Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1858-08-14

wheat Euiluftl'' ~ now tNt HuAIuuo 1utattVu
asked By The miller. the merchant, the me-
chanic, and the mnnufactuter--bankers,
brokers, forwardefs--''m middle men" Of eve
n class--gll feel that their prosperity de-
pende on the ability Of the farmer to meet
this alarminC adversary Many intelligent
persons advocate the temporary cessation
os wheat raising, in the hope that the midge
may pass over. But the experience OF
farmers Ia the Eastern States indicates that
This WIN be uBeless--the midge is now as
injurious there as it was twenty-five years
ago The midgo can propagate itself in
other plants We have found il in barley
and 10 couch grass. If we give up wheat
culture now, We can hardly hope to renew
it at future day No; We must meet "the
yellow villain" now, or acknowledge our
eSlyes vanquished. We have seen fields Of
wheat, the present season, cut for fodder;
and It seems almost fool hardy to continue
to SOW wheat under such circumstances. -
But We must not-tcW n0t--suceomb.
The midge is no new thing; It is proba-
bly, as old as wheat itself Nearly thirty
years ago it was as destructive in Scotland
as Il has ever been in the worst affected
districts Of this country. It prevails to a
greater or less extent in all parts of Great
Britain Ia the Lond0a Gardner's Chroa-
iclr for ls4i, Prof, HENsIow says: The
wheat midge, )Cecsd0myia tritiei, millions
ana millions Of which infest every wheat
Geld. is hardly known by our farmers to do.
them any wrong; and yet on an average 1t
destroys one-twentieth Of a crop, anu may
possibly destroy great deal more"
Previous to the introduction Of under
draining, high mannring, and good cnltiva-
tion, in England, mildew, rust, and smut,
were much more prevalent and the midge
and other insects more numerous and injn-
ricns, than at present Many English farm
ers still living have sold wheat for scVea
cellars per bdshel; and one man we are sc-
quainted With declared, when wheat fell to
$3 per bushel, that it was .'cheapenough to
feed the pigs;s and yet this man to-day,
owing to an improved system of culture,
realizes more profit from his farm than
when he obtained 81 per bushel for wheat.
English farmers have been forced into
better system Of agriculture, and such win
be the case In this country. AT the pre-
sent time, there is scarcely plant grown
by the farmer or gardener, that is exempt
from the attacks Of insects. As general
rule, IL win be found that the means neces-
saFy to escape these attacks viii be such as
promote the health, vigsr, and productive
ness, Of the plants. This we believe will
prove true 10 regard to the wheat midge.
1t is Nfmcsts sent to scourge us into good
culture.
But win good culture enable us to escape
che rayageg of the wheat midget 1t may
not enable US to escape entirely, but it will
certainly greatly mitigate its injuries. 1t
win enable rs to raise good wheat, at fair
profit. Those farmers who adopt the best
system Of culture are even nov affected the
least; but they suffer more than they would,
from the fact that the propagation Of the
nudge is encouraged by tn. bad cultvatio
Of those around them. Probably there is
no farmer in Western New York who has
lis land in higher state of cultivation
than JoHN JOHNSTON, of Seneca county
He has thoroughly underdrained every
part of his farm. He grows great crops
Of clover, and feeds it out 10 his barn-yards
to sheep and cattle Though he has raised
some years as much as $4,000 bushels of
corn. be has never sold bushel of the !
farm He has for many years purchased |
large quantities of oiicake, which, together |
with the corn, clover, straw, ETC., are fed |
10 cattle and sheep, thus making large
quantity Of rich manure. The result is that
be has always ha1 good crops Of wheat,
s,r, uas made himself rich by farming
True, he has suffered somewhat from the
Gaidge, bat ROthiRg ia comparison 70 his
neirhhorS. Two years ago, one field Of 25
acres produced TAI IL bushels Of good
Soulcs wheat, or over 33 l-2 bushels per
acre. The same field is in wheat (Sonles)
again the present season, and we had the
pleasure Of examining it the second week in
July.
10 grow wheat every other year, is run
niag the land pretty hard, and the crop on
q portion Of the field the present season in
dicstes that the unaided soil will not bear
such heavy cropping. Eleven acres were
sown without any manure, and fourteen
acres were dressed with one barrel of salt
case lbs per acre. Otherwise, the con-
ditions were precisely the same,-the same
previoHs crops and tillage, the same seed,
and sown at the same time. The line of
slemarkation between the salted and unsalt-
ed portions is very distinct throughout the
whole length OF the Geld. On the eleven
acres without salt, the crop is an unusually
good one for the season there is, perhaps,
straw enough for nearly thirty bushels
per acre, but It is considerably affected by
Tie midge, and win not yield probably more
than 20 bushels per acre. On the Ia acres
where aalt was soWn, the straw is heavier,
sitter and brighter, and the heads larger.
II Is, teo, some four or Eve days earlier, and
Is nearly free from midge. 1t ripened too
soon for them. The insects attacked it, and
we found a few Of the larya under the chalf
on the outside Of ths grain, but they have
done very little damage. We agree with
mr.. JoHNsFos in estimating the yield at full
50 bushels per acre, e,-probabIy it will be as
grant ae il was on the same land two years
nse. Or nearly fdirfyfosr basheks per acre.
Mr.. J0uEsroH has uAed salt occasionally
on bis wheat for twenty years, and always
found il 70 promote the growth aud early
maturity Of the crop;--he thinks the sailed
wheat IS four or Eve days earlier. He
SONS tie salt at the time Of seeding. II
year be intends to SOW 400 lbs. per acre
Ne thinks it would be better to SOW it on
the fsllows il the early part Of SUMNER
4i..e e,.ar,r. fsfsr,tafaIv Il can ~. ruixed Vith