The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1861-01-10
Ir, n The Country Gentlemen and clltivs.or.
characteristics OF "Illc' Spring
Wheat.

This variety Of wheat has been grown
extensively the last three seasons i'll the
vest and northwest, and proves to be
20 valuable, that | think every whoa,
.ultivator in the United States, should be
Interested in knowing something more
about its habits and qualities than has
ct come under the public notice; at
last, 50 far as | am aware, from con-
adorable agricultural reading. Though
- some, its name might 50 imply, this
is not Of Scotch origin-oocs not
get its name from the country Of Fife,
bat from the nam Gifts originator, Mr..
David Fife. Of OctonaLec, G. W., who
saved 4 few roots Of a acuutes variety
that he obtained from Dantaic via Scot
md, believe, and subsequently cult
the products as q spring wheat.
] will say-after thirty years experience
in wheat culture--that l have seen no
variety of spring whea; that contained
20 many useful qualities, and therefore
80 widely adaptably, as the Canada
Fife in Wisconsin. 1t is very hardy.
and therefore less liable to rust or mil
dew and other diseases than other
known varieties. 1t is later than Can
ada Club, and does not ripen 5 o rapidly;
It therefore is more conveniently and
economically harvested, particularly as
it has the great advantage of shclling
or beating out with difficulty the crop,
even when dead ripe, being comparative
III free from loss, therefore, in grading,
rcaping or other harvest routine. 1t
grows 4 few inches taller than Club /;
about as stiff, which is quits strong i'll
the straw, and consequently stands up
well, not lodging except in very rich
situations.
This Fife wheat threshcs easy enough,
and is much less cat or broken by the
horse machines than Club and Rio
Grande. Indeed, my Fife was not
broken III thrcshing, while the Club
was, to a Q siderable extent; and the
Rio Grande, III my vicinity, more SO it
seems. This shows the berry Of the
Fife to lie comparatively and Utterly
compact aid very firm, Or when dry,
even hard, which | infer must give it
better keeping or storing qualities than
those OF more tender varieties.
A year or two ago, before it was
generally known, and when, therefore,
its merits were not well understood, its
broad and hardy qualities led the mill
crs to look well to their grinding appar-
atus, as they found it required edge
and grit, and more than common pow
er TO flour it reH. Hence they gave it
gritty reputation. But Club filled so
last the last few years on the Niscon-
sin prairies (Which by the by, are with
i'll two miles Of NY house, as fine as IN
in the I. 81 that Fife ,apidly superce-
dcd it SO that now there are three
acres Q Fife to one Of Club. Now,
therefore, the Fife variety is well known,
particularly in this State and adjacent
wheat districts. Its quality, though
not changed, is now much better apprc-
ciated. Instead Of there being more
grit in it than in the long known Club,
1t now turns out that its flour is equally
good as the flour Of Club itself, in Which
1t approaches, therefore, to within TWEEN
t!y-tise or thirty per cent, per barrel in
quality and value to the flour Of winter
wheat. Our betterinformed producers,
now, therefore, sell Fife and Club at
the same prices, and these usually rate
live or six cents per bushel less than
winter wheat commands, or rather for
'nerly sold Tor; | say .JoyAaerly, for /
have not 9 . field Of viuter wheat
this year.
know Of many instances, too, in
which Fife has yielded three to five
bushels per acre more than Club, both
this season and last. Iii all this | am
saying nothing in depreciation Of the
good old Club, where this has shown
IN symptoms Of decline. But ia Wis
consin, Club has extensively exhibited
q declining tendency in a variety Of
particulars, which, as they NAV not
have bctallen it elsewhere, l need not
detail.
Tn the whole, Fife wheat-in CON
sistcncy with its recent origin from a
lail sariety-comes SO near in hardness
productiyencss and other economical
qualities to winter wheat, that in local.
tiles where the latter is precarious or
uncertain, in any considerable degree. I
should prefer to replace it with spring