Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1840-10-29

exhauxted soils ofNew-England can be
made to produce as good and as plentiful
crops of wheat as they formerly did, buI
the labor and cost of restoring would be
infinitely more than would have been re.
quired 10 have KEEP, them continually Ter
tile and productive. Crops have spec',
ic food which may be more or less pent
iu in soil, and without which they cannol
be brought 10 perfection. Take for IN
stance worn out eastern farnr. A liher
al supply of fresh nlanures will give all
the growth necessary for a great crop OF
wheat, but will it fill The berry! will il
make suck flour as The wheat OF western
New-York! We know it will moi. The
principal essential to the perfection oil
grain can ouly he restored by time and
skiIlul cultivation 10 such soils; it would
be wise then, where it exists, to prevent
its decrease or its exhaustion.
1t is unhappily TOO true, that on lars"
portion of our best cultivated wheat lands,
the soil has become SO infested with va
rety Of foul and noxinus plants, that a
course Of naked summer iallOw, thorough
ly performed, has become necessary to
couureract them, and prevent their increase
and spread. On clean soils would nuI
he required. hut some valuable crop might
take it's place, and thus add essentially To
the profits, while il lessons the labprof the
of the husbandmau. so far aslhr operation
of summer pIowing was concerned. The
only alternative of such falluws is hned
crops, and these must ofuecessity for the
reasons before given, be too limited, To
seriously effect the propricty offalIows on
weedy land. Spring crops, such as bare
~, oats, spring wheaI, or even peas, 10 mol
allow of sufficient cultivation to check The
spread of weeds. The sowing nf such
crops on land where the canada thistle for
instance abounds, is precisely the treat.
merit to make it spread and flourish. The
thistle. stein krout, charlock. &c, will sue
cumb ouly to plowinos and hoeings 50 oft
repeated that The lnrnia'ed plant has no
time TO recover from one blow before an-
other is given.
The preparation of seed, and The quail
ly Of rha, sown, arc objects Of The greatest
consequence. IN the most favored sec
tinns of our country there are but few
fields of wheat in which smut cannot he
detected. and in a country so favorable to
the perfection and purity Of this grain, as
The best wheat districts in the U. States
are, none ar all should be suffered. In
Europe, continual care is requisite to keep
their wheal free, and i'll the best wheat
countries the crop is almost wholly exempt
from smut, here but a triliing attention is
requisite, & the consequence is, il is found
almost every where, and in some places
to The serious injury of the crop. Now il
is well understood, that soaking or wash
ing whear in brine. and drying it with cauS.
tic Stacked lime, will eiieclnaIIy prevent
smut, as well as benefit the crop in olhor
respects; TO SOW wheat therefore, without
such preparation. is voluntarily to incur
The risk of smuttcd wheat, and The newt
able consequent loss. There are some
other substances that used as a wash for
wheat appear to possess the power of de-
stroying smut, such as copperas, vitriol. ar
scuic, &C., hut as none are more certain in
their operation, or can he used with less
trouble or danger than lime, the applica-
lion of that substance is undoubtedly To hr
preferred to any other.
The kind of seed used, and its quality,
are things of too much consequence in he
culture of wheat to lie left to chance
There are many varieties Of wheat cult
vailed, some very productive, and some
ripcnins latter and others earlier, and these
kinds in sowing should be chosen with re-
ference TO the soil and location. Vare.
lies which ripen at the same period, may
sometimes be advansageously mixed, for
for sowing in Ihe same field; but those that
ripcn unequnlly should be carefully kept
separate. Some varieties of wheat may
stand in the field longer than others before
cutting, without danger Of The seed shelline
or wasting. Thus of the two kinds of flint
wheat. the white and the Canadian, Che
latter comparatively new variety if the
last should be allowed to stand after arri-
wing at maturity as long as the first can
be permitted with impuni,y to do, the loss
by shellin. would amounlto no small por-
ton Of the crop The first may stand al
most TO suit the convenience of the hus.
bandmau, while the last must be cut as
soon as its maturity will admit, or certain
losses will he incurred, and nearly the
same remarks will apply to some other
kinds. There ARE som" farmers who
seem 10 think that any thing that is in the
shape Of wheat, however imperfect or de-
licctive the berry, if it will only gIow, may
he used as seed. This is very mistaken
policy. 1t is impossible that the young
plant should be as vigorous and as perfect,
when springius from defective and strunk-
en- seed, as when growing trnm that in
which the peculiar principles Of the plant
are fully developed, and the termination
commences without check or hindrancc.
The seed that ri pens first in the ear, and is
separated with the greatest ease. is The
most proper for seed, as these circums,an-
ceS show it is the most mature. A far
merin one of the northern states, few
wars Sinre tyaS i'm the habit oT sellinu l,rnn