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Wheat (Be substituted for fallow)
be substituted for fallow, according to which | and wet soils can be suitably managed, or pre. method the surface will get a body which naturally it did not possess. Grass, on such soils, must always occupy a great space of every rotation, because physical circumstances render regular cropping utterly impracticable. 1. Fallow, or turnips, with dung. 2. Oats, of an early variety. 3. Clover, and a considerable quantity of perennial rye-grass. 4. Pasture for several years, till circumstances permit the land to be broken up, when oats are to be repeated.
Sixth Rotation.
Light soils are easily managed, though to procure a full return of the profits which they are capable of yielding, requires generally as much attention as is necessary in the management of those of a stronger description. Upon light soils a bare summer fallow is seldom called for, as cleanliness may be preserved by growing turnips and other leguminous articles. Grass also is of eminent advantage upon such soils, often yielding a greater profit than what is afforded by culmiferous crops. 1. Turnips. 2. Spring wheat, or barley. 3.
Clover and rye-grass. 4. Oats, or wheat.
This rotation would be greatly improved, were it extended to eight years, whilst the ground by such an extension, would be kept fresh, and constantly in good condition. As for instance, were seeds for pasture sown in the second year, the ground kept three years under grass, then broken up for oats in the sixth year, drilled with beans and peas in the seventh, and sown with wheat in the eighth, the rotation would be complete; because it included every branch of husbandry, and admitted a variety in management generally agreeable to the soil, and always favorable to the interest of cultivators. The rotation may also consist of six crops, were the land kept only one year in grass, though few situations admit of so much cropping, unless additional manure is within reach.
Seventh Rotation.
Sandy soils, when properly manured, are well adapted to turnips, though it rarely happens that wheat can be cultivated on them with advantage, unless they are dressed with alluvial compost, marl, clay; or some such substance, as will give a body or strength to them which they do not naturally possess. Barley, oats, and rye, the latter especially, are, however, sure crops on sands; and, in favorable seasons, will return greater profit than can be obtained from wheat. 1. Turnips, consumed on the ground. 2. Barley. 3. Grass. 4. Rye or oats. By keeping the land three years in grass, the rotation would be extended to six years, a measure highly advisable. From what has been stated, every person capable of judging will at once perceive the facility of arranging husbandry upon correct principles, and of cropping the ground in such a way as to make it produce abundant returns to the occupier, whilst at the same time it is preserved in good condition, and never impoverished or exhausted.
All these things are perfectly practicable under the alternate system, though it is doubtful whether they can be gained under any other.
It may be added, that winter-sown crops, or crops sown on the winter furrow, are most eligible on all clayey soils.
Ploughing, with a view to clean soils of the description under consideration, has little effect unless given in the summer months. This renders summer fallow indispensably necessary; and, without this radical process, none of the heavy served in a good condition.
To adopt a judicious rotation of chopping for every soil, requires a degree of judgment in the farmer, which can only be gathered from observation and experience. The old rotations were calculated to wear out the soil, and to render it unproductive; but the modern rotations, such as those which we have described, are founded on principles which insure a full return from the soil, without lessening its value, or impoverishing its condition. Much depends, however, upon the manner in which the different processes are executed; for the best-arranged rotation may be of no avail, if the processes belonging to it are imperfectly and unreasonably executed. To cultivate Wheat.
On soils really calculated for wheat, though in different degrees, summer fallow is the first and leading step to gain a good crop or crops of that grain. The first furrow should be given before winter, or as early as the other operations of the farm will admit; and every attention should be used to go as deep as possible; for it rarely happens that any of the succeeding furrows exceed the first one in that respect. The number of after-ploughings must be regulated by the condition of the ground and the state of the weather; but, in general, it may be observed, that ploughing in length and across, alternately, is the way by which the ground will be most completely cut, and the intention of fallowing accomplished.
Varieties of Seed.
Wheat may be classed under two principal divisions, thougn each these admits of several subdivisions. The first is composed of all the varieties of red wheat. The second division comprehends the whole varieties of white wheat, which again may be arranged under two distinct heads, namely, thick-chaffed and thin-chaffed.
The thick-chaffed varieties were formerly in greatest repute, generally yielding the whitest and finest flour, and, in dry seasons, not inferior disease called mildew, to which they are constiin produce to the other; but since 1799, when the tutionally predisposed, raged so extensively, they have gradually been going out of fashion.
The thin-chaffed wheats are a hardy class, and seldom mildewed, unless the weather be particularly inimical during the stages of blossoming, filling, and ripening, though some of them are rather better qualified to resist that destructive disorder than others. In 1799, thin-chaffed wheats were seriously injured; and instances were not wanting to show, that an acre of them, with respect to value, exceeded an acre of thickchaffed wheat, quantity and quality considered, not less than fifty per cent. Since that time, therefore, their culture has rapidly increased; and to this circumstance may, in a great measure, be attributed the high character which thin-chaffed wheats now bear.
Method of Sowing.
Sowing in the broadcast way may be said to be the mode universally practised. Upon well prepared lands, if the seed be distributed equally, it can scarcely be sown too thin; perhaps two bushels per acre are sufficient; for the heaviest crops at autumn are rarely those which show the most vigorous appearance through the winter months. Bean stubbles require more seed than summer fallows, because the roughness of their surface prevents such an equal distribution; and clover leas ought to be still thicker sown than bean stubbles. Thin sowing in spring ought not to be practised, otherwise the crop will be late, ❘ serve the plants in winter, and render the operation and imperfectly ripened. No more harrowing should be given to fields that have been fallowed, than what is necessary to cover the seed, and level the surface sufficiently. Ground, which is to lie in a broken-down state through the winter, suffers severely when an excessive harrowing is given, especially if it is incumbent on a close bottom; though, as to the quantity necessary, none can give an opinion, except those who are personally present.
To sow Grain by Ribbing. of harrowing in the spring much more efficacious.
The spring harrowing is performed the contrary way to that of the drilling, as the harrow working upon the ridges does not pull up the plants, and leaves the ground mouldy for the hoe. This point should be particularly attended to. The harrowing after the drill evidently leaves the ground in a better state to the eye, but the advantages in the produce of the crop are decidedly in favor of the plan of leaving the land in the rough state already described, as the operation of the winter
The ribbing of grain crops was introduced into upon the clods causes them to pulverize, and fur- Great Britain in the year 1810. The process is as follows: Suppose the land in fallow, or turnips eat off, let it be gathered into ridges of twelve feet each; then harrow it well, particularly the furrows of the ridges; after which take a narrowbottomed swing plough, five inches and a half broad at the heel, with a narrow-winged sock, drawn by one horse; begin in the furrow, as if you intended to gather two ridges together, which will make a rib exactly in the middle of the furrow; then turn back up the same furrow you came down, keeping close to the rib made; pursue the same mode on the other side, and take a little of the soil which is thrown over by the mouldboard from the back of each rib, and so on till you come near the furrow, when you must pursue the same mode as at first. In water furrowing you will then have a rib on each side of the furrow, distance between the rib, ten or twelve inches.
The seed to be sown from the hand, and, from the narrowness or sharpness of the top of the ridges, the grain will fall regularly down, then put on a light harrow to cover the seed. In wet soils the ridges ought to be twice gathered, as ribbing reduces them. It will answer all kinds of crops, but not all soils. Strong clayey soils cannot be pulverized affected sufficiently for that purpose; nor can it be effected in clover-lea, unless it be twice ploughed and well harrowed. Ribbing is here esteemed preferable to drilling, as you have the same opportunity of keeping the land clean, and the grain does not fall so close together as by drilling.
The farmer may hand or horse-hoe his crops, and also hoe in his clover-seed, which is consider ed very advantageous. It is more productive of grain, especially when it is apt to lodge, and, in all cases, of as much straw; and ribbing is often the means of preventing the corn lodging.
In a wet season ribbing is more favorable to harvesting, because the space between the ribs admits the air freely, and the corn dries much sooner. The reapers also, when accustomed to it, cut more and take it up cleaner.
Improved Method of Drilling Wheat.
The drill contains three coulters, placed in a triangular form, and worked by brushes, with cast-iron nuts, sufficient for one horse to draw, and one man to attend to. It will drill three acres Der day of wheat, barley or oats, at five inches asunder; and five acres per day of beans, peas, etc., at twelve inches asunder. The general practice is to drill crossways, and to set the rows five or six inches, and never exceeding seven inches, apart, it being found that if the distance is greater they are too long filling up in the spring, that they afford a greater breadth for the growth of weeds, are more expensive to hoe, and more liable to be laid in the summer. In drilling wheat never harrow after the drill if it can be avoided, the drill generally leaving the corn sufficiently covered; and by this plan the vegetation is quickened, and the ridges of soil between each two rows prenishes an abundant nutrition to the plants in the spring; and followed by the hoe about the time the head or ear is forming, it makes the growth of the plant more vigorous, and greatly improves the size of the head or ear. The drilling for wheat should generally commence about the latter end of September, at which time the farmer may drill about two bushels per acre. As the season advances, keep increasing the quantity to three bushels per acre, being guided by the quality of the soil and other circumstances. A great loss has frequently arisen through drilling too small a quantity of seed, as there can be none spared in that case for the rooks and grubs; and a thick, well-planted crop will always yield more abundantly than a thin stooling crop, and ripen sooner. The drill system would have been in more general practice, if its friends had also recommended the use of a larger quantity of seed to the acre, and the rows to be planted nearer together. It is impossible to obtain so great a produce per acre by the broadcast system as by the drill system at the same expense, be the land ever so free from weeds. Fifty bushels per acre may be raised by the drill, but never more than forty bushels by sowing broadcast. The wheat crops should generally be top-dressed in winter with manure compost, or some other dressing in frost, or when you can cart upon the land; but if that operation is rendered impracticable, sooting in March, or any other dressing of that description, hoed in at the spring, is preferable to a dressing laid on in the autumn and ploughed in.
The advantages of the drill over the broadcast system are numerous and decisive, as it enables the farmer to grow corn without weeds, is sooner ready for stacking after the scythe or sickle, produces a cleaner and more regular sample for the market, and hence obtains a better price, leaves the land in a better state for a succeeding crop, and materially increases the quantity of food for human consumption.
To Pickle the Seed.
This process is indispensably necessary on every soil, otherwise smut, to a greater or less extent, will, in nine cases out of ten, assuredly fol'ow.
Stale urine may be considered as the safest and surest pickle, and where it can be obtained 'n a sufficient quantity, is commonly resorted to. The mode of using it does not however seem to be agreed upon, for while one party contends that the grain ought to be steeped in the urine, another party considers it sufficient to sprinkle the urine upon it. But whatever difference of opinion there may be as to the kind of pickle that ought to be used, and the mode of using it, all admit the utility of mixing the wetted seed with hot lime fresh slaked; and this, in one point of view, is absolutely necessary, so that the seed may be equally distributed. It may be remarked that experience justifies the utility of all these modes, provided they are attentively carried into execution. There is some danger from the first, for if the seed steep-