Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-08-03
EARLY RrrESrSa wHEAr.-The New York

NeW IoIk, tne pioneer IN the science OF p" un
derdraining' in this country, offers premium
OF 81 200 to any one who will tell him how to
ripen his wheat ten days earlier than it ripsns
now. None but observing farmers comprehend
the vast benefit to the country which the acaui-
sition Of good wheat ripening thus early would
be- 1t would do away with three fOurths of
the damage now done by the rust at the South,
and by the midge at the North, as we'll as per-
haps half the damage from the fly, joint worm,
&C., which invariably affect tender and back
ward wheat first; the more vigorous stalks being
comparatively free from their ravages
Our plan for trying to get an earlier ripening
wheat-that is, the plan we are pursuing-is as
follows: To select for seed the produce of the
portions of the fields rpening first, and in clean-
ing it to as far possible rid it of every grain
not entirely perfect and we'll developed. To
plow very deep in breaking up, and to fertilize
highly; and, further, to SOW the seed SO Sc
lected on exposures suited for early ripcning.
We think that the result will be that in few
years we shall have a wheat which will out
grow almost all danger of the fly and rust-a
vigorous wheat with early ripening tendencies
as one of its particular characteristics.
We are satisfied that with the seed plump
and perfect, and the land properly prepared,
the best time for sowing wheat in this region is
between the 1st and 10th of October, as near as
may be. The use of the drill will enable any
farmer, even though designing to put in thou
sands of acres of wheat, to get it in between
those dates unless rains prevent, which, our ex-
perience teaches, does not often happen. A
machine drill requires the services of two hands
and three horses, and should plant fifteen acres
per diem, which, TO be ploughed in in the same
time would require the service of ten hands
and ten horses. Additional hands are hardest
to be obtained, every where, just when most
needed by the farmer who does not resort to
the drill and the machine reaper-at the seasons
of planting and harvesting. These machines
are, in fact, farm hands of the most valuable
kind, requiring nothing for their support while
their services are not needed, and being always
ready to do efficient and invaluable labor when
required to 20 to work. As the use of the drill
enables the farmer to select his own time for
getting in his crop, by making him entirely
independent of the additional, and, usually,
unObtainable, labor Ito his regular force) he
otherwise invariably stands in need of in plant
ing time, so the machine reaper makes him
entirely Independent of assistance to his regu-
lar force in harvesting. A Nanny and Wood
reaper, with a hand to drive and another to
rake, will certainly do the work of four best
Graders without the danger to health, if not
life itself, consequent upon hand harvesting in
July Fifteen acres per diem is fair average
ior the work of such reaper --
Every farmer knows the importance--in its
effect on the value and quantity of his grain
harvested-of being able to select his own
time for cutting it. A lack of force causing
delay of from one day to a week, owing to the
great variableness of the weather just at that
season, not unfrequently makes a difference of
from ten to twenty-five per centum in the mo.
ney realized from the sales of the crop. The
farmer who sOws three hundred acres to wheat
If harvesting by hand labor altogether, should
be able to run at least fifteen cradles to be en-
tirely certain that he will not be damaged by
moist or cloudy weather. Not one farmer in a
hundred, planting no more than three hundred
acres to wheat, is able to set such "a squadron
in the field, in addition to the necessary force
of binders and rakers. So, if he would use
due precaution, he must resort to the machine
reapers, keeping as many Of them as his crop
may require. lie would make money hand
over-fst by having always on hand sufficient to
cut his whole crop in four fair working days.
We know, from experience, that the wear and
tear Of the Nanny and Wood reaper, when
kept properly preserved when not in use) is
so inconsiderable as to amount to almost moth
ing. Take it, all in all, it is the farmers mo-
ney-saver as well as his money maker. Our only
wonder is that any farmer, who has as little as
thirty acres of grain and az many Of grass to
cut annually, ventures to attempt to get on
without one, and without machine drill. But
there sis no accounting for tastes" in agricul-
tural matters, as in all things else.
We repeat, our plan for securing the wheat
crop above and beyond most of the dangers
that produce failures, is to seek to plant only
the earliest ripened seed, as explained above,
and to have at command the means of choosing
our own time for both planting and harvesting,
without going outside Of our own premises for
any assistance whatever. We may add, that
the use of drill certainly saves peck of seed
to the acre sown, and depo:ites the fertilizer in
the soil just where the farmer wants it while
the use Of the machine reaper secures the crop
far better than that can be done by cradling-
the per centage of difference being sufficient to
make at least fifth of what may be considered
a fair profit on wheat-growing.