Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1868-10-23
agricultural.

Vermont n Wheat Producing state.
: Edwards Todd in his Wheat Culturist.
: most valuable book of practical instruction,
worthy the perusal of every tiller OF the soil,
S4ys e As a general rule. where other grain
md sheep succeed satisfactorily, fair crops OF
wheat can be raised, if the soil be enriched
with the manure Of fattenins sheen, neat
cattle, or fattening swine Wheat can be
raised on the drifting sands Of New jersey.
in bountiful crops, if The s'a he prepared
properly for the seed.
The virgin soil Of Vermont did not need
the manure of iattening sheep or swine to
make it produce the most abundant crop of
wheat but Vermont farming has been in all
time, most exhausting. the rule being to get
a. large crops as possible, regardless Of all
principle, of rotation, and return little or
nothing to the soil. Our fathers, as a rule,
were poor and under the necessity Of making
The most Of their scantv means. and their
sons have. as a consequence, looked upon the
ola hJme-teads as most excellent places TO
euir crate from, with such little means as they
rl9ld squeeze out Of them. and as a leglt-
innate result the wheat crop, once Averaging
well up to thirty bushels TO the acre with the
rude,t tillage, has now run down to ten or
less. In 1850 with population Of 5l4,l-O
ne raised j3j, $50 bushels of wheat, or about
9nc bushel and half to each inhabitant; in
1850 with a population of 3l5.09> We raised
+3l,l2. bushels, p falling of Of l0i.S2S
bushels.
Since 1850. in consequence ofthe unTrece-
icuted prices of wheat and -four. farmers are
beginning to pay more attention to the crop,
and it is not improbable that the crop the
present season is larger than that Of 1850, and
possibly quite as large as that OF 1850.
The Nasscrfasrs Paugfuan IN a recent
article on the subject say. d" We are decii-
cily of the opinion tia. wheat can be grown
10 New England at profit, and taking into
consideration the amoun, of outlay of both
capital and labor. Jaat It certainly Is as re-
numeratiye as many of the crops which are
now regularly cultivated &c The demand
in oar market, for home grown wheat is al
ways good. where our western friends are
dependent on the caprice- Of transportation,
where they are obliged to sell at low rates to
spectators, or tike their chances of having
their wheat stored for months at high
cost for storage before they can move it. we
are always within q c)uveniant distance from,
and with quick and good transportation
To-. a ready market.
Taking the ruling market rates of the
two sections from time to time, We find that
the price Of this cereal per buslel in the
East averages nearly if uolquitc one hundred
per cent. higher than in the west
Without competing or attempting to
rrnlete with the west in producing great
supply of thc western staple. we can ina
great measure grow ara profit enough to
regulate the price in the Eastern markets.
and save a large proportion of our consumers .
from the annoyance Of the uncertain and auct-
mating prices Of the past two or three winters.
.. There is no reason why our farmers should
MT grow enough for their own consumption
1T least and not be SO dependent as they are
au the supply furnished by two or three
lines ol transportation from the great areas
where it is grown"
rac production of wheat ia tie whole
iaitrI States aud Territories was four and
onc-third bushels in lSjOto each mhabitnt.
and in 1860 five and halfbushcls to each IN
labiant. In the New England States tlepro-
il.cti1n Of wheat in 1850 wa, thirteen quarts
To each inhabitaut. and in 1850 only eleven
quarts Thus while the total increase of the
product throughout the country averaged one
and one-sizth bushels to each inhabitaut. or
an average yield Of five and half bushels,
New England actually lost on hcrannual pro-
dur.ion between these years on the very
small yield Of thirteen quarts to each inhabi-
tant, about fifteen per cent. Such record
should be wiped out. There is no reason
why it should not be- The Censu. report
say, in the report from which the above ev-
riart- have been made That wheat can De-
grown in New England there is abundant
evidence. There is scarcely soil in which
it cannot be grown, at least, occasionally.
We have seen as good wheat produced in
Connecticut as in western New York or in
Ohio"
All that has been said Of New En-la.d as
a whole apples with more and greater force
to Vermont alone, as we have by far tie le-t
wheat soil in New England. But we need
not pursue this vein of thought, a more con-
elusive argument is seeiHg what has been
done this year. We saw sample Of wheat
the other day-a part Of lot Of 10 bushels
that had been grown from one and three
manner. OF course VIC do not wish to be
understood to have weighed, measured, or in
any other manner verified the truth Of the
statement, but we give it as it was given to
us by apparently truthful witnesses We
were in another farmers granery only two
days since, in which was considerable
quantity of wheat. enough for halfa dozen
families such as his, and we know many
farmers who have a surplus this season.
There Is, however, much occasion for re-
formation in the manner ofgrowing lie crop,
in the d" breeding Of better seed. in the
preparation Of the soil, and in the selection
Of implements, whether it IL TO be grown in
the way our fathers grew it. or III the more
molcrn method Of drilling or planting
For want Of space in which to discuss the
subject in all its practical bearing, we do not
see how we can render the seeker after in
,rnation on this subject. better service
inn to advise him to buy and read Todd's
q Wheat Calturist, published by Taintor
}rlthcf- al Co.. No. 67S Broadway. New
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