378 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Dec. 
it was grown, I had about eight bushels more per acre 
than on the part where the white grew. At that time 
there was a prejudice against it—some condemning it, 
and saying, that the flour made from it, was little bet¬ 
ter than rye. It is now fully acclimated and such 
complaints are rarely heard, though it must be admit¬ 
ted it is not altogether proof, against eifher^y or rust, 
and I never found any wheat that was. From what I 
have got out this season, I think I am safe in estima¬ 
ting the yield from 20 acres at 500 bushels. This, at 
present prices, is better than raising no wheat at all. 
My practice is to plant a field with corn two years 
in succession, planting on the inverted sod the first 
year—the second year I manure the ground heavity 
in the spring from the barn-yard, turning it under well, 
and after passing a heavy roller over it, it is without 
further preparation marked out and planted. This 
manuring sometimes serves for both the corn and the 
wheat crop : but last season, I had enough left over to 
serve as a light dressing for about half the ground; 
the remainder had about 175 lbs of guano mixed with 
plaster, to the acre. There was very little difference 
perceptible at harvest, and I thought the money ex¬ 
pended for guano was not lost on the wheat crop alone, 
and I incline to think the grass will derive some bene¬ 
fit from it. 
Farming as I do, with wheat after corn, and gene¬ 
rally a part of the field after potatoes, I am apt to be 
a little behind in seeding, and even here I find an ad¬ 
vantage in Mediterranean wheat, as on trial I have 
found it to do better sown late, than any variety I 
have ever tried, either white or red. I mostly sow 
timothy seed soon after sowing (or I should say drills 
ing, for all my wheat for a few years past has been 
put in with a drill which has pretty generally taken 
the place of other modes hereaway,) and clover early 
in the spring following. In this way I generally suc¬ 
ceed in having my fields well seeded with grass. There 
is one remark of your correspondent, that with your 
permission, (though with no view of engaging in con¬ 
troversy) I will not pass over unnoticed. Speaking of 
the wheat above mentioned, he says,—“ It is more 
liable to smut, rust and chess, which grows more natu¬ 
ral with it, than with any other.” As regards smut, 
I have never been troubled with that—as to chess , it 
will grow natural with any wheat that contains it; 
and, give it fair play, overpower it too, in due time. 
It is however the proper business of the husbandman 
not to admit any such intruder, and the only safe plan 
is, to sow wheat perfectly clean. If this course is ad¬ 
hered to, the chess, as a matter of course, will soon 
disappear. I once heard a man complain, who had 
sold his wheat,that he had been docked in the price 
on its delivery, on account of the cockle! I believe 
the latter has never been prized as an article for bread, 
whatever may have been its value in former times 
when large wigs and powdered wigs were both in 
fashion. The sooner a farmer makes up his mind not 
to sow or drill in with his wheat, either cockle or chess, 
thi better for all parties. 
The cause of rust is perhaps not very well under- 
. . 
stood. The season seems to have something to do with 
it—the kind of weather when the wheat is about com¬ 
ing to maturity—the kind of manure used, heavy fogs, 
&c. are all thought to have an influence. It is rare I 
believe, that wheat that has had a good dressing of 
leached ashes, has been injured with the rust, and I 
think it is more apt to escape where barn-yard manure 
has not been directly applied to it, but to the crop that 
has preceded it, either of corn or potatoes, provided 
it has been put in sufficiently early, as late sown wheat 
is much more liable to rust than early sown. 
After a trial of some ten or twelve years, I have 
generally succeeded so well with the Mediterranean 
wheat, that I feel cautious of making a change, ex¬ 
cept in a small way, or as an experiment, nor would I 
advise any one under the same circumstances, to sub¬ 
stitute it for a good variety of white wheat. But 
whatever variety may be used, too much care cannot 
be taken, to have it perfectly clean. It is considered 
among good farmers not only necessary to have a good 
variety of corn, adapted to the soil and climate, but 
also to select the best ears of that variety for planting, 
and that an improvement may be made in that way. 
If a similar plan was pursued in regard to seed wheat, 
an advantage would probably result, although the pro¬ 
cess might seem to be rather a tedious one. There is 
however one plan within the reach of all, at a trifling 
expense either of money or time. By means of a 
hand-riddle of the proper size, all the small shrivelled, 
and imperfect grains can be taken out of a few bushels 
of wheat, together with the chess, cockle, «fcc. with very 
little labor or loss of time (for it may he done at a 
time of leisure,) and this wheat appropriated for seed. 
A small quantity in this way would furnish seed for 
the next year, and if this plan was followed up for a 
few years by our farmers generally, there would pro¬ 
bably be a manifest improvement in the quality of the 
wheat grown, and the controversy about wheat turn¬ 
ing to chess, would soon come to an end and be put at 
rest. We never have any complaint about wheat 
turning to rye, and yet if both are raised on the same 
farm they are very apt to get together, aud in some 
instances it has been hard to tell which was intended 
to be raised. If our winters were not rather severe 
for the oat crop, the wheat would also have to contend 
against that. 
In conclusion I would say that probably four-fifths 
of all the wheat grown in this county (Salem, N. J.) 
at the present time, is Mediterranean; at least I was 
informed that of the two to three hundred thousand 
bushels bought and sold yearly by one dealer, that 
was about the proportion. This shows how it is esti¬ 
mated in some sections of the country, however low 
it may stand in others. C. W. 10//i month 3 Qth, 1854. 
The Cow Cherry again. —Our friends in New 
Scotland keep us apprised of the amount of butter 
produced by the cow Cherry, owned by Miss Brice. 
She had a calf on the 28th Sept., and from her milk in 
28 days (Oct. 2 to 28) was made 46§ lbs. of good but¬ 
ter, which was sold in this city at 2s. 4d. = $13.29. 
