SC eee 
682 
this kind of land has been repeatedly dunged, 
better crops have frequently been obtained after 
a full summer’s fallow without dung, than after 
a good dressing of dung without a full summer’s 
fallow. In some parts of the midland counties, 
upon the heavy soils, where a summer’s fallow is 
the preparation for wheat, about July or the be- 
ginning of August. when the soil has been tho- 
roughly cleaned and. pulverized, it is formed in- 
to two bout stitches 1 yard wide, and manured 
in precisely the same way as for turnips, putting 
on from 8 to 10 cart-loads per acre: others 
spread the dung on the surface and plough it in, 
forming their land into stitches from 2 to 8 
yards wide. In both cases, the land should re- 
main untouched from this period till the time of 
sowing. In the latter case, the seed is drilled in 
rows from 6 to 10 inches asunder. When labour 
is plentiful, the dibbling process is often adopt- 
ed, and then a less quantity of seed is sufficient. 
The horse-hoe is sometimes used to cut up the 
annual weeds immediately previous to sowing, 
which frequently grow very strong, and would be 
too much for the harrows to eradicate. When 
the former plan is adopted—namely, that of 
ploughing the land into two bout stitches—the 
plough is sufficient, and there is no necessity for 
the horse-hoe. The seed is sown under the fur- 
row in the ‘spraining’ method ; one seedsman to 
two ploughs, which merely reverse the ridges 
that were made when the land was dunged. 
Small light seed ploughs are kept for the pur- 
pose, which leave a narrow furrow. Many farm- 
ers object to this method because of the numer- 
ous furrows ; but this is an erroneous idea,—for 
when wheat is drilled or dibbled, the space be- 
tween each row is often more than the width of 
one of these furrows. Others object to it be- 
cause the wheat comes up similar to the broad- 
cast system, and they cannot very well hoe it in 
the spring; but this is no valid objection,—for 
if a fallow has been properly managed, the wheat 
will scarcely require hoeing, since, by continual- 
ly moving the land during the early part of the 
summer, most of the seeds of annual weeds have 
been brought sufficiently near the surface for 
germinating ; and the land being left quiet from 
the end of July until seed-time gives every 
encouragement for the weeds to grow; there 
are consequently but few seeds near enough to 
the surface for vegetating in the spring. Three 
men, with two ploughs and four horses, can put 
in by this system about 5 acres per day. Last 
year, upon an extensive farm known to the 
writer, more than half the wheat was sown in 
this way, and proved remarkably fine, even more 
so than that sown after clover. In some parts 
of Scotland, the wheat is sown with a drill- 
plough, which drills the seed, and covers it in 
with the furrow turned by the plough: the crop, 
of course, comes up in drills, and this method is 
considered to prevent the wheat losing plant on 
wet and loose soils. 
It is well known that wheat. 
should be sown when the land is ‘clung,’ and it 
is considered better to wait and have a, late sea- 
son of sowing than to put it in when the soil is 
in a dusty state; which, upon some land, causes 
the wheat to become root-fallen, and upon soils 
of a closer texture, where this does not occur, 
the wheat seldom flourishes so well as when put 
in after rain. The land is never too wet for sow- 
ing wheat, provided it works at all kindly, and 
the seed can be effectually covered. There are, 
however, some soils of a peculiar mixture of sand 
and clay, which, if stirred when very wet, will 
run together, and afterwards in dry weather 
form a hard crust, which of course checks the 
growth of the plant. The best period for sowing 
wheat on cold clayey soils is from the last week 
in September to the middle of October, as it sel- 
dom becomes winter-proud upon such land. Many 
think that water-furrowing may be entirely dis- 
pensed with where the land has been thoroughly 
under-drained ; but this opinion is not borne out 
upon very heavy tenacious clays. I have ob- 
served that upon such soils the surface-water has 
not gone off sufficiently quick without it. 
“ When this or any other kind of land has 
been previously got into a high state of cultiva- 
tion, it is frequently cleaned and made ready in 
the autumn for dunging in the spring, and then 
sown with turnips or mangold, which are usually 
carried off in the autumn and the land sown with 
wheat. But sometimes the roots cannot be re- 
moved till late in the season; the time of sow- 
ing is then sometimes delayed till January or 
February, when spring-wheat is generally sown. 
Upon ordinary heavy soils that have a dry subsoil 
and do not require draining, white turnips, grown 
upon the fallows and fed off with sheep during 
the months of October and November, are an ex- 
cellent preparation for wheat. When this plan 
is adopted, wheat is generally grown three times 
in a double four-course system of 8 years, name- 
ly—list year, fallow for turnips; 2d year, wheat ; 
3rd year, beans or pease; 4th year, wheat: the 
next round being—Sth year, fallow for swedes ; 
6th year, barley; 7th, clover; 8th, wheat. Upon 
some soils a heavier and better sample is pro- 
duced after turnips than by any other prepara- 
tion. Wheat is often sown after beans. In this 
case dung should be applied for the beans, which 
if kept clean will be a good preparation for 
wheat. This is preferable to dunging imme- 
diately for wheat, which often occasions blight ; 
but, by having an intermediate crop of beans, 
blight is generally prevented, and better crops, 
both of wheat and beans, are produced. If farm- 
yard dung cannot be obtained for the beans, rape- 
cake drilled in at the time of sowing the wheat, 
at the rate of from 8 to 16 bushels per acre, will 
generally be found sufficient to produce a crop. 
On the heavy clay lands of Norfolk and Suffolk, 
barley has taken the place of wheat after fallow, 
and the wheat either follows clover or beans and | 
pease; the rotation commonly adopted being— 
