American Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1855-1860, 1859-04-14
The proper mode Of enrichiHg wheat
. ~ Lands. q qsfs8 .aita


Ina previous article, we showed thai
Ithe esussS Of the decline OF wheat produc-
tion, in Ohio and Indiana. were too poor
soil. the single ploughipg system aud
broad cast sowing. We propose to show
how these evils may be best remedisd:
I. How can wheGt lands Be snviehea?--
Plaster sown on clover, and Dlowed uu-
der, islA good mode, but will never be
generally followed, because the plaster
csunot be bad, and the necessities Of far.
mers are such, that they will either plow
or pasture the clover. No manuring, ex-
rept by plOwiug under agreen crop need
be mentioned. because the mineral manurss
are too expensive, and the farmer wants
his barn manure for his potatoes and corn
crops. The best mode suited to our con-
dition, is one adopted by Mr.. Love. an
EOglishman of intelligence and thirty years
experience as practical farmer. He FIRST
plows deeply in the fsll--this might here
be done in the spring--and sows the field
with half bushel Of white mustard seed
to the acre, lightly narrowing it inz After
the first blossoms drop, and the seed pods
begin to make their appearance, fe turns
| il under. and again soWs in mustard as at
FIRST, and after narrowing il in, rolling It
with alight roller. When the mustard
has again reached the same growth. it is
again turned under; and Mr.. Love sows a
third time, and a third time turns it ander
and after laying few weeks, puts in his
wh4at crop. Bot on account Of the dry
ness Of our climate, this third sowing
could not be advantayeously followed, for
ii would m Ike the putting Of the wheat
too late. The second crop Of mustard
would be ready to turn under 10 July, and
after laying until the beginning of Septem-
ber, the wheat should be sowsd. ~
The effect Of this system is that ga piece
of poor. spOngy, thin soil, upon q stiff y.l-
low clay sub-soil. yielded forty-one bush
els OF wheat 10 the acre, and when plowed
up after the wheat was off, worked like a
| garden" e ,stf.rs oit
g. This mode, Il Sill be Seen uuites an
euriohing process with the fallow system.
system absolutely necessary to secure a
good wheat crop. "How many bushels
Of wheat does your land average to the acre
when put in by single ploughingS" We
asked Northern farmer of Indiana recent.
ly about ten bushels" was the answer.
"And how many ifyou fallow?" "About
double that amonuth A striking instance
Of the utility Of such cultivation we saw a
few days since in Monroe county. 1t was
an experiment of an, acre lot, on which
hogs had been fattened a year or two pre-
viously. This was the enriching process
Last springi, was plowed up for sorghum,
but the seed failed on account of the ex-
tyeme wetness Of the weather. 1t was
again p!oWed up for turnips, but these
failed. 1t was again piowed up for tnr-
nips. but these failed. 1t was plowsd a
third time. narrowed. sown in wheat with
drill, and more promising prospect
now Is no where to be found. 4el
/ Robert j. Swan, who obtained the firs
premium from the New York State Agri
cultural Society in 1867. fer the bes
managed iarm states that his mode Of fal
lowing is TO plow three times, and thor
oughly harrow each time, and before drill
ling in the wheat to roll the surface smooth
| Fl Is first crop Of wheat OFF forty acres wa
FIVE bushels per acre; new it ranges iron
twenty to thirty five bushels. .,">
The object Of fallowing is two fold=-t'
hasten the decomposition of the vegetable
matter in the soil, and to thoroughly pul
verize the ground. Plants cannot avail
themselves Of vegetable matter Until IL j
resolved into gases. The soil absorb
these, and the roots Of the growing plant
takes them In from the sell. II the groun'
is cloddy, il cannot absorb gssses, nor car
the tender rootlets penetrate these clods.-'
Besides, a well palverized soil acts as
mulch, 1t prevents rapid evaporation ofth
moisture on thesuriaoe, and retains th
sub-soil moisture, as il rises upward
Now let every farmet reflect how brief
period the fall wheat has to grow, befor
Il must endure the rigor OF our sewers an
I: changeable winters. how often that brie
l period is suffering from droith. and b
will see thenscsssity Of giving to the youn
: wheat every facility for rapid growth
which abundant gases. amellow mois
soil affords. And hence too he will se
the reason why thorough following 9
I. three ploughings, especially when gree
! crops are turned under acts SO benefcially
3. We have herstofors noticed the su
periority of the drilled wheat to that SOW
broad -cast---tbe greater number OF i
roots, and their greater depth in the sol
= This condition is generally attributed I
q the fact that the drill leaves small ridge
q between the rows, which fall down durin
the winter and cover the roots deeper.-
9 But we have Jrst carefully examined
9 Geld that had been rolled, after the see
/ was drilled, and could not see any diffe
y ence between it and unrolled. fields. Ti
"a. utility Of the dFill is in planting the see
v SO deep that the roots form deeper IN Il
= soil, and hencsare less exposed TO freezir
out, or to be checked in their fall grow
\, by dFouth. F ~
Is In examining asld that had boon p
in on good ground and we'll for 1.-The Of
plouphing system. but which had been Z
most entirely frozen out.the owner remar
4. ed that be could we'll have afforded 10 ha
(, bought drill for that field alone. III
" was the truth. and We commend it to n
ot consideration Of our framer readers.
An objection is mSds to the dFill, that