsum, no doubt, contributes indi¬ 
rectly to vegetable growth in an eminent 
degree. 
When carbonate of ammonia,which is a vol¬ 
atile salt always tending to escape in the air, 
is brought into contact with gypsum, an ex¬ 
change of constituents spontaneously takes 
place, resulting in the production of carbo¬ 
nate of lime and sulphate of ammonia. The 
importance of this change appears when we 
remember thut this new ammonia salt, 
though freely soluble like the other, yet, is 
not volatile,and consequently not in danger 
of being lost by evaporation, but remains in 
the soil, ready to be taken up by the roots of 
plants. The carbonate of lime thus newly 
formed as an impalpably fine precipitate is 
in a favorable condition for the use of plants. 
Besides its property of fixing the ammo¬ 
nia with which it meets in the soil, its power 
of absorbing it from the atmosphere, renders 
it, an excellent trap for catching that valuable 
game, which is always flitting about, but 
which the plant seems powerless to seize 
until it Is brought within its reach through 
the help of some such agency. This prop¬ 
erty also renders it, a valuable ingredient of 
t lie compost heap, to prevent the escape of 
ammonia generated there by the decomposi¬ 
tion of nitrogenous substances. 
Both the constituents of gypsum are among 
the most energetic bodies in their chemical 
action upon others. In case of their decom¬ 
position taking place by any means, each of 
them would enter iuto new compounds, and 
thus promote changes conducive to the gen¬ 
eral improvement of the soil. 
As in the case of other fertilizers, the re¬ 
sults of experiment, will necessarily vary 
with the physical and chemical condition of 
the soil to which it is applied, with the tem¬ 
perature and humidity of the season. There 
seems to be, however, a quite general agree¬ 
ment as to the value of gypsum, when ap¬ 
plied especially to leguminous plants, such 
as clover, beans, peas, Ac., and also for root 
crops generally, This* is in perfect accord¬ 
ance with the results afforded by the analysis 
of these plants, in which both lime and sul¬ 
phuric acid arc more abundant than in the 
grain or straw of the cereals. Its favorable 
influence on grass is probably due rather to 
the ammonia which it supplies, than to its 
own fertilizihg effect directly. 
It is highly probable that in some cases 
the effect really due to gypsum may be er¬ 
roneously credited to some other fertilizer of 
which it forms a part. Especially may this 
occur in the use of the superphosphate of 
lime, as often prepared. This will appear 
if we consider that in treating, for example, 
a ton of bone dust with the requisite quan¬ 
tity of sulphuric, acid to produce the largest 
possible quantity of soluble superphosphate 
of lime, a somewhat larger quantity ofgypsmi 
is also unavoidably produced at the same time , 
so that the fertilizer thus obtained is, in fact, 
a mixture of two distinct substances, in which 
gypsum predominates. Such mixtures are 
sold as “ superphosphate of lime.” 
When the soil already abounds in lime, 
other sources of sulphuric acid might be 
employed, or the acid itself might be ap¬ 
plied, properly diluted, directly to the soil, 
where, meeting with the lime, it would in- 
staotly form sulphate of lime. But gypsum 
commends itself to us by its abundance and 
consequent cheapness. As before stated, a 
ton of gypsum represents nearly half a ton 
of sulphuric acid. If the gypsum costs five 
dollars per ton, the acid is obtained nearly 
at the rate of half a cent per pound while 
the market price is from five to ten times 
greater. 
It is well to bear in mind that stock rais¬ 
ing and wool growing, as well as grain 
growing, exhausts the sulphur of the soil, as 
this element Is a necessary constituent of a 
large number of animal substances. For 
example, oue hundred pounds of wool con¬ 
tain about five pounds of sulphur. To 
restore to the soil this loss, requires fifteen 
pounds of sulphuric acid, or thirty pounds 
of gypsum. 
In view of the facts now* presented, gypsum 
commends itself to our consideration as a 
candidate for still further trials. First—As 
a direct, source of plant, food, supplying both 
lime and sulphuric acid. Second—As the 
only known natural supply of sulphuric acid. 
Other sulphates, as that of soda, would of 
course furnish plants with this article. But 
besides its greater cost, as it is highly solu¬ 
ble, the danger of an excess would require 
great caution. On the other hand, gypsum 
being far less soluble, however great the 
quantity of it present, in the soil, its solutions 
could never become concentrated to an in¬ 
jurious degree. It is self-regulating. Third 
—As a possible source of lime even in soils 
where lime is already abundant, but in a 
physical condit ion less favorable to its appro¬ 
priation by plants than the lime furnished 
by the decompositions of gypsum. Fourth 
—As a preserver of ammonia, as already ex¬ 
plained, absorbing it from the atmosphere 
and fixing it as a non-volatile salt, available 
by the roots of plants. Fifth—As a pro¬ 
moter of the decomposition of organic sub¬ 
stances already in the soil, thus rendering 
them more speedily available. 
A consideration of the chemical qualities 
of gypsum would suggest the following hints 
as to its use and application as a fertilizer: 
First—That it should be as finely pulverized 
as possible to facilitate solution. Second— 
That it. would probably produce the most 
marked effects, other 1 lungs being equal, on 
such crops as are known to contain a large 
percentage of its constituents, such as clover 
and other leguminous plants, root-crops, Ac. 
Third—That, to secure the conditions most 
favorable to the absorption of ammonia from 
the air aud ruin, it should Vie applied on the 
surface, or as near to it as possible. Its ten¬ 
dency to dissolve and filler down through 
the soil would suggest the same precaution. 
Fourth—A h the ammonia thus secured exerts 
a powerful influence, especially on the form¬ 
ation of the leaves and tender shoots of 
plants, it, should be applied at such a time as 
to exert its highest stimulating effects upon 
the growth of the plant during its early 
stages, when it is most feeble, and most lia¬ 
ble. to suffer from a variety of causes, such as 
extremes of temperature, excess or lack of 
moisture. An curlier maturity might also 
be thus secured. 
-- 
GROWING POTATOES—BEST WAY. 
To grow potatoes to the best advantage, 
is to grow' them after the English system. 
They have their rows about two and a half 
feet apart, and the seed dropped ten to 
tivelve inches in tho row. This gives uni¬ 
formity of size, the object aimed at; for this 
uniformity, avoiding the tw r o extremes of 
large and small tubers, is productive of 
quality, a fine tender grain, removed from 
the coarse and the watery. 
This course will secure potatoes of a more 
uniform size, and yet the same, or more, in 
quantity. There are no hollow ones, few 
small ones; they command a better price in 
market, and arc equally good or better to 
feed. This is tho practice of the Irish in 
this country, who have emigrated here, as 
we have seen. There is less growth of vine, 
and more, in proportion, of fruit. It took 
the English many years before they perfected 
their system. 
The great requisite, aside from what we 
have stated, is to keep the soil mellow and 
free from weeds. This favors moisture, a 
necessity of the potato. It also improves 
the fertility. Be not afraid to w f ork the soil 
deeply, either before or after planting, 
though the potato w ill grow on soil covered 
with straw, or on a rock, if soil is given it. 
But in a drouth this would be fatal. Deep 
working the soil remedies this; and our 
seasons have more or less of drouth. 
After the soil is worked for some time, a 
coat of straw may be given it. This may 
be a heavy coat, and will prevent the sun 
from strilclng the ground; and as the straw 
(wdiile) is a non-conductor ’ of heat, the 
ground will be comparatively cool in a 
drouth—in great heat—and not the colder 
in cool weather. This is successful prac¬ 
tice. Without the straw the cultivator must 
be used, or the plow,—anything to work the 
soil. We must earn our potatoes if we wish 
to have them. 
We can have them; they are a sure crop, 
now that the disease is overcome; and as the 
potato will admit of early planting — earlier 
than anything almost that is put out, the 
crop may thus be made a large crop. 
But, have a dry soil; also (equally indis¬ 
pensable) a light soil- This our slate or 
sandy ridges will furnish. New land is ex¬ 
cellent ; there is the light, burnt topsoil 
which favors it. So is sod, well rotted. Wo 
have had our best, or among our best, pota¬ 
toes in sod with a mellow substratum. 
Avoid, if possible, the heavy clays; though 
with a mixture of long manure we have suc¬ 
ceeded here. 
The potash in new land favors the. pota¬ 
toes there; so does it in almost, any soil. 
Use sparingly of strong manures unless the 
soil is quite poor. The cleanings of the 
stable are not so good as vegetable mould. 
This contains the carbon to make starch of. 
It is grateful to this fruit, and makes a clean 
bed for it. 
A dry soil then, light, and mellow through¬ 
out, kept, mellow, with ashes and vegetable 
matter to feed it, and proper planting as to 
distance and time. f. g. 
- *-++ - 
CLOVER AND GYPSUM. 
Allow me to decline the high seat placed 
for me by Dr. Lee in the congregation of im¬ 
proving farmers. The credit lie gives me 
should be divided among a great number of 
men whose experience has led them to a 
free use of gypsum on most of then- farm 
crops. 
But my great object is to correct an error 
into which I think the learned doctor falls. 
He appears to think that the “ sea salts ” arc 
so “ diffused as to rise up about the roots of 
renovating clover” on our lands. It is true, 
that our farm is situated on Lite shales of 
what geologists coll tho “ Onondaga Salt 
Group,”—hut as a matter of fact., salt is not 
found in this group of rocks, but in gravel 
and sand which Iras been deposited in the 
valley of Onondaga Lake, to the depth of 
from three to four hundred feet. Where the 
salt comes from no man can tell; but it is 
not found by chemical analysis in the “ On¬ 
ondaga Sail Group” in quantities sufficient 
to produce any important influence on our 
crops. 
In 1819 Prof. Norton made an analysis 
of this rock, and found (soluble in water) 
less than hall of one per cent, of chlorine, 
and of potash and soda 2.9*2 per cent. In the 
soil formed from this rock he found 0.05 per 
cent, of chlorine and 0.68 of potash and soda. 
1 regret that he did not give the potash and 
soda separate from each other. He showed 
that of the constituents of salt, chlorine and 
soda we had nearly exhausted the soil, but 
we had put in it 0.17 per cent, of sulphuric 
acid, none of which was found in tho rock. 
Gypsum is used with quite as much ad¬ 
vantage on the soils, geologically far above, 
and on those far below, the Onondaga salt 
group, as it is on that group of rocks. The 
improvement wo have made in our soils, is 
due to t he production of heavy clover crops, 
stimulated by gypsum, and then plowed into 
the land, or made into hay, and fed to stock 
and then drawn on the land in the form of 
barnyard manure — or the clover has been 
fed off the pastures by stock. We have ma¬ 
nured higher than the farmers of any other 
section with which I am acquainted, but 
our manure has cost but little, and has been 
in the form of clover and gypsum. I say 
this not of one farm only, but of the farms 
all about here. 
This system of clover and gypsum has 
been persistently followed here for a long 
time. The plan has been to fill the ground 
with clover roots in the shortest possible 
time, and then lull them with the plow, and 
raise grain crops. Permanent pastures we 
have not had, but much plowing, and much 
grain. The doctor credits our once-called 
second-rate soil with too much, aud our 
farmers, for their persistent good manage¬ 
ment, with too little. Geo. Geddes. 
Falrmount, N. Y., Feb. IStSU. 
-4-V4- 
Potato Bug*.—A subscriber in Delaware Co., 
0., writes that potato bugs can be kept from in¬ 
juring vines by putting half a teaspoon full of 
coal oil in a bucket--of water, and sprinkling the 
vines, using a wisp of hay or a watering pot. 
Do it once in two Or three days after a rain. 
Several farmers in his neighborhood secured 
good crops of potatoes tho past season by so 
doing. 
-- 
Applying Urn Manure to Corn In Hill.—E li 
S. Boyce, Nassau, N. Y., makes his corn ground 
ready for planting, drops the corn first and then 
a single handfull of the manure on the corn, 
giving a light covering of earth. Applied in this 
way it does not Injure the germ of the seed. 
Corn planted In this way ripened and was fit to 
cut in eighty-two days from time of planting. 
Tt was planted Juno 21 aud 22. 
-- 
Novn fieotln v». Western Plaster.—We have 
two kinds of plaster in uso here, viz.: Western, 
and Nova Scotia, the former selling for seven 
dollars per ton, tin latter at. nine dollars. It is 
claimed by some tl at the Western is equally as 
good as the Novat entia; by others thut it is as 
good for one year, white the effects of tho latter 
cun be seen for three or four years. 
Wo should be pleased to learn the merits of 
each through some of the able contributors of 
the Rural.— N., Lake, Washington Co., N. Y. 
- 4 -*-*- 
Wheat and Gat* cannot be put in too soon on 
fall plowed land. Roll the winter wheat fields 
as soon as possible. 
