Ifllo. 
MTHIC RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
671 
OLD-TIME WHEAT CULTURE. 
In reading an old history of Schoharie 
County, which has been in the family as 
long as I can remember, I ran across the 
following anecdote which I hope may be 
as interesting to The readers of The R. 
N.-Y. as it was to me. I have copied 
the story word for word as it appears in 
the old history. 
“Brown says the first wheat was sown 
in Schoharie in the Fall of 1713 by Lam¬ 
bert Sternberg of Garlocksdorf. As I have 
shown the arrival of the Germans to have 
been two years earlier than the time stated 
by him, I suppose the first wheat to have 
been sown in the Fall of 1711. As Sclienec- 
tada (now spelled Schenectady) was nearer 
the Schoharie settlement than Albany, for 
such necessaries as they required the first 
few years, they visited the former place 
the most frequently. Those who possessed 
the means bought wheat where at two shill¬ 
ings a spint (peck) or six shillings a 
skipple, had it ground, and returned home 
with it on their backs, by a lonely Indian 
footpath through a heavy forest. It was 
thus Sternberg carried the first skipple of 
wheat ever taken to Schoharie in the 
berry. He resided near the present resi¬ 
dence of Henry Sternberg, a descendant of 
his. On the west side of the river oppo¬ 
site Garlocksdorf, had been an Indian cas¬ 
tle, which had been abandoned about the 
time the Germans arrived. On the ground 
within the dilapidated inclosure the wheat 
was sown or rather planted (as they had 
no plows or horses), over more than an 
acre of ground ; it was planted within this 
yard because it was a warm rich piece of 
ground with little grass on it and being 
inclosed, would remove the dangers of hav¬ 
ing the crop destroyed by deer, which were 
numerous on the surrounding mountains. 
This wheat, which rooted remarkably well 
in the Fall, stood so thin from having 
been scattered over so much ground that 
it was hoed in the Spring like a patch of 
corn; and well was the husbandman re¬ 
warded for his labor. Every berry sent 
forth several stalks, every stalk sustained 
a drooping head and every head teemed 
with numerous berries. When ripe it was 
gathered with the greatest care, not a sin¬ 
gle head was lost, and when thrashed the 
one yielded 83 skipples. In these days when 
the weevil scarcely allows three, to say 
nothing of the 80 bushels from one, this 
statement would perhaps be looked upon as 
incredible were not all the circumstances 
known. Many procured seed from Stern¬ 
berg, and it was not long before the set¬ 
tlers raised wheat enough for their own 
consumption. 
“For several years they had most of their 
wheat floured at Schenectada. They usually 
went in parties of 15 or 20 at a time to be 
better able to defend themselves against 
wild beasts, which were then numerous be¬ 
tween the two places. Often there were as 
many women as men on these journeys, and 
as they had to encamp at least one night 
in the woods, the women frequently dis¬ 
played, when in danger, as much coolness 
and bravery as their liege lords. A skipple 
was the quantity usually borne by each indi¬ 
vidual, but the stronger often carried more. 
Not infrequently they left Schoharie to go 
to mill on the morning of one day and 
went home on the morning of the next, 
performing a journey of between 40 and 
50 miles in 24 hours or less, bearing the 
ordinary burden; but at such times they 
traveled most of the night without encamp¬ 
ing. It is said that women were not in- 
frequently among those who performed the 
journey in the shortest time, preparing a 
breakfast for their families from the flour 
they had brought on the morning after they 
left home. Where is the matron now to be 
found in the whole valley of Schoharie who 
would perform such a journey in such a 
plight?” 
\\ ere the author of the above alive at 
the present time he might have to look 
farther than the valley of Schoharie to 
hnd the man who could make 25 miles with 
50 pounds of wheat on his back, and re¬ 
turn with the flour in 24 hours. a. j. h. 
“PERMANENT PASTURES." 
fn regard to query of J. P. in late issue, 
''hat combination of seeds would you use 
to get it?” we will say that the best pas¬ 
ture for any locality is the one from the 
growth of the grass seed natural to it. You 
will find it along the roadsides or in a 
timber lot. Nature adapts grass to the 
kind and condition of soil and climate, 
ibis does not consist of one kind of grass, 
by any means, since if you will examine 
lt cl°sely, you will find a dozen or a score 
with one in the majority. The seeds of 
these are in the soil unless it has been 
tilled most unmercifully, and if it is aban¬ 
doned for farming purposes, they will make 
an excellent sod in time. It would not 
no wise for J. p. to wait for this, because 
Set it sooner and realize some 
profit trom his four acres in the meantime. 
He should plow and put it into the best 
possible condition, with manure worked 
nto the surface soil, or fertilizer, or both, 
I', °ne bushel of oats or barley with 
,,, Srass seed, and cut it before it gets 
01 ' it all for hay. I would sow 
• onm of all the tame grasses. Blue grass, 
tea-top, and every other one likely to 
glow in that locality. Nature is prodigal 
. Klve ® u , s the rule. Even in general 
,nin S it is folly to grow Timothy, or 
a,ono ' or any other tamo 
” t a ®? a y itself, and the man who asks his 
nmm . t0 f at a I )ure 11 a.v should be fed 
niontli 01 P° ta toes without salt for a 
vtA'"® npvel ' sow less than four kinds. 
t atura "ses more than that in every pas- 
n , ide ® a targe variety of weeds for 
lelish. it is not expected that all of 
these seeds will permanently produce, but 
no one knows which ones are adapted, so 
nature must have a good chance to choose 
the proper ones. White clover is likely 
to be permanent and Alsike may hold on 
a while, though Alfalfa and clover must 
go soon, but not before they have done a 
work which will pay for their seed many 
times over. 
The fact must not be lost sight of that 
the natural grass will be the principal one 
and the others fillers, and that when the 
soil is given the right kind of show, it 
will pick out the proper ones. It would 
require some work, but might pay to spread 
some broken sods and soil from near the 
surface to carry the natural seeds to many 
places of the field. This is the first step, 
and I cannot conceive of any element of 
failure in it, but there will bo a total 
failure unless other correct rules are kept 
in mind. If stock is to be turned in at 
once, if the field will be tramped, or if 
that set is not to be cherished and nour¬ 
ished, we may as well quit now. It will 
take at least three years’ care to arrive 
at a permanency. Go to nature again and 
find a set with absolutely no misses, the 
top soil so full of roots that you cannot 
stick a pin in it without piercing them. 
Nature used hundreds of years for that 
condition, but we can do it in five by 
letting it alone as much as is necessary, and 
supplying humus for feed and mulch with 
manure. It is possible to fix four acres so 
it will produce as much as 40 like the 
average uncared-for pasture. The writer 
saw thousands of acres of so-called per¬ 
manent pastures on both sides of the rail¬ 
road, between Shelby and Cleveland, one 
dry Fall, and had more vegetation on 50 
at home than was on the whole territory. 
There was no pasture. There were some 
roots, presumably, and short crowns, but 
the black or clay soil showed as far as 
the eye could see. No field is fit to be 
called a pasture if soil can be seen any¬ 
where. Grass should never be eaten off 
short because hearty plants and a mulch 
of their own are necessary at all times. 
It is a case of “them that has, gets.” The 
new grass of our fields is now showing 
through last year’s old, with three times 
the growth of that where it was eaten 
close, and in case of a dry time there is 
no growth where short. As it is, we 
could make a lawn any place. There is no 
place manure pays as well as on pasture. 
It gives three profits, by its chemicals, its 
mulch and as it soils it so it is not eaten 
and can get the growth necessary. 
Pasture should go into Winter with a 
mat on it, and the hoofs of heavy animals 
have no use there unless the ground is dry 
or frozen, then to make it more productive, 
todder, hay, and ear corn can be hauled 
out and fed on It. The silo would not 
show such a large per cent, of profit 
above the way fodder is fed, if it was all 
put where it belongs, on a permanent pas¬ 
ture, in the Winter, leaving the stalks to 
settle among the grass, and the droppings 
of the animals in the proper place. A 
good pasture field is of equal value with 
any other farm crop of the same number 
of acres. It takes as much care and cost 
to get it also and if you have any idea 
that pasture, fruit or any good thing can 
be had gratuitously forget it. 
„ W. W. REYNOLDS. 
Ohio. 
WnEN you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
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HOW TO GROW 
AUPAUFA 
ON YOUK farm or country estate 
It is now time to plan and piepare for the summer planting. You can grow Alfalfa on your 
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Let us tell you of the method of growing Vetch with your spring planting of Oats to increase the Oat crop 
and enrich the soil at the same time. Also how to secure the same results by growing; Soy Beans or other le¬ 
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