356 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Nov. 
case with a few isolated places, is taken for granted to be 
general. In preparing some original papers on the agri¬ 
cultural and other resources of the west, we shall be in¬ 
fluenced entirely by a strong desire of doing justice to 
all sections of the country, and whilst the bright side of 
the picture shall be constantly presented to the vivid no¬ 
tice of the readers of the Cultivator, we shall not fail to 
expose, in a becoming manner, any glaring defects that 
may come under our notice. Indeed, our object is not 
so much to criticise, as it is to place before the public 
an array of facts and deductions, based upon the enlight¬ 
ened practice of others, which shall have for their ob¬ 
ject the improved cultivation of the soil, and the eleva¬ 
tion of the social and moral condition of the rural popu¬ 
lation. 
The north-western states and territories afford an al¬ 
most boundless field for the operations of a philanthro¬ 
pic mind; and, judging from what we have already seen, 
no portion of the Union so much requires the presence 
of a numerous and powerful band of men, devoted to 
the introduction of the practical sciences, in combination 
with the various branches of agriculture. In so great 
an enterprise, no single individual can do much ; but 
finding that the country is dotted over with many intel¬ 
ligent farmers, who are anxiously endeavoring to sift the 
wheat from the chaff, by reading the mass of agricultu¬ 
ral literature with which our country abounds, and by 
adopting a course of experiments based upon the most 
enlightened practice, we have reason to take courage, 
and have faith that every facility will be afforded, that 
could be desired, to enable us to bring into notice the 
present and probable future condition of the states and 
territories bordering on the upper Mississippi. 
The manner of arranging our matter will be somewhat 
varied, to suit the exigencies of the case; but for the 
present, we shall content ourselves in discussing a few 
subjects .under appropriate heads, in the hope that we 
shall be able to remove many false impressions that have 
obtained favor by those who have never personally in¬ 
vestigated the matter. 
The Cultivation of Wheat. —For the past five 
years, the w’heat crop has been a partial failure through¬ 
out the entire prairie country of the west. The causes 
producing this result, have been various, and in no two 
seasons of a similar character. The losses already from 
this source, have been such as to dispirit the wheat grow¬ 
ing farmers, and many are now turning their attention 
to other branches of agriculture. The Hessian fly, the 
blight, the rust, and winter-killing, are the main agen¬ 
cies through which these unexpected losses have been 
brought about; and it is now thought questionable by 
many sensible farmers, whether a prairie country can be 
made profitable for the cultivation of winter wheat. Ho 
one doubts the capacity of the soil for the production of 
breadstuff, but the opinion is gaining favor that it is useless 
to attempt it on a large scale until some better plan of 
managing the crop is discovered, which will admit of ge¬ 
neral adoption. How far this opinion may be true, it 
will be our purpose to investigate, and in doing so, we 
shall be influenced by the single motive of affording as 
much information upon this difficult question, as our li¬ 
mited acquaintance with the country, and the prevailing 
system of agriculture practiced, will enable us to do. 
Before suggesting any plan for the amelioration of the 
condition of the wheat growers of Illinois and Iowa, it 
would be well to first investigate the plans of culture 
that are ordinarily practiced, and then we shall be better 
understood when submitting our views for public criti¬ 
cism. 
The recently broken prairie sod, is now thought the 
most certain preparation for a winter wheat crop. The 
sod is usually broken in June and July, and if the 
rot be perfect, it is plowed the second time, mostly length¬ 
wise of the furrow, the last of August or in September, 
and sowed with wheat, at the rate of about six pecks 
per acre. By far the greater portion of the sod is only 
once plowed, and when it becomes well rotted, is har¬ 
rowed with a heavy inplement, and sown in the early 
part of September, covering the seed with the harrow. 
Neither fine seed harrows, or drilling machines, can be 
used to advantage on recently broken prairie sod. The 
whole process, necessarily, has to be done in the rough¬ 
est manner, and with but a trifling cost, yielding in an 
average of cases, from 10 to 15 bushels of marketable 
wheat per acre. As in Ohio, wheat frequently is made 
to follow in succession after a corn crop, and sometimes 
is sown among the standing corn, but generally is cut up 
and shocked in parallel rows across the field, leaving 
strips to be sown with a spring crop. The growth of 
weeds in a majority of cases, becomes so rank before the 
period of sowing the wheat, that the seed cannot be co¬ 
vered with anything like neatness, and to the mind of a 
tidy farmer, the whole process of sowing wheat after 
corn, cannot be viewed in a favorable light, and from 
the frequent failures from this source, has now but few 
advocates. Occasionally, naked summer fallows are at¬ 
tempted to be made, but with what success the reader 
may judge, when we state that stubble, or other land, is 
commonly broken up in June, and is then allowed to re¬ 
main almost untouched, till the latter part of August, 
when it is again plowed for seed, in broad, flat lands, and 
the seed sown and harrowed in, without making water 
furrows for carrying off the redundancy that more or 
less remains in the surface in winter and spring months. 
By thus plowing the summer fallow only twice, and that 
too, not exceeding some four inches in depth, the ground 
becomes covered with a thick growth of weeds, ranging 
from two to four feet in height, which to an eastern far¬ 
mer would at first sight appear to be an insuperable bar¬ 
rier against anything approaching a profitable course of 
farming. 
The foregoing, and other practices of a similar charac¬ 
ter, are among the prevailing modes of farming that are 
tolerated in those regions of country where the alarm of 
hard times, and the failure of crops, are the most fre¬ 
quent. But it must not be taken for granted that no 
exceptions to these slovenly operations are to be met 
with. On the contrary, some of the finest specimens of 
farm management, are occasionally to be seen, as exist 
in any of the most celebrated wheat regions of the 
Union. 
Those who have adopted the modern improvements in 
the cultivation and management of the wheat crop, have, 
aside from the contingencies always more or less atten¬ 
dant upon the success of this delicate crop, been richly 
rewarded for their trouble. Where deep plowing, and 
