4S3 
ORE’S  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Cro|JS, 
THE  AGEICTJLTURAL  EXPERIMENTS  AT 
CORNELL. 
Duuino  tlie  past  yeai'  uuuicrous  fexi^orluiwits 
on  vaxiguB  subjects  connectwl  witl)  farming  have 
been  in  progress  on  the  exiwhnenUil  farm  con- 
I  nected  with  Cornell  University.  Some  very  in¬ 
teresting  ajid  valuable  results  have  been  obtained. 
From  a  report  of  theoe  in  the  Utica  Herald  wo 
copy  this  week  what  relates  to  the  exiroiimont* 
with  fertilizers  in  corn  culture  r 
Last  summer  careful  experiments  were  made 
to  dotormiuG  whether  corn  chiefly  demands  of 
the  soil  nitrogen  or  pb05phoric  acid,  and  to  dia- 
oover  which  fertilizing  a^out  in  most  valuable 
for  coni.  It  wa:»  desired  to  lost  the  efl’ect  of 
phosphates.  Thlrty-tliroe  plots  were  prepared, 
measuring  one-slxteonth  of  an  acre  each  In  tuea. 
Commercial  fertilizers  vary  so  much  in  compo.si- 
ti()n,  and  are  so  frequently  adulterated,  that 
Prof.  Caldwell  prepai’od  all  hia  fertilizora  himself 
in  the  laboratory.  Uniform  amounts  by  weight 
wore  applied  to  each  hill,  and  the  hilts  were 
counted.  The  fertilizer  in  each  case  wa.s  thor* 
oughly  inoorjoorated  with  the  soil.  Among  the 
fertilizora  employed  were  farm  yard  manure, 
phosphate  soda,  sodium  uitrato,  mixtures,  ixiru- 
vian  guano,  potash  salts,  fish  scraps,  aujierplios- 
•  phatee,  plaster  and  Epsom  salts.  The  corn  was 
planted,  but  the  season  was  unfavpr.able,  mid  the 
corn  germinated  badly.  Notwithstanding  this  I 
relative  results  were  gained.  There  were  no 
marked  differences  in  the  quality  or  quantity  of 
foe  corn  produced  upon  the  different  plots.  The 
plot  enriched  by  fonn  yai'd  manm-e  yielded  more 
corn  than  any  other  plot-  The  next  be.st  results 
were  produced  by  plaster  and  potash  salts.  The 
superphosphates  in-oducod  a  fair  yield.  The 
guano  caused  no  marked  production.  The  fish 
scrap*  seemed  to  extract  the  moisture  from  the 
I  be  fooled  into  thinking  his  second  cre^  sprung 
i  from  the  stub  of  the  dead  root,  the  moral  of 
which  is  when  making  obsetwatlons  be  quite  snre 
the  facts  are  as  they  seem  at  a  suporfleial  glance. 
Wheat  is  a  biemiial,  and  might  possibly  be  kept 
!  over  imtil  tlio  third  year  l/y  careful  watching  to 
j  prevent  its  seeding,  but  wwtainly  not  othei'wise. 
I  - 
;  THE  CASTOR  BEAN. 
The  Chicago  Weekly  Tribune  says:— Among 
tlie  farm  products  assuming  prourinence  in  the 
West  is  the  castor  Ixsan.  It  has  been  discovered 
that  the  grassboppiirs  and  chinch  bngs  will  not 
touch  the  plants  (the  bugs,  iu  this  case,  have  the 
sympathy  of  all  boys),  and  within  the  last  two 
yours  the  mcrcaso  in  the  crop  has  been  20<.t  per 
coot.  Tliis  has  cut  off  importation  of  the  boons, 
and  an  unimportant  fonn  product  becomes  an 
Imiiortnnt  and,  imder  favorable  ciicnmstances,  a 
;  profltablo  one. 
W'ithiu  the  Inst  few  years  w’e  have  iKTsorially 
urged  the  consideration  of  this  product  on  farm¬ 
ers  who  reeoived  all  statoments  with  an  inciedn- 
lous  smile,  as  though  the  castor  Lean  never  was 
,  and  never  could  bo  of  any  value  on  the  farm, 
j  But  if  they  sell  for  81  jicr  bushel  and  an  aero 
produces  a  goisUy  number,  and  if  the  demand 
for  them  continues,  why  not  experiment  in  this 
I  direction?  We  are  not  among  tho.se  who  favor 
headlong  exix'rimi'ut.s,  but  favor  a  course  in 
j  which  the  far-mer  malies  his  business  one  of 
greater  posHibilitJes  without  much  risk. 
Any  good  corn  laud  will  produoe  castor  beaus 
and  a-half  bushel  will  plant  eight  a<.-res.  UTie 
hills  should  bo  4  or  6  f<.»ot  apart,  lour  or  live 
seeds  in  a  hill.  If  tli<'.  cut- worms  do  not  do  the 
work  for  you.  tliin  to  one  or  two  stalks  in  a  hill. 
The  yield  is  about  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre. 
(£ronam|. 
TOO  EXPENSIVE  IMPROVEMENTS. 
Mk.  IticHAKu  Thompson  communicates  to  tlie 
Colonial  Fanner  of  Fredericton.  N.  B.,  an  ac¬ 
count  of  iuiprfjvements  made  in  five  acres  of  Ktilf 
clay  land  by  draining.  He  gent  to  England  for 
however,  we  have  known  the  entire  cost  of  un- 
derdi'aining  a  Held  to  be  paid  in  two  or  at  most 
three  crops  of  w  heat— the  investment  thus  pay¬ 
ing  thirty-three  or  fifty  per  cent. 
How  to  ec!onomize  m  undordiainLag  is  a  most 
important  (po'stion  for  farmers.  It  is  neoessaiy 
if  undenh  alning  is  to  be  encoui’aged— not  among 
f  hose  who  grow  special  crops  and  can  afford  to 
improve  then-  laud  without  mnch  jegard  to  ex- 
Uicir  p^dcal  <lratoei-s.  who  took  tliejob,  dig-  |  ihtisg— but  among  tlie  groat  m.iHB  of  average 
ging  .O&S  rvKls  four  feet  deeimndtwonty-four  feet  . i  nr  i  i-  . 
apart  at  sixty  cents  per  nxl.  tweutv-^ight  rods  I  the  countrj'.  We  believe  not 
SIX  and  one  half  leet  iltMjp.  twenty-four  feel  '  ‘‘dst  of  uuderdraining  can  be  much 
apart,  at  $t.!iO  per  rod.  Extra  work  in  open  1  reducesi;  but  that  by  proper  management  the 
SIX  and  one  half  leet  iLmjp.  twenty-four  feel 
apart,  at  81.20  per  rod.  Extra  work  in  open 
ditching  and  building  outlet*  tfO,  making  .8370,40. 
Eight  huiMlred  dram  jiipes  one  and  one-half 
luchos  at  89  iier  thousand,  6  300  do.,  two  iaohos 
at  810.50. 1.529  do.,  three?  inchee  at  610.  and  4S0 
superphosphatee  iii-oducod  a  fair  yield.  The  BROOM  CORN  — PROFIT, 
guano  cansed  no  marked  production.  The  fish 
scrap*  seemed  to  extract  the  moisture  from  the  •A-mono  the  reports  to  the  Massachusetts  Agri- 
soil,  and  there  was  but  meager  germination.-  <^ultiu'al  Society  on  broom  corn  cultm’c  is  one  in 
r»M  _•  _ a__  _i1_  s.  i».  A  -«  \vll  4 1 1 A  tt***!  t  A  .«>«*vw  — . .  . 
This  experiment  irill  be  exactly  duplicaterl  next 
year',  and  corn  from  each  plot  will  be  analyzed  to 
determine  tiie  relative  amount  of  each  element 
extracted. 
Bcsiiles  those  chemical  experiments,  Prof. 
Roberts  lias  conducted  a  scries  of  cxix‘rimeut.s 
iuteuded  to  illustrate  the  rosnlU  of  differeut 
modes  of  cultivation.  He  planted  corn  under 
fifteen  conditions,  and  oiU'el’uily  noted  the  result. 
The  following  table  is  a  record  of  the  expori- 
meut,  the  jdeld  being  prasentod  iu  pounds ; 
W— Uiillmctl  wostorn 
J  not  lolly 
1  uiatured . 
CSOj  busli.  piT  iicrt;). 
1- RUlac  ciiutiro . S.W  M  <07  -^ 
2- l>oui)  ••  . 2110  l!tx  ,»i.»u 
3-  tihiillow  *•  . . . :.2l 
4-  Oiniluuou*  colluro  (7  limos) . :k;2  2i  aS'i 
5- l)rlll  '•  . :i‘au  IS  .HsSq 
(t-K.v«j  sUMlKs  In  a  mil  . SOS  2ii  .t'.ts 
7- Itolir .  . cy  .11 
8—  Tlirou . .  .  . 801  if  in? 
6- TW(>  .  . . . i'(!0  41»  315 
10— Unlltnotl  oastern  (com.) . S3.5  iu  sso 
11—  Ijiiued  •“  (.’Oe  Uij.-li.  per  acrt0.41l(  57  S  O 
12—  .Noi  siu  lieroC . .si)i  I2,s<  »7 
li—Suckei'aU  (twice)  .  VO,!*;  lu.ii  87 
W-Unllmcd  western  j  .  i,j 
15— Uiuod  *•  (20j  busli.  piT  iicri;).  515 
Note.— A  little  a»li(w  w,i»  mixoil  Willi  this  lime;  by 
HiiHlysiB  abosL'Ju  per  coot. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  limed  plot  produced 
much  the  largest  riold,  and  that  a  slight  differ¬ 
ence  was  caused  by  Buckoriug.  Prof.  Roherts 
ivlll  also  duplicate  his  experimeuls. 
- ♦  .*  ♦  —  ■■■ 
“PERENNIAL  WHEAT.” 
Mr.  Miller,  residing  near  Salida,  Cal.,  in¬ 
forms  The  Pacifle  Rural  Press  that  he  has  In  his 
gai'den  a  sirocies  of  wheat  which  may  be  termed 
perpetuaL  A  few  kernels  of  the  grain  were 
furnished  him  and  sown.  It  matured  and  boro  a 
healthy  crop,  and  continues  seiuliog  out  new 
shoote  from  the  pareut  root.  The;io  now  shoot.s 
contiuuo  to  present  themselves  and  boar  their 
crops,  when  immediately  another  one  comes 
from  the  same  root.  Tlie  same  roots,  first  pre- 
Benting  themselves  two  or  three  years  since,  are 
still  alive  and  havoborno  several  crops.  Moisture 
and  warm  weather  are  all  that  arc  required  to 
keep  it  oonstautly  reproducing  Itoelf. 
What  wo'old  the  fanner*  of  this  country  tliink, 
if  a  few  ye.ar3  huucc  any  improbable  or  impossible 
yarn  should  only  Itci  grocted  with  a  shrug  of  the 
sbouldoi's  and  the  remark,  “  That’s  only  a  grain 
story,"  a.'i  people  now  say  “  only  o  ll.sb  story." 
Wouldn't  they  think  it  a  disgi-ace  to  their  credi¬ 
bility.  Yet  we  never  heard  a  fish  story  half  so 
improbable  as  the  above. 
Suppo.ie  we  vary  ft  a  little.  In  the  same  State, 
0.aliforuia,  where  this  wonderful  Porenniul 
Wheat  is  found,  farmers  often  gro*.v  a  second 
crop  without  sowing  any  seed,  not  in  isolated 
spots  but  over  largo  fields  embracing  many 
hundred  acres.  Bometimos  the  laud  is  lightly 
plowed  for  this  sooond  crop  and  sometimes  only 
harrowed;  but  in  eilhor  case  the  “volunteer" 
ci'op  is  generally  inferior  to  the  first.  The  farm¬ 
ers  of  California  however,  era  not  so  stupid  as  to 
think  they  get  wheat  without  seed.  They  know 
that  the  volunteer  crop  comes  from  wheat  shelled 
upon  the  ground  during  harvest  time.  It  was 
reserved  for  a  man,  evidently  not  a  farmer,  who 
had  the  same  phenomena  occur  in  his  garden,  to 
which  the  ucl  profits  on  one  acre  of  broom  corn 
are  put  at  880.72,  estimating  t  he  brush  at  7  oents 
^  per  pound  and  the  seed  worth  45  cents  -per 
bushel,  or  in  other  words  a  crop  of  1,159  ixauids 
of  biMiah  and  88  bushels  of  seed  to  the  acre. 
^  Many  fanner.*  make  no  use  of  the  seed,  an4  wc 
^  remember  cases  in  which  great  pilesof  itconiitod 
i.  for  nothing.  There  are  other  case#  that  »omc  to 
mind  in  wliicb  the  seed,  a.s  it  was  strippc'd  from 
_  the  brush,  was  looked  after  carefully,  asid  foimd 
an  excellent  food,  during  the  wintor.  for  geese 
,  and  chickens  and  for  cattle. 
f  Ih'oom  corn  should  be  pluntivl  on  gocnl  Btroug 
‘  land,  3  quarts  of  seed  to  an  acre,  cultivated  as  if 
'  for  coru,  and  when  the  corn  has  grown  to  full 
size  bend  down  the  top  about  1  foot  b<?Jow  the 
bnisb.  On  that  on  which  the  seed  is  to  ripen, 
do  not  break  until  the  seed  is  ripe ;  on  the  other, 
liefore,  and  in  such  uianucr  as  to  exjtosc  the 
brush  to  the  sun  as  little  as  possible,  so  as  to 
lireserve  its  color.  One  iwmt  often  neglected  by 
those  who  have  little  experionco  is  care  after 
cutting,  avoidance  of  rain  aud  dam]iuess.  Very 
fine  brush  is  of  ton  injured  or  siioiled  by  inju¬ 
dicious  packing  iu  Inuidlcs  before  it  is  cured. 
- »  »» 
P0SSIBIUTIE8  OF  CORN  CULTURE. 
From  an  essay  read  !>y  H.  C.  Haskell  of 
DeeiHeld,  i)(a.ss.,  we  cojiy  the  following: — The 
results  of  a  Series  of  experiments,  by  members  of 
the  Elmira  Farmers'  Glnl),  seem  to  hint  at  the 
posslbilitiea  of  tlie  case.  In  one  experiineut,  the 
yield  of  corn  from  a  (angle  grain  wa.stweoly-four 
oimces,  equivalent  to  a  bushel  from  thirty-seven 
grains.  At  this  rate  of  jiroducUon  for  an  entire 
acre,  allotving  to  each  gnuii  four  square  fix*t  of 
soil  would  give  294  bushels  of  shelled  corn.  In 
another  experiment,  the  yield  from  a  single 
grain  was  ounces,  which  would  givo  a  bushel 
from  twenty  grains  or  393  bushels  jjer  acre.  In 
another,  the  yield  was  37)>^  ounces,  or  a  bushel 
from  tweidy-four  grains,  or  453  bushels  per  acre. 
The  most  successful  experiment  of  the  series, 
was  the  yield  of  43yj  cimce.s,  which  is  at  the 
rate  of  a  bushel  fi'opn  twenty-one  grains  or  .5U0 
biisliels  per  aero.  M^lmt  has  been  done,  can  be 
done  again.  What  one  grain  of  corn  has  been 
made  to  produce,  every  grain  if  10,000  Uko  it,  al¬ 
lowing  a  reasDuablo  margin  for  accidents,  may 
bo  mode  to  produce.  As  yet  wc  have  scarcely 
begun  to  roahze  the  possibilities  of  high  farming. 
- - - 
AaiERicAN  Potatoes  in  Enoland.— A  writer  in 
the  Ixmdon  Garden  denies  that  jVmerican  Pota-  i 
toes  degenerate  in  England  unless  seed  is  annu-  i 
ally  impoi-ted.  Such  at  any  rate  is  not  the  case  i 
with  the  Bose,  He  has  giown  it  for  six  aucces-  i  i 
give  years  aud  states  that  it  was  finer  la.st  year  i 
than  on  any  preceding  one.  The  rose  in  En-  i 
gland  is  much  affected  by  soil,  and  the  state-  i 
ineut  is  made  that  in  many  localities  it  is  scarcelj'  ' 
eatable,  aud  that  tuiuiy  imported  varieties  have  i 
been  at  a  disadvantage  hiHuiuse  the  soil  was  not  ] 
suitable.  The  same  correspondent  state  that  i 
the  greatest  percentage  of  ^seased  potatoes  is  j 
found  in  the  Eureka  and  Snow  Flake.  c 
j  at  810.50. 1.529  do.,  throe?  inchee  at  61(5,  and  480 
cr  do.,  four  InchcH  at  820.  (Jo4  of  pii  )OT  6107.89. 
fl,  Wliolo  co«t  6'178.79.  Cost  per  acre  895. OC.  The 
in  *“***  earned  82  50  per  day  «*ch,  I’he  pities  or 
tile  *re  one  fool  In  kngth.  Iu  1875  the  land  was 
sowed  to  roots,  and  the  yield  was,  per  atrre,  of 
tnmipe  flfiii  bushels.  CarroU,  107  bushels.  Po¬ 
ly  Utot?*.  289  busliHls.  Parsnips.  359  bushels. 
Mangels,  800  l.iusliels.  In  1801,  iK'fore  draining, 
the  field  wa.s  equally  well  manui-cd  and  iwiwn  to 
with  the  following  yield  par  acre;  Tur- 
>^8  nips,  300  bushels.  Csu-i-ots,'  179  bushols.  Maii- 
1.  gels,  140  bu.sholH.  The  surface  of  the  laiul  wob 
•0  Hiich  us  to  require  mucli  deep  digging. 
id  The  above  paragrajih  is  clipped  from  an  ex- 
is  change,  aud  wc*  copy  to  iirotcst  again*!  (he  idea 
)r  which  it  will  convey  to  the  groat  uiajority  of 
n  farmers  that  underdraiaing  is  necessarily  so  cx- 
>f  ix?iiBivc  a  proco.Hs  .as  U  here  desca'ihed,  existing 
iKiorly  61iX)  jior  acre.  No  doubt  the  t?X]Miriiuent 
is  reported  correctly,  and  it  is  almost  us  certain 
c  that  the  favorable  result  was  in(endi«i  to  im- 
e  pros*  the  minds  of  farmers  with  the  jiroHt  of  the 
0  ojioration.  The  olleot  will  he  realiy  exactly  the 
I,  reverse.  It  is  only  shown  that  iindcnlraining 
pays  in  tlic  cultivation  of  special  crojw  more  fre- 
qucutly  grown  by  market  gardeners  tlmn  by 
fiirnicrs.  Average  farmers,  growing  corn,  oats, 
wheat  aud  barley,  will  necCHRiu'ily  infer  that  sueli 
expensive  operations  are  not  lor  them,  and,  uii- 
j  dor  the  supiKisition  that  effective  undi^rdraining 
J  must  cost  nearly  6100  jx-r  acre,  they  will  natm- 
j  Ally  cone  ude  tliat  cannot  affonl  to  do  any 
J,  tmderdraiuiug  whatovir.  Both  these  ideas  are 
J  mistaken  ones.  In  fact,  us  a  guide  for  average 
farm  draining,  the  examiilc  given  is  much  worse 
,  than  useless.  It  is  very  st?ldom  advi.sahle  to  have 
J  drains  fom' teet  de<!p.  For  farm  crops  It  is  never 
,  neces.sary  an  any  land,  tit  for  faini  purposcH,  to 
I  makeikains  twoiity-four  feet  apart.  It  is  very 
I  seldom  neoesbaiy  in  draining  so  small  a  i)i<?ce  as 
five  a(?ras  to  use  so  oxixmsive  and  large  a  tie  as 
five-inch  pi|x*.  Finally,  we  have  always  got 
drains  dug  for  less  than  62.50  jicr  day,  and  by 
doing  considerable  of  the  work  with  iiluw  team 
and  subsoiler,  have  dug  ihtohes  for  much  less 
than  we  twiild  hhe  men  to  dig  them  for.  In  all 
these  items  farmers  can  make  material  savings 
over  the  l•stiulttte  published  above. 
In  recommending  lann  improvements  it  should 
always  be  rnmembered  that  the  grc*at  majority  of 
farmers  grow  crops  which,  at  the  best.  yit?ld  very 
moderaie  profit*.  A  market  gardener  who  has 
manured  his  ground  at  tlu?  rate  of  675  or  6100 
pt?r  acre  iti  growing  early  eabbiigc  or  celery,  very 
likely  uiakos  money  by  so  doing.  Ho  cannot  af¬ 
ford  to  do  othorwise.  But  his  example  cannot 
be  htorally  followed  by  the  farmer  who  is  grow¬ 
ing  wheat,  oats  or  barley.  The  most  the  farmer 
can  do  is  to  loam  the  value  of  thorough  mamir- 
iug  and  imitato  with  such  variations  as  he  can 
afford.  The  word.*  “  heavy  mamuiug "  mean 
euth'ely  different  thing.s  as  applied  to  different 
crops.  For  some  vegetables  the  market  gardt?ncr  • 
finds  it  jirofitaUe  to  apply  6100  worth  of  ai«nure 
per  acre ;  but  othei's  need  only  630  or  640  per 
acie.  In  farm  a'ops,  ou  ordinary  good  laml,  625  ' 
per  acre  iu  stable  manui'e  would  be  a  snfiicioucy  ' 
for  coru  or  potatoes,  and  615  per  acre,  top  J 
dressed,  w'oiild  be  a  good  manming  for  wheat. 
We  have  known  the  wheat  crop  to  be  doubled  * 
by  the  use  of  65  or  66  per  acre  iu  suixirphosphato 
drilled  iu  with  the  Beed.  Each  of  those  may  ‘ 
fairly  be  called  thorough  manuring.  A  market  * 
gardeuor  has  no  right  to  decry  the  farmer  bo-  I 
cause  the  latter  does  not  aiid-cannot  afford  to  use  ^ 
6100  worth  of  manure  per  acre.  ITie  fanner,  ^ 
not  growing  such  oxhanstivo  crops  as  the  gar-  ‘ 
dener,  does  not  need  to  pay  so  mnelj  for  ma-  ^ 
nures,  and  yet  eneh  may  bo  doing  the  very'  boHt  * 
in  his  situatieii.  Si*ither  can  afford  to  stop  short  ^ 
of  manuring  his  soil  to  the  limit  w  here  more  ma-  6 
nure  ceases  to  he  pi'OtiUble.  In  tlie  garden  this  f 
will  be  far  greab  r  than  the  aiuouut  which  can  be  ^ 
used  on  most  farm  crops. 
It  is  the  same  with  underdraiuing.  .411  farm-  ^ 
ers  whoso  land  is  wot  and  cold  bhould  underdraiu  * 
some.  IT  the  land  will  not  pay  for  this  sell  out 
aud  buy  where  it  will  pay,  or  the  laud  does  not  " 
need  so  much undjcrdraining.  Usually,  however,  ^ 
all  laud  fit  for  farming  can  bo  suflideutly  luider-  ® 
drained  for  form  crops  at  a  cost  not  exceeding 
620  or  625  per  acre— often  for  .615  per  acie. 
These  drains  well  laid  will  last  a  life  time  -  are,  o 
in  fact,  a  permanent  investment,  so  that  to  be  ei 
profitable  we  need  only  a  good,  liberal  percent-  p 
age  as  interest  Ton  per  cent  a  year,  or  62.50  tl 
per  acre  on  the  extreme  cost  of  uadwdraining,  tl 
ought  to  pay  in  almost  any  farm  crop.  Often,  oi 
only  that  the  cost  of  uuderdraining  can  be  much 
reducr?d;  but  that  by  proper  management  the 
amount  of  underdraiuing  needed  may  be  greatly 
IcMscncd.  This,  however,  must  be  left  for  an¬ 
other  article. 
BURNING  GRAIN  STUBBLE. 
f  A  WRITER  in  the  M'eekly  Sun  advises  a  retura 
to  the  practice  of  hm  ning  wheat  stubble.  It  is 
probable  that  the  failure  of  wheat  is  due  mainly 
>  to  loss  of  fertility  iu  the  soil  which  would  be 
-  common  to  any  system  without  manure.  Still 
his  ideas  are  suggestive  and  we  copy  as  follows : 
I  i  have  lived  in  I/asiillo  county.  HI.,  .almost 
since  its  earliest  6^?ttlenicnt,  or  since  the  fall  of 
'  1830  ;  aud  I  have  seen  it  iu  all  of  its  stage.?,  from 
^  (Is  most  wild  and  barren  waste  (tliat  i.l  so  far  as 
the  cultivation  of  the  noil  was  concerned)  up  to 
^  ,its  present  light  and  llonrishiug  state  of  cultiva- 
’  l!ou,  which  lias  niixlo  this  U'liutiful  expanse  to 
blossfim  like  thoro.se.  In  all  excejit  wheat,  which 
!  has  gradually  deteriorato<l  until  most  fai'mers 
^  ihinlt  it  cheaper  to  buy  their  iJoiu-  than  to  tn-  to 
raise  wlicul,  even  for  Hieir  own  use. 
,  III  early  tunes  we  eonsidorod  this  a  good 
’  Cmi nil- V  for  wheat.  It  is  true  fall  wheat  would 
,  Houictinies  winter-kill,  rust,  or  fall  down,  but 
llieso  were  exceptions;  othi-nvise,  we  were  siu'o 
of  a  good  crop. 
The  much  ilreaded  cliiuch  bug  was  scarcely 
known  to  exist ;  yet,  by  the  more  observing  they 
were  noticed  in  the  com  husks  at  husking  time  ; 
but  they  were  uot  known  as  sucheueuiies  as  they 
really  arc,  for  up  to  lUat  time  they  were  uot 
numerous  enough  to  do  but  very  little  if  any 
damage  to  the  wheat  crop, 
111  those  days  tlie  stubble  was  invariably  burnt, 
and  thus  ilestroyed  enough  of  the  Insects  to  hold 
them  in  chfsck,  and  at  the  sauic?  time  destroying 
milllions  of  wetsl  sewis,  tliiis  uiuking  the  cultiva¬ 
tion  of  tlie  soil  (juiot  ca«y.  J  Imvo  noUix-d  time 
and  again,  iu  the  cultivation  of  a  coni  crop,  I 
could  toll  to  a  row,  which  iiart  of  the  field  had 
been  Liii  nt  over  and  wnich  had  nut,  the  ground 
being  so  much  flucr,  mo’'e  moist,  looi.er,  and 
more  free  from  weeds.  The  corn  also  would  be 
larger,  ripen  a  little  eailier,  aud  ,rield  more  on 
the  biu'ut  |)ortiou. 
I  have  also  noticed  that  in  ju-st  the  proportion 
that  farmers  quit  burning  theii'  stubble  the 
wheat-crop  begun  to  tleteriorate,  and  became 
more  aud  more  uncertain,  until  for  many  year  s 
past  in  this  country  wlieiit  raising  has  been  a 
laihu'o,  witii  an  oucasional  exception.  \Vo  im¬ 
port  anually  the  flour  of  thoiisamlu  of  bushels  of 
wheat  for  homo  cousutnplion,  while  in  former 
years  we  evportod  thouoaud.*  of  bualiels  anually 
as  a  HiiqiluB. 
We  Used  to  think  that  if  ivo  only  had  a  raw 
piece  ol  pruma  sad  to  brc:m  up  iu  June,  and 
tlien  to  sow  to  wlioat  in  the  fall  following  we 
were  almost  oei-taln  of  a  good  crop  of  wheat ; 
hilt  iu  later  yeai'B  the  virgin  no’d  seemed  no  more 
•  certain  for  wheat  than  old  ground  aud  from 
that  standpoint  many  say  that  it  proves  that  the 
burning  of  stubble  is  all  a  delusion.  I  take  a 
different  view  of  the  question  when  wo  know 
Unit  the  prairies  were  a  miually  burnt  off  by  the 
red  mail,  sih  certain  u.s  the  season.*  came  and 
went,  for  ages  past,  aud  leaving  all  the  effects  of 
that  burning  upon  the  soil  to  work  its  changes. 
It  is  well  known  Low*  quickly  the  jirairie  grass 
dies  out  when  not  burnt  annually  at  the  proiier 
season  o(  the  year,  and  all  goes  to  w  eeds  and  blue 
grass,  as  we  term  it,  and  then  if  broken  up  is 
very  uncertain  of  b(?ing  good  for  wheat,  having 
lost  in  a  measure  tho  benefit  of  the  bm-niag.  to 
make  the  wheat  wliat  we  used  to  ral.se  in  earlier 
times.  As  uoai-  as  I  can  learn,  this  has  been  the 
experience  of  all  new  countries  ;  good  for  wheat 
for  a  time,  and  as  the  fli-es  cease  to  burn  the 
gras.*,  leaves  or  stubble,  the  wheat  ci-op  deereases 
proportionately,  until  it  docs  uot  pay  for  the 
raising. 
Again,  some  argue  tliat  tho  stnbblo  emiches 
tlie  ground  much  more  when  ploughed  nnder 
than  when  bund,  ily  cxiierience  is  to  the 
contrary.  I  think  a  good,  clean  burn  is  worth 
more  to  any  succeeding  crop,  tlian  to  plow  under 
a  heavy  stubble,  to  say  nothing  about  the  de- 
structiou  of  insects  and  noxious  weeds. 
Rain  water  brings  down  yearly  about  12  lbs' 
of  ammonia  per  acre  of  ground.  To  supply  an 
equal  amount  in  sulphate  of  ammonia  at  6  cents 
per  lb.  would  cost  the  farmer  62.88,  and  Hus  is, 
therefore,  the  mamiriaJ  value  of  the  rain.  To 
this,  however,  must  be  added  a  certain  quantity 
of  nitric  or  nitrous  ncid.— Galaxy, 
