Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-09-11
AGRICULTURAL.

HOME, ROcKBRIDGE, VA,
June 10th, 1851.

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HONE, RocKBRIDGE, VA,
June 10th, 1851.
To Mc Editor ot'the american Farmer:
Permit me,whic renewing my subscrp-
ton to your invaluable paper, to send
specimen Of my Wheat, and to give an ac-
count ofmy little farming operations.
No. I is a smooth white Wheat, called
here the rainbow, from its color when ap-
preaching maturity. The growth Of the
straw is most luxuriant, easily sustaining
nv old straw hat when throw ii on the
surface or the spikc-likc ears, and measur-
ing an average height of S feet Q inches
NV other Wheat measures about five feet
The heads send are fair specimen OF a
lot Of eight acres, which is pronounced by
some of the farmers of my ncighborhood
one of the finest pieces Of Wheat they evc'
saw. Some of them do not hesitate TO as
sert that it is the best Wheat they ever saw
grow out Of the earth. The product Is
variously estimated at from thifty to forty
bushels to the acre. My ncighbor, MIR
Peter A Sailing, who, some years ago
made, by actual measurement, one hundred
and seventy odd bushels of Wheat on foui
acres. of tobacco land, remarked that, he
to j. NJ Run. OF E ox IL iIsS' was Eai q aln 8
pinion that it was quite ms good as any he
Ind ever observed at bis fathers, John
Ruff, Esq, one of the best practical farm
ers in the county, who has made thirty odd
bushels to the acre.
No. is a white bearded Whcat,callcd
the Harper, which l procured Inf Augusta
last fall. The growth of the straw is quite
rank. The heads you will observe,arc re-
markably long,mcasuring seven inches and
half
No 3 is the Mediterranean, which, though
sowed very late lin November) on corn land,
promises yield of at least 20 bushels to
the acre. In point Of maturity, it has the
decided advantage Of the other varieties, as
twill be ready for the cradle at least ten
days earlier.
No. Is the common white-bcardcd. l
have cultivated it with success for several
years. My crop last year. unfavorable as
it was for Wheat, averaged seventeen bush
els to the acre, and two years before, the
average was about twenty.
The bearded Wheats are best adapted
to our bottoms. being, as all the world
knows, less liable to rust than the smooth
boards.
My entire crop Of twenty acres of wheat
is variously estimated by my neighbors al
from four to five hundred bushels-sup
posing, Of course, that the season should
be favorable to its maturity. The wcathe,
L., Il 4
dry.
No manure of any kind has been ap-
piled to my Wheat. The crop is the ma
tural product Of the system Of improve
.ment have been prosecuting for several
years. More than half of it was sown on
u clover fallow, broken up in July and
seeded in the last Of August and the first OF
September, with the new Wheats l have
described, at the rate Of about one bushel
to the acre, which, if sown early, equally
distributed over the ground. and well pat
in, | have found by repeated experiments
to be an ample allowance for my land
The seed was soaked in brine, rolled il
lime. aud first ploughed and then harrow
ed in.
attach great importance to cultivatinl
the new varieties, which generally succeed
well for few years, until they bccom,
acclimated and subject to the prevailing
diseases Of degenerated grain. l hav,
never failed in Wheat crop, and l at
tribute my uniform success in a grea
measure to the fact that have Away.
raised the ne'c varieties. / change my sccc
Of all kinds every three or four years.
variety" is the spice Of farming as well a:
life. Nature delights in change.
My little farm, (about ten times as large
as that of Cincinnatus) when got posses
sion of it, few years ago, had been so re.
duced by improvident cultivation, that its
average product did not exceed FIVE bush
els Of Wheat, fifteen of Oats and twenty OF
Corn to the acre. My crops for the pre-
ent year, with ordinary luck, are cstima-
ted by good judges at twenty five bushels
ofWheat, forty of Oats, from fifty to sixty
of Corn, and two tons of Hay. to the acre.
Hadevery farmer in the county of Rock
bridge, and in this glorious old Common
wealth Of Virginia, and in these United
States, God grant that they may long be
anifed) effected an equal Improvement in
that portion ofthe earth which Providence
has committed to his care to fcrtilize and
beauliiy, not to impoverish and deform,
what animmense addition would have been
made to individual comfort and to national
wealth!
How has this striking Improvement been
effected Not by the lavish expenditure
ofmoney for Guano and other fertilizers.
for my entire experiments in that way (last
year and the present)-have not cost ten
dollars. I stick to the old ways until |
have found out better-but BY the liberal
use of clover seed and plaster, taking care
not to plough when wet, to break it as
deep as possible q have sub-soiled this
year more than half ofmy 20 acres of corn
land and to keep my grass lots we'll COW
cred with grass. The rotation l prefer,
for crops and improvement, is FIVE shift
consisting of
I. Grass. an equal mixture of clover
and timothy, dressed early in March with
equal quantities of plaster, ashes and slack
cd lime. At the rate of 3 bushels to the acre
The FIRST crop to be mown, and the field
lightly pastured in the fall.
2. The same, Pastured ,5nt nercr grased
caOsc. am more than half convert to my
unsie BoDBaldwin's shade theory, which