Von. LXVIII No. 4011. 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 11, 1909. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
WHEAT GROWING. 
Preparation and Seeding in a Three-Year Rotation. 
Our rotation is a three-year one, growing annually 
18 acres each of wheat, clover and potatoes in the 
order mentioned. During potato harvest the potato 
vines are often raked and burned daily, if weather 
appears unfavorable, to destroy disease and insects 
that might harbor therein. Formerly these vines 
were carefully gathered and tenderly spread on sod 
which was plowed the next Spring for potatoes. And 
just where these valuable vines were put, there, 
the next year, the potatoes invariably died, two to 
four weeks prematurely, before the adjoining po¬ 
tatoes, in spite of vigorous and liberal doses of 
Bordeaux. Scientific men have told us there was 
no possible connecting link between the old vines 
and the disease. The above are facts. Will some 
one please explain the phenomenon? While humus 
cranks may go into convulsions over this nitrogen 
loss from burning, we sleep peacefully, and see no 
alarming ghosts ahead. 
The potato stubble is either thoroughly twice har¬ 
rowed with spring-tooth, or preferably, twice disked 
with double-acting Cutaway, straight across potato 
rows, then diagonally and leveling up with spring- 
tooth., Roller is used generally only to reduce lumps, 
i he bottom of the seed-bed is firm and hard, which 
is ideal in some ways for a wheat crop. Even with 
this tillage, if the season following is a dry one, 
the wheat and often the clover, too, the second year, 
show unmistakably the previous potato rows. By 
actual staking rows, previously, the best wheat, also 
clover, is found to be between the rows and not on 
the old potato row, as some contend. 
For wheat seeding an 11-hoe, 7-inch grain and 
fertilizer drill with Timothy seed attachment is 
used. Usually 350 pounds of three per cent nitro¬ 
gen, eight per cent phosphoric acid, and 12 per cent 
potash, home-mixed fertilizer is applied, not to help 
he wheat, which undoubtedly captures it, but to 
give the clover and Alfalfa the following Spring a 
good send-off. Dawson’s Golden Chaff wheat was 
grown up to 1907, but on account of smut damag- 
U1 g it materially (formalin treatment did not help), 
■t was discarded and a new variety, Klondike, was 
i 
tried, which has thus far proved satisfactory and 
free from smut. It is a white plump wheat, bald 
head, stiff straw, good yielder, but readily grows in 
the shock when wet weather conditions are excess¬ 
ive. Two and one-fourth bushels of clean wheat 
are sown per acre, which is considered proper quan¬ 
tity for maximum yield, for this rotation and time 
of seeding, varying from October 1 to 25. Such 
heavy seeding tends toward maximum growth and 
yield, but the clover may suffer more damage than 
the possible gain, particularly so if lodging occurs; 
then it is farewell clover. With late seeding, wheat 
stooling is very little compared with early seeding, 
September 10-15, when 1% to two bushels is liberal. 
Early seeding is preferable, except in Flessian fly 
seasons, because the growth affords Winter protec¬ 
tion, but in this rotation, growing the Sir Walter 
Raleigh potato, a late variety, earlier seeding is 
practicable only in exceptional seasons; however, if 
the wheat could be sown by the middle of Septem¬ 
ber, conservative friends say the yield would occa¬ 
sionally reach an even 50 bushels per acre in a favor¬ 
able season. Previously at wheat seeding time, seven 
quarts of Timothy seed has been sown per acre, but 
this amount will be cut down this year to two 
quarts, and later entirely eliminated, because clover 
and Alfalfa are more certain than heretofore, and 
in them are redemption agencies. 
Owing to late seeding wheat ripens perhaps a 
week later. Grain binder, six-foot cut, is used, and 
82% pounds of standard twine were required to tie 
16 acres this year. It is no snap job operating a 
binder, when the straight grain comes on to apron 
as fast as elevator will take it, let alone the lodged 
and tangled places. It was pull in and pull out until 
machine could clear itself. The binder made many 
howls and roars. Two acres were in an apple or¬ 
chard, and were handled by the “Armstrong” har¬ 
vester—grain cradle. Binder is not started until 
wheat is dead ripe and hard, as it is thrashed from 
the shock. Thrashing in the field was done July 30, 
1909, by an 18 horse-power traction engine and self¬ 
feeding, self-weighing, wind-stacking separator, using 
1,720 pounds soft coal. Three men pitched in field, 
four teams drew the 53 loads of bundles and five 
jags rakings (30 bushels), two men on straw stack, 
two men bagging and tying, two men and one team 
drew grain, one man in granary and one man rak¬ 
ing; three men with thrashing rig. Yield, 780 bush¬ 
els. Average, 43 bushels per acre, and will hold out. 
Wheat was sown September 30 and October 1, 1908, 
the earliest-ever sown after-potatoes. No fertilizer 
used. Fertilizer was ordered, but arrived too late 
—day after seeding was completed. t. e. martin. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
AN “ANALYSIS” OF TOBACCO. 
Still another “get-rich-quick” scheme. Take a look 
at the attached clipping and then figure that the to¬ 
bacco retails at five cents per ounce, and you can. 
raise five tons of Alfalfa to the acre; this means 
about $8,000 per acre. What per cent does the pro¬ 
ducer get of the retail price of this crop? I thought 
you would be interested, as Alfalfa is one of your 
pet hobbies. c. F. r„ 
Galeton, Pa. 
The Government analysis of Bull Durham smoking to¬ 
bacco is that it contains 63 per cent Alfalfa, 6 per cent 
arsenic, 1 per cent opium, 3 per cent fluid and but 27 
per cent tobacco. And neither does it bear the union 
label. 
R. N.-Y.—We doubt if there is in the country a 
better friend of Alfalfa or a worse enemy of to¬ 
bacco. This looked like a great chance to strike a 
large “fake” hard. We have learned, however, that 
not everything that wears the “Government” label is 
genuine. So we wrote to Washington to make sure. 
Here we have the facts: 
Replying to your inquiry, I would say that, so far as 
we are aware, no analyses of Bull Durham or other 
brands of smoking tobacco have been made by any 
branch of the Government service. Certainly the analysis 
which you mention as indicating this brand of tobacco to 
be composed chiefly of Alfalfa in addition to containing 
arsenic and opium was not made by this Department. 
Some 18 months ago reports were widely circulated in 
the press' to the effect that this Department had investi¬ 
gated various brands of smoking tobaccos and found these 
to be largely adulterated, but this report was entirely 
without foundation. We do not know of any analyses of 
manufactured tobaccos with reference to adulteration hav¬ 
ing been published from any source. w. w. garner. 
Physiologist in Charge of Tobacco Investigations. 
Our business is to stand upon facts and not to 
jump at conclusions. It appears that the quoted 
“analysis” is bogus—does not fit the tobacco. 
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VIEW OF THE WHEAT FIELD OF T. E. MARTIN, MONROE CO., N. Y. Fig. 455. 
