Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-08-04
FielS ans Gar6tn.
Selection Of Seed Wkea.
For the Khiy.


extract from . letter written by ''N. /
~" of Westmorciard, to the Btlti- /
more Gtzae, on the subject of seed
wheat, and suggesting mode by /
which the farmers might be furnished
with good seed wLeat.
Now, with due Difference to CIV. ,
N" as do not think his plan good |
one. and certainly rot a cheap one,
pro; e to suggest a plan which /
think is far preferable, because it isa
surer and a much cheaper plan. 1t is
this-Let every farmer so into his
field of wheat in the Spring Of every
year, and select part of that field,
in area proportional to the quantity
of wheat he intends to sow the next
Fall. lea the lot thus selected be the
most promising part OF the field.
Then cookie that lot carefully, let the
wheat stand until it is Thoroughly ripe.
then reap and thrash it, apart from!
his main crop. Put IL GrOugh'
good fan at least three times, and /
venture the assertion that By strictly
pursuing this plan lie will have good
and clean seed Wheat at home. al the
time. and will have 30 occasion to go
TO the millers, and pay three or four
dollars per bu5hel for l., with the adj
ditional cost of about fifteen or TWEEN
ty cents bushel to get it home.
Wheat has no greater inherent ten
dencv to deteriorate than oats, corn,
or any other grain adapted to our eli
mate : but all grain or seed will de.
generate from the following causes ::
Firstly shallow and imperfect prep
aration of the ground; secOndly-by
bad and slovenly culture; and thirdly
by reagiag them before they are f"tiy
ri0e. If there is one cause more
fruitful of detcrioratio in grain OF
any kind than another, it is the gath
ering it before it IS fully matured.
TIE GREAT AND PE8vADING FAULT
lies in the fact, that farmers will not
practice the plan l have indicated,
but will persist in reaping all then
crop. Of wheat, without regard to the
different stages Gifts maturity. Who
ever saw crop Of wheat Of even two,
three. or five hundred bushels, uni
formly ripe at the same time? And
yet the general practice is, to begin
with the ripest. aud then cut on
whether it is all ripe or not, until the
whole crop is reaped. Then it is all
thrashed and put in one common pile
and from this mass ofripe and green
wheat the seed is taken.
Now if the assertion be true, and
presume fewif any will doubt its truth,
that seed ofevery kind should become
fully matured before it is fit for per.
feet and full re-pro,luctiOR, how car
the farmer expect to keep his wheat
pure and healthy who pursues thi,
silly plan? If on the contrary, the
farmers will adopt, and is my dclib-
crate opinion that the same wheat
may be seeded for any number OF
years and still be good seed wheat.
| have been sowing the same wheat
1.-THE Booted for nine successive years,
and no other; and l shall seed ii
again this Fall, because [ consider il
as good, as healthy, and as prOduc.
tive now, as when l first seeded it IL
1862; although in 1866, very baC
wheat year, it scarcely made bushe
for bushel. Few if any farmers il
this section made much more, and
some not so much. IrecOllect that
the ''hue and cry then was for new
seed wheat, and many farmers sent
North for their seed. But l deter
mined to SOW the same wheat, though
the grain was quite small and much
of it shrivelled and looked unhealthy,
but had fully ripened. 1t was then
well cleaned by running it through a
good fan three or four times, which
process rid it of the lightest and sick
Hest grain. This wheat was seeded
in the Fall of 1866, and in 1867 il
made a good yield: and in 1869 the
grain was so nice and plump than one
of the Richmond millers bought it OF
me for his own seeding. and gave me a
high price for it. l state this feet
mainly to shOw-frst, how wheat. ap-
parently inferior in quality, may i'm
proved by proper
- CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT;
and also to prove the folly of farmers
buying seed wheat every year or two.
and paying ex Drbitant prices for it II
the same wheat can be sOwn for nine
successive years, and yet be as good
and healthy on the ninth year as it
was on the first, why may not the
same wheat be sown ninety and nine
years. and be equally as good at the
end of that time? If Nv. N" in
1870 fails in his corn crop he does
hot ascribe this failure to bad seed
corn, but rather to the true cause or
causes. viz: such as unreasonable
weather, late and imperfect prePar,
alton and bad culture, and in 1871 he
plants the same corn, and docs not
run to the miHerS or SaeiSmea Ior aeas
seed cora Just here let me ash why
il is that there is rot the same com
plant about bad seed corn as there i
about bad seed wheat? Is no. corn
as dependent for a good yield on the
seasons and a thorough and judicious
culture as wheat? And yet the same
corn is frequently planted on the same
farm for twenty or thirty years say,
and is productive as it was when it
was first planted.
81 The reason why the same corn can
be and is planted for long success,
ion of years, is entirely owing to the
rRladeof its management and culture.
Ii. the Spring Of every year the prac.
tice generally pursued is to select from
sthe corn pile the large. heavy and
well matured ears, which can be cas-
lily done; but which cannot be done
with wheat: the corn is then planted