PRACTICAL PAPERS—WHEAT CULTURE. 
241 
A little reflection will convince any one that no special, tech¬ 
nical acquaintance with agriculture is necessary for the prepara¬ 
tion of a useful article on the conditions of success or failure in 
wheat growing, when almost everything of value pertaining to 
the subject can be found, and be found only in the recorded 
experiments of practical wheat growers. These records are of 
course numerous, and they embody the experience of a multi¬ 
tude of practical farmers of many states and countries. They 
are also the result of many years’ observation. On diligently 
searching these records, and faithfully and accurately comparing 
and condensing the reports, I have found, contrary to my ex¬ 
pectation, the evidences so numerous and so positive in one 
direction, that what I had supposed, and what is so generally 
supposed to be a mystery, seems no mystery at all. 
The very uniform failure of the wheat crop in the longer set¬ 
tled portions of our country, and the constant westward pro¬ 
gress of its successful cultivation, can be satisfactorily ex¬ 
plained. It is the object of the present paper to give this ex¬ 
planation— an explanation based upon the solid facts of expe¬ 
rience, and commending itself to the reason and common sense 
of all intelligent minds. The only wonder is, that the truth 
is not generally known and admitted by farmers, whom, as a 
class, it most intimately concerns. 
Failure.of wheat is not due to climatic changes. Before 
proceeding to state the real causes of the failure in wheat 
growing, I must allude to this very generally supposed cause 
which there is good reason to think has little, and probably 
nothing, to do with the problem.* It is a quite generally 
received opinion that the occupation and cultivation of a new 
* Evidently our author in coming to this conclusion has overlooked certain important 
facts which have a bearing on the question. A careful examination of the statistics 
given in connection with the results of experiments, to which he alludes farther on, 
will prove conclusively that the character of the season has much to do both with the 
amount of the yield and the quality of the crop ; and again, with us, the seed, soil and 
culture being the same, in exceptional years (as 1853 and 1860) when the distribution of 
heat and moisture was favorable, the yield, in quantity and quality, has been equal to 
that of the best former years. It has also been our own experience (which is confirmed 
by observation) that with new soil and the same conditions of tillage we cannot now get 
near as large a yield, or as good a berry as when the country was first settled. This 
must, in some measure, be attributed to less favorable conditions of climate. That there 
has been a marked change in this respect every old settler, who has closely observed 
these things, will admit; and that this must be the case, will be evident to those acquaint¬ 
ed with the effect upon the climate of a country of a heavy natural growth of grass, brush 
and timber, in connection with a large area of surface covered with water. There has 
been a <rreat change in these conditions, and it has wrought its natural effect on our cli¬ 
mate.— Editor. 
10—Ag. Tk. 
