Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-12-01
AGRICULTURAL.

NO. In.-wHEAT CULTURE

showescr,s to pursue tho plan upon
which net out. and hereby copy facts
> from my agricultural journal.
In both England and Scotland the dis.
position Of the farmers is quite as great To
hunt up and cultivate new varieties oil
wheat. as it is 10 America; and new nrti-
Gle from California, Kentucky. or Virginia,
would I've as eagerly sought after by the
British farmer as we would seek a new
European variety. This is so, notwi,h-
standing ] have been assured by intelligent
farmers, that the whcats most esteemed
there forty years ago. are those that arc
Z, ,still found best adaptedso their culture.
Both red and schae wheat are grown in
England Tho white principally in the
southern, and the red in the northern por-
tons the kingdom. In the extreme nor
thern counties Of England, and in all of
Scotland, the cultivation Of the red wheat
largely prevails. In those colder regions
the red bearded is found to be more hardy
and les, liableto beinjured by the casual
- ties Of the seasons. suppose it is a uni
\, yersal fsct. that the rcd wheats are better
a adapted to cold, harsh climates than white
- varieties. Through the Kindness Of the
Russian Commissioner at the Worlds L air,
u obtaincd samples Of every variety of
, Russian wheat on exhibition, and every
+ one. believe. is red and of the bearded
% species.
II is the prevailing custom, both in Eng
land and Scotland, 10 sow wheat in the
spring; occasionally only it is sown in the
fall, and the same wheat indiscriminately,
y spring or fall. as they mny desire. They
have three methods Of putting the crop in
the ground; sowing broadcast and harrow
ing in is common; drilling by machine is
,s- much more common, and dtbbling by
10. hand, which is rather uncommon, butts oc-
casionally done by those who seek TO pro-
duce the largest results from small quaint
ties of land. The dibbling is done BY
!, slightly throwing up the ground in ridges
d Ten inches apart, and making holes with
n. stick two inches. apart, into which they
drop two or three grains OF wheat and
recover " ith the hand or iootns they go on
This tedious method of planting wheat may
do in England. where the laborcr gets n
b. shilling day and finds himself; but of
=, course it would not pay in America, where
% the laborer gets three shiliings day and j,
found.
Wheat thus dibblcd is cultivated by the
hoe while it is growing, and their largest
/, products from given quantities Of land are
obtainedin this way.
= The English and Scotch farmer prepares
8 his land for wheat with care and labor
TO which we are entirely unused in Amer
lea.
H. suppose a man could not rent land in
! England, who would sow his wheat upon
single blowing without other prepare
: ton.
They r,la,v ,n.i - r,i1,--. LIS, i.-. .o",
and roll, until even the small clots are
> broken, and the land reduced to deep and
perfect nth.
% We ought to be very thankful that
s us in America 10 raise crops but little infe-
rior to the English, with one third of the
labor demanded Of them.
Il l WINS astonisheda at the quantity Of wheat
used as seed by the English and Scotch
farmers. and cannot account for til. ncces-
s'ty Of their custom in this respect When
they SOW broadcast, from three to four
bushels is very commonly put to the acre.
the average sowing broadcast is certainly
above three. When they drill, from a
bushel and halfty two bushels are gene
rally used; to dibbie an acre, halfa bushel
is deemed sufficient
"nen sowing upon led' as they term 1t,
iresi' turned sod which, by the way.is
nor o''eh done, they use larger quantity
Oh seed man IN DINER cases.
me farmers 'nroushot England. and
me hothians OF scotland being all IN a
similar nnd high state OF cultivation, the
.eefdge crops differ comparatively little
rom the occasional crop. About thirty
bushels 10 the acre may be regarded us
ar average OF English production. In
'ur o"n IVA. valley an occasional crop OF wheat
sw'en iuiiy equal TO any YOU see IN Eng
ana, pui tney excel US grea'iy IN the aver
.ge production. inere can be no doubt
'o~ever' Una, II our farmers generally
you'd TAX, "a me same PAINS III preparing
% seeding Their lands tnat me English
% "nat 'ney wou'o eScei mem pom IA 'n e,
oeas,cS"' ana acreage crop oo'h our SOIL
10 climate oeing naturally better ADAPT
ID TO the growth OF the cereals than theirs.
II rs uncommon, both IN England and
SCOTLAND, to sow lands to wheat oftener
yhan once in four years. In consequence
kr their cold and damp summers, all the
cereals ripen much more slowly there than
Nsiih US, and consequently are more ex-
@sbsed to the casualties of ripening grain
Il heir harvest comes in generally from the
&Qsh of August TO the 10th of September.
Much of their wheat. as with us, is cut
the scy,hc and cradle, especially upon
BE farms. while a considerable portion
4 The reaper. which so much facilitates