Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-08-21


the st. Louis Farmers Club, at its las
meeting, on the subject of fall seeding. He
said that in bringing before the Club the
result of his practice and observation OF
the subject of fall seeding, he would con-
fine himself merely to those species Of
vegetation most allied to the. interests Of
the farmer, namely: Y1 Ea ..F
| Cereals and Grasses.
| There are two species Of wheat in Guilt
walton, Tutum Hybernum, or winter, and
| Tuticum Estivum, or spring wheat. To
the former of these we shall confne our
! attention. The preparation of the soil for
the reception of the seed will very much
depend upon the preceding crop. In the
British Isles, where the crops follow each
other in systematic order, it usually fol-
lows a green crop. Very often, however,
there, as here, it succeeds a clover crop.
In this case, the land should be neatly
plowed to the depth of six or eight inches,
the seed sown broadcast and narrowed in.
If a good seed bed cannot be obtained, the
best plan is to harrow down and SOW with
drill across the line of blowing.
o.. Csc of Lime.
The use of lime to the soil as finale to
the preparatory cultivation willbe found
most beneficial. Lime enters into the
constitution of both plants and animals, it
forms large percentage of the bones of
man and beast, and is found in no incon-
siderable proportion in the ashes of our
cultivated plants. The soil best suited to
wheat is calcareous loan, and hence the
importance of lime being present in the
soil. Lime acts chemically and mechani
cally upon the soil. 1t tears asunder the
constitution of the soil and liberates
plant food. All plants excrete matter
deleterious in their system, which is con-
tinually accommodating in the soil. In this
country, where the crop is consecutive
for number of years, there is no mate
rial which can be more judiciously ap-
piled to the soil than lime. A short time
ago it was my fortune to spend an even
ing with friend, farmer in the Illinois
bottom. In walking over the farm my
attention was arrested by crop of win
ter cabbages Gin reality it was only half
CROP. On inquiry, | found the same
crop to have been grown on the same
field for the past six or eight years. On
pulling up head of the cabbage found
the base of the stem encircled with a
number of little nodes full of little in
sects, and soil around the roots a mass of
fungoid matter; malformatiOn was the
peculiar disease resulting from the soil
being surcharged with this Yirulent eXcrc-
mentitious matter, and lime is the great |
All soils are benefited by the application |
of lime, even those formed from the cruInb- |
ling down of limestone rock, but particu- |
larry aluminous and alluvial, and those |
black peaty looking soils SO common
among US. Those soils naturally contain |
a large amount of humic, ulInic, gallo and
fannie acids, which have the property of |
preserving animal and vegetable matter |
from decay. Lime neutralizes the acids |
and accelerates decomposition. Lime has |
a great tendency to sink through the |
cracks and assures of the earth, and hence |
it is generally scattered broadcast and har-
rowed In. 10
Sowing Versus Drilling, |
Etc.
There are four methods usually resorted |
to in sowing wheat, viz: Drilling, broad |
cast, ribbing and dibEling Drilling, as a
general rule, is most preferable, but con-
tend that when a uniform filth and surface |
can be had, and the seed scattered regu-
Iarly, which is always the case when the
hands and feet 60 in concert with each |
other, there Is no system so commendable |
as broadcast sowing. LIST, because each |
L., III IL d
and ID, because the suns heat and air are |
more uniformly limited, thereby caus
ing earlier maturit5
The great Jethro Tull in instituting drill |
never contemplated uniformity |
of depth SO muchli facility of operation |
between the drills III foul land.
Wheat is an exogenous plant, and has q
great tendency to tiller, arising from the
fact that the plumule, as it nears the en-
bryo, become dilated and has the property |
of pushing forth three or more stems. Assoon
as the crown of the plant becomes firmly |
established it sends forth number of sur |
face roots, leaving the plant two distinct |
series of roots connected by a small pipe |
or tube. The former are known as coronal |
and the latter as seminal roots, and these |
are direct evidence of the importance and |
of deep cultivation. In the selec-
ton of seed we are to be guided entirely
by soil and climate, but be that as it may,
one thing is certain, that the seed should
be round and plump, with perfectly
smooth skin and translucent color.
Preparation OF Seed.
Prior to sowing, the seed should be
picked as an antidote to smut, or red rust,
etc; some farmers who are too ignorantto
believe it or too Indifferent to try it, look
upon it as a ludicrous specific, but practi.