WHEAT. 
of the ear; and in doing it the stalks will require 
examination, that the ears may not be cut off.” 
Harrowing, however, ought to be done with cau- 
tion, whether upon stiff hidebound soils for fear 
of predisposing the crop to mildew and tearing 
- up the roots of the plants, or upon light and por- 
ous soils for fear of rendering them too open and 
of lacerating the crop; and it should be _ per- 
formed in every case with a due adaptation of 
the weight and action of the harrow to the 
amount of effect intended to be produced ; and, 
whenever the cultivation of the wheat crop is 
combined with the raising of clover and grass 
seeds, most or all of the spring-culture of the 
young wheat must serve at the same time for the 
sowing of the grasses. 
Wheat is an excellent nurse to a crop of clover 
and ryegrass, for its foliage is small and of com- 
paratively short duration, and falls down almost | 
as soon as it has attained full size, leaving the 
infant clover and ryegrass ample aeration to 
assist their growth. Spring wheat is often used 
for this purpose in England; and autumn or 
winter sown wheat is suitable for it in both 
England and Scotland. When spring wheat is 
used, the grass-seeds are sown simultaneously 
with it in the same way as with barley; and 
when winter wheat is used, the grass seeds are 
sown among the young wheat plants as early as 
convenient in April. The clover and grass seeds, 
preparatorily to their being sown, are mixed care- 
fully together, and brought to the ground in 
sacks; the wheat-land, if open and clean on the 
surface, requires no preparation for them, but if 
foul or hidebound, may be scratched with either 
the harrows, the horse-hoe, or the hand-hoe, ac- 
cording as it is broadcast sown or drilled, or as it 
needs much action or little; the grass seeds may 
be sown either by hand or with the broadcast sow- 
ing-machine ; and if the surface be loose, a rolling 
alone may be given to cover them in,—or if the 
surface be crusty and hard, or in any of the con- 
ditions which require decided after-culture for 
the wheat, either a double turn of the harrows 
may be given along the ridges and a turn of the 
roller across them, or any other amount of simi- 
lar operations may be performed to suit the pe- 
culiar circumstances of the crop and the soil; 
and after these operations have been done, no 
further culture can be given to the wheat except 
to hand-pull ‘any large weeds which may appear 
during the progress of its growth. 
Excessive luxuriance of autumn sown wheat 
crops in spring, arising from unusual forward- 
ness of vegetation during winter, and popularly 
designated by farmers ‘ winter-proud,’ is a great- 
er evil and requires nicer management than the 
brief remarks of Mr. Roberts upon it, in the pas- 
sage quoted in a previous paragraph, might lead 
one to suppose; and in particular, it occasions 
a premature exhaustion of the vigour of the: 
plants, causes them to mount speedily up into a 
great mass of straw, and divests them of power 
IV. 
689 
to produce a fair proportion of grain. “ From 
the greater height to which the straw thus rises, 
and as well the weakness of its stems, the crop is 
also more in danger of being lodged by storms, 
and is found to be generally more liable to mil- 
dew. It is, therefore, in such cases, very com- 
monly eaten down by sheep; or, by some farm- 
ers, it is occasionally, though very rarely, mown. 
The progress of vegetation is thus checked, and 
the apparent danger is avoided; but it requires 
great circumspection and practical experience to 
ascertain when it may be proper to adopt it ; for 
although the temperature of the season may have 
pushed the plants too forward, yet a change may 
immediately take place, and their having been 
thus weakened, will throw them too much back. 
If the plants tiller with such strength as to grow 
in thick tufts which cross each other or that 
they appear likely to become lodged, then it may 
be safely adopted; otherwise, it is better to leave 
the crop to its chance, without meddling with 
it, and in no case should it be attempted unless 
the vegetation be extremely rank. The practice 
of feeding, though by far the most general, has 
yet been objected to, because the sheep prefer 
the tender blade in the heart of the plant, which 
ought to be preserved, and reject the coarse 
blades which ought to be taken off; but if adopt- 
ed, such anumber should be put upon the ground 
at once, as will eat the wheat down to the re- 
quired distance promptly, and when removed, 
they should not be again returned to the land. 
If mown, the work should be very carefully per- 
formed, at such a distance from the surface of 
the land as not to touch the heart of the plants.” 
' The Harvesting of Wheat—The ripening of the 
grain of wheat must not be judged by the ripen- 
ing or mellowing of the straw. In some circum- — 
stances, the root and the ear seem ripe, while 
most of the straw is still greenish or succulent ; 
and in others, the straw, from the root upwards, 
loses its succulency, turns yellow, and gives the 
whole plant the appearance of ripeness, while the 
grain in the ear is still soft or almost pulpy ; and 
only in cases of entire and uniform healthiness in 
the crop, and of steadiness and general favour- 
ableness in the season do all the parts of the 
plant arrive with perfect simultaneousness to- 
ward maturity. Some farmers contend that a 
crop which has become dead at the root while it 
still continues soft or pulpy in the grain, should 
be allowed to stand for some time enjoying the 
effects of air and sunshine before it be cut down; 
and others regard it as so completely defunct 
from all possibility of further nourishment or be- 
nefit that it ought not to stand another day; 
and both may be either right or wrong,—that is, 
right in one year and wrong in another,—accord- 
ing to the nature of the weather. All wheat, 
except such as is grown mainly or largely for 
sake of its straw, ought to be judged as to readi-. 
ness for reaping solely by the grain; and this is 
always in a state of he eae fitness for the 
2 
