SEPT. I© 
THE RURAL NEW- 
sequently our wheat has but little time to tiller 
f and strengthen its hold upon the soil. Almost 
• from the day that the frosts have left the 
ground, the sun and elements ply whip and 
spur, driving it to the harvest by the middle 
of June. The result of these peculiar climatic 
conditions is that the coarse, slow-growing 
Eastern sorts, like the Clawson, Silver Ohoff, 
Wicks, and others, as we have shown by re¬ 
peated trials made on the college farm, are al¬ 
most certain failures. A wheat to do well iu 
Kansas, must be able to keep stop with the 
season; it must bo one of the small, red sorts, 
early, hardy, and of rapid growth. Such a 
sort wo have in the. Early Rod May, a univer¬ 
sal Western favorite. Other sorts have been 
found, like the Full./, and Lancaster, which in 
particular seasons gave a stronger growth of 
straw, and a largo' yield of grain, and a still 
smaller number, like the Gold Modal, which 
gave a whiter and bettor flour than the Early 
May, but a comparison of this sort during a 
number of years with any other sort that I 
have yet seen, has invariably been to the ad¬ 
vantage of the Early May. 
The past Winter has, I suppose, dealt more 
severely with the wheat plant than any other 
Winter since the settlement of the State. It 
is interesting to notice in the published reports 
of the condition of the crop during the Spring, 
that, almost without exception, and from all 
parts of the State, the Early May was reported 
In the best condition, having sustained less 
injury tluiu any other sort. Of twenty-four 
different sorts of wheat grown upon the college 
farm, under precisely similar circumstances as 
to soil and treatment, the old-fashioned Blue 
Stem alone appeal's in as good condition as 
the Early May. 
Harrowing Wheat in the Spring. 
Tho advantages of harrowing wheat iu the 
Spring are frequently recited liy the agricul¬ 
tural press, and tho increased yield result¬ 
ing i have seen placed all the way from live 
to tea bushels j>er acre. Still the practice is 
not a common one, although those fanners 
who once begin it rarely give it up, which is 
itself good evidence of the usefulness of the 
practice. In the Winter of 1879-80 I se¬ 
lected a. portion of a wheat field, very uniform 
as to soil, situation, and the condition of the 
crop, and ia this laid otT six plats, exactly 
one-fourth ol’ an acre each, with the object of 
testing the advantages, if any, of harrowing 
growing wheat. Each alternate plot, liegin- 
ning with the tirsl, was thoroughly harrowed 
on Feb. 20th; and on April 18th these plats 
were again harrowed and immediately after¬ 
wards rolled. The intervening plats, of course, 
received no special treatment. The results of 
this experiment may be soon in the subjoined 
table, iu which the plats are given in the exact 
order in which they were placed in the Hold: 
Yield i'i-.ic Antic. 
U, IJn harrowed... 
C, Harrowed. 
H, Unluurowcd ... 
Grain. 
Straw. 
bush. 
lbs. 
.17.13 
17.60 
.11.1)3 
11 . 6-1 
.12.40 
12.80 
-11.-li 
12.96 
..16.13 
16.72 
,14.58 
1S.28 
15.50 I 
.13.76 
14.89 
. 1,15 
1.21 
Increased yield of harrowed pluls. 1.I5 1.21 
It will bo observed that the yield of grain in 
every case, in the harrowed plats, exceeded 
the yield of the adjoining “unbarrowod” plats, 
a fact which seems to show, pretty conclusive¬ 
ly, that, t.lxis increased yield was caused by tho 
harrowing and by nothing else. It is true 
that this increased yield of less thun one and 
one-half bushel of grain ami one hundred und 
twenty-one pounds of straw in the harrowed 
plats, is not largo, but it is enough to give good 
pay for the labor of running a light harrow 
twice and a roller once over tho field, and at a 
season when farm labor is not particularly 
pressing. 
How Much Wheat Shrinks in the Bin. 
In tho Fall of 1879 1 prepared a long sack 
which was filled w ith exactly 200 lbs. of wheat, 
and sunk it deeply into a bin containing 150 
bushels of Winter wheat. Here the sack re¬ 
mained exactly six months, when it was taken 
up and again weighed, this second weighing 
showing a slight fraction over 201% lbs. as tho 
weight of tho sack of grain. This seemed to 
show that wheat does not shrink in tho bin. I 
have just now finished a repetition of this ex¬ 
periment, giving almost precisely the same re¬ 
sults as those detailed above. On November 
18th, 1880, a similar long stack was sunk iu a 
bin of grain, where it was allowed to remain 
until June 14th last, or exactly seven months 
und a day, when it was taken up und again 
weighed, this second weighing showing a full 
-‘Ol lbs. of grain. 1 am not going to offer an 
explanation Of this increased weight of a half 
pound in the one case und one pound iu the 
other. This fact becomes all the more ranark- 
uble when we consider that our Kansas Win¬ 
ters are among tho dryest seasons found auy- 
whero. These experiments do seem to show 
that wheat does not shrink from evaporation 
in the bin when put up perfectly dry. The 
loss of weight from wintering over wheat, of 
which 1 have heard farmers complain, must 
then m justice be charged up to tho rats and 
niice or the leaky condition of the granary. 
WHEAT CULTURE AND EXPERI¬ 
MENTS. 
PROFESSOR I. P. ROBERTS. 
About two-thirds of our experiments are 
thrashed and the results are given below. Tho 
land was stiff, poor, day soil and has lieon 
under constant cultivation for nine years ; one 
year in oats ; in 1874 and 1879 it was summer- 
fallowed ; during the remaining six years it has 
been in wheat. The field selected was about 
twice as long as wide, and tho plats have run 
the long way of the field until the last year 
when thoy r were changed to the short way. 
i 
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sn 
mm 
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WZrd 
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\ 
ELACK-BEARDKD CESTK.VMIL — AVERAGE HEAD.—FROM 
LIFE.— KIQ. 141. 
The season has been far from good, Cold dry 
winds iu April did much damage, especially 
where the fields were exposed to their full 
force. Those fields protected by hills or tim¬ 
ber belts suffered least; but many of those 
that came safely through the Spriug suil’orod 
to the extent of from five to ten bushels’ loss 
per acre on account of high winds and heavy 
rains in June. Tho grain is badly shrunken in 
tlio lodged places, lint plump and fine where 
it stood up. 
Seneca, one of the great wheat comities of 
this State, will not have ubove half an average 
yield. The groimd there was badly run to¬ 
gether this Spring, caused by its being fitted 
when too dry, the soil becoming a bed of dust 
which ran together like mortar with the first 
heavy ruin. 
Cayuga County will have three-fourths as 
much, and Tompkins—not a good wheat 
county naturally—at. least seven-eighths as 
much us usual. Wo have thrashed about one- 
third of our crop (StK) bushels) and the yield, 
not, including the experimental field, Is be¬ 
tween 87 and 88 bushels per acre, which is far 
better than we expected, as it was badly 
lodged. 
541 PLOTS ONE-TENTH OF AN ACRE. 
Experiments in wheat 1880 Sc 1881. 
Yield per 
aere In 
bushels. 
bush, lbs. 
. 1 Bushel seed. Phosphate 2001bs per aero. 
i 1 ^ “ •* ** *■ ; 
5,2 “ " Broadcast. Phosphate 2i Olbs per I 
acre 133110 
6 2 " " ■inilbs Crocker Superphos . 26 ;» 
7 2 » Nothing. .. SOHO 
8 2 “ “ lOUlLm Swift-Sure. ... 25120 
9 2 “ "Nothing. (u 40 
10 i “ " loJoads of manure. aylur, 
11 l " “ Nothing. 117(20 
12 J " "OmibsHan.. 22 25 
13 2 " ",'uulbH Crocker Superploa. iUUlb | I 
Sulphate or Ammonia.. 24 55 
152 “ "20UJbsSwirt-Sure l'hos. 28 l 2*> 
16 2 “ “ axilbs Crocker Superphos. 24 40 
17 2 “ “ Nothing. 122 50 
18 2 “ " KXIlbs Pacific Guano l’hos. 126 20 
ig2 “ “ No manure tor six years.|l5(30 
RESULTS. 
The results of plots 5, 0, 7, and 8 I do not 
consider reliable, os the greater part of each 
was flooded for a short time and some plant 
food from the adjoining fields was evidently 
deposited and the yield increased thereby. 
Drilled seeding has givuu two bushels and 
twenty-five pounds per acre us an average of 
the last five years over broadcast sowing. This 
year it gives forty pounds less. The explana¬ 
tion above, I think, fully accounts for this. 
8 UMMAR* 1881. 
Unfertilized plots except 7. 
Phosphates 
Farm munures 
Sixth cout 
fertilizers. 
bush. 
lbs. 
2 y 
6 
5 
2-1 
41W 
19 
3?S 
22 
25 
the normal 
19 
37 J* 
2 
47 ^ 
5 
m2 
0 
b 
27)2 
15 
30 
31 
00 
31 
51 
:U 
42 
18 
27 
7 
51 
23 
14 
“ fair 1876. 18 27 
“ I.. 1816 ,, 7 51 
Average for six years . 23 14 
The object of this experiment has been to 
prove the great value of the thorough prepara¬ 
tion of the soil. But, tile full value of the ex¬ 
periments can be appreciated only by those 
who have seen the unpromising condition of 
the ground upon which they have been con¬ 
ducted. 
AVERAGE OF SIX YEARS’ THICK AND THIN SEEDING. 
bush. lbs. 
3 bushels per acre... 25 4541 
2 “ " . 23 30 
4 years, 11* bush, per acre : 2years, IT. bush. 23 % 
Comparison of all pliosphated plots 
with a like number of adjoining un¬ 
fertilized ones for six years : 
Phosphu led.... :t> 22 
Unfertilized..... 27 52 4-9 
Comparison of salted with unsalted 
plots for three years ; 
Salted.... 26 28W 
U instiled....... 22 58>j 
Comparison tor three years: 
F. Y. manures, 14 loads, about 5 cords. 33 33 U 
Unfertilized. 20 55 
The prices realized for this wheat were as 
follows : $1.75, $1.00, $1.15, average $1.32 ; 
1" bush. 3HJ>£ lbs., the extra yield over the tin- 
manured plots, brought $10.(18. Fourteen 
loads of manure (small ones, as the hill is very 
heavy out of Ithaca) cost $10.50 spread on the 
field. In several Instances the good effect of 
tho manure was quite as conspicuous the sec¬ 
ond year as the first.. Our experience and all 
experiments, both iu this country and Europe, 
show the lasting effect 0 farmyard manures. 
1 speak from careful observation and 
estimates, when 1 say I behove that over half 
of the farmyard manure of tho United States 
is wantonly and uselessly wasted ; frequently, 
too, by those who have to purchase phosphates 
at $30 to $40 per ton to supplement the con¬ 
tents of “ Dry chaff’s dung cart, that creaking 
hoarse tlmt carries to the field tho dead laxly 
whose spirit has departed.’’ 
Tests of varieties : Plots one-twelfth of an 
acre, lund gravelly; had been in Orchard Grass 
for the two preceding yeara. Plowed once 
in July and top-dressed with v. T. manure 
and 1501bs. of phosphates per ucx-e drilled in 
with the wheat. 
yield per acre. 
. S? 35 
South Wales from Agricultural Dep’t. 1). C. Failure 
Quid Medal. 44 26 
On the further end of the same field on 
poor land the following experiments were 
tried with the Clawson wheat: 
bush. lbs. 
F. Y. manures about 5 cords per acre.... 22 49 U 
F. V. manures as above, and 1501 bs of 
phosphates. 22 00 
I would be pleased to receive oue-half bushel 
of any variety of wheat not anew) iu the 
above experiment, for the purpose of testing its 
productiveness. If the seed sent is really clean 
and the shrunken grains have been screened 
out, one-quorter of a bushel would be sufficient. 
If senders of samples desire, I will pay for the 
sack, and a reasonable price for the wheat. 
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
- 
IN THE WHEAT FIELD. 
HUGH L. WYSOR. 
Bald and Bearded Wheats. 
W hat is the advantage or disadvantage of 
boarded over lienrdless varieties of wheat in 
growing, thrashing and milling '! Ought the 
beardless to yield more than the bourded ?— 
are questions which the Rural has suggested 
for me to answer. In making a comparison, 
it must be understood that these remarks ap¬ 
ply almost exclusively—so far as bearded va¬ 
rieties are concerned —to those of the Mediter¬ 
ranean type. Note here that tho Swamp 
VY heat, distributed several years ago by the 
Department of Agriculture anil occasionally 
mentioned in the Rural crop reports, pos¬ 
sesses no characteristics to distinguish it from 
the Mediterranean. They ore practically the 
same. There are other bearded wheate which 
have a merely local reputation, and are not 
generally known. Of such is the Jennings, a 
bearded white flint with a stiff straw. 
\Y hat, then, are the advantages of bearded 
wheats? They are hardier, tiller more, and 
grow on thinner and more exposed soils than 
the bald. They are seldom attacked by mil¬ 
dew, and if they are so, are never very ser¬ 
iously injured. If they are laid or lodged by 
storms or other causes, the ears are measur¬ 
ably well filled, which is not the case with the 
bald kinds, if we leave out the bald white 
Hints, the bearded excel in making a rich 
yellow flour, which, while not as white, 
commands fully us high a price in the mar¬ 
kets as that made from the bald white flint 
sorts. In confirmation of this, it may be 
stated that our Richmond millers pay from 
10 to 15 cents more per bushel for the Long- 
berry than they do for Fultz, which is, as they 
term it, too soft; that is, contains too large a 
percentage of starch. Finally, I do not re¬ 
member ever having seen smut in bearded 
wheats. I have seen fields of Fultz so full of 
smut that it could be smelt at a distance of 50 
yards from the field. 
What are the objections to bearded wheats ? 
Their straw is too soft; they are therefore 
not suited to rich or uihivinl soils, on which 
they frequently lodge or fall flat.. The beards, 
too, retai nin g water after a rainfall, the straw 
bends beneath the increased weight, and is 
laid by the wind. Further, after the wheat 
is dried iu the shock, the chuil' falls away from 
and partly exposes the grain, which wastes 
considerably in hauling to the slack or bam. 
LI his seems to us a w eighty objection.— Eds.] 
Lustly, the boards make the wheat very dis¬ 
agreeable to handle both in harvesting and in 
thrashing. In some mysterious way they 
creep through tho clothes and keep the skin in 
a constant state of irritation, partieularly if 
the weather is hot. They are also probably 
not the best things in the world to be fed to 
cattle in the straw. 
In answer to the question, “Ought bald to 
yield more thun bearded kinds ?” it may be said 
that, as a matter-of-fact, they do because the lat¬ 
ter seldom exhibit more than two kernels to the 
spikelot. This deficiency, however, is in part 
made up by the large size of the groin. Still 
there is no assignable reason why u bearded 
wheat Way not be produced which shall equal 
in productive capacity any of the bald sorts. 
I have sent the Rural a new- bearded wheat, 
the origin of which is unknown to me, which 
shows four, aud, in a case or two, five grains 
to the spikelet. 
Smut in Wheat. 
Some weeks ugo a correspondent of the 
Rural inquired the cavu.3 of black heatls ap¬ 
pearing in wheat. The answer supposed that 
he hail reference to snmt ears, but he probably 
alluded to the blasted ears which frequently, 
and sometimes iu great numbers, appear in 
bald wheats. They are more correctly not 
ears at all, for there is nothing on top of the 
culm but the blackened rachis without any 
spikelets. These black heads do not injure 
the remainder of the wheat iu any way what¬ 
ever. Snmt, on the contrary, exhibits noth¬ 
ing to the inexperienced eye to distinguish it 
from ears of good wheat. In fact, it attracts 
attention by its unusually bold and flaring 
appetmmee. The observer has only to apply 
an ear of this sort to his nose to satisfy him¬ 
self of its nature. Tho kernels of smut are at 
fu st green like those of wheat, and turn black 
when matured. An ear of wheat will some¬ 
times contain both kernels of smut and of 
sound wheat. 
There seems to bo no better established 
fact than that smut is a fungus which grows 
uik)u aud destroys the grains of wheat which 
it has attacked, yet I have recently met an 
intelligent fanner of this county who attri- 
