The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-12-27
Farmers Club.

A
was read by Mr.. Benjamin Petrse be-
fore the Farmers Clab of Andrew
county. at it's session in this city Oh
Saturday last. 1t contains some cx-
'cellent practical views OH the subject
of raising winter wheat, which we
think of value to many of our readers
and therefore publish it entire:
Mr.. President and Brother Farmers:
In making a few remarks before
YOU to-day, l do not expect that you
will all agree with INC. Neither DO L
think that it is right or desirable that
we should agree, unless you are all
convinced that l am right. But If l
should advocate any false theories, l
will consider that man my best friend
who will tell HE of it, and convince
me, and those present, that l am
wrong.
have often thought that it was
fortunate for us that our army was
defeated i'll its first big fight. the bat
tie of Bull Run. for il showed us the
strength of the enemy. and orr own
weakness. 1t showed IT'S that we had
a determined and deadly foe to deal
with, and that il VIC expected ever to
triumph V him we must make
preparations in proportion to the Job
we had on hands.
Now, l think this is equally true
with individuals in the great battle
of life. I think it is 4 benefit to all
of us to be defeated in some of Il
undertakings: it reminds us of II
difficulties that we have to Contend
with in this world Of uncertain
ties, and puts us To thinking. and
deyising expcdicnta by which we can
overcome them. And any thing that
has a tendency to compel a ma to
think. is pretty sure To be Il beneflt
to him IN some way or another.
Therefore, | am of the opinion that
anv man who is not philosopher
enough to profit, to some extent, by
defeat, is not worthy 10 become a cit
izen of this great Republic. Was 1T
not that | hold these views. | would
not have the presumption to come
before an intelligent assemblage of
farmers, like the present, and try to
saw ANYTHING to cnlightcn them on
the subject of raising winter wheat.
For most of my attempts III that line
have been flilurcs-pcrfcct Bull Kun
defeats. Though defeated, | do not
consider that l was dcmoralizcd, for
| have tried to study ont The II of
nv failure. and still have courage
enough to try again: with what sue
cess remains to be seen. WI heat Is q
product that has mere enemies to
contend with than most any other
that is raised OF the farm: and the
farmer is seldom cvc .urc u! Il good
crop until he has il stored away III
his granary. Notwithstanding, l
think winter wheat may be made a
paving crop OH most every farm III
Andrew county. Wheat needs n
strong, deep, well pulvcrizcd soil, that
is well drained, both on the surface
and underneath; for water about h
roots is death TO il. As Il general rule
the best field on Il farm should be
sown to wheat; when just the coll
trary IS practiccd by most of the farm
ers-the poorest sown in wheat, and
the best reserved for "1rn-and they
continue to plant their best fields III
corr until il fails from exhaustion to
produce a good crop. Then. when
too late, they say it needs II change
and they sow il III wheat. What
wonder. is il then. tl.ai they make q
miserable failure? \ juiicious rota-
ton of o from The beginning
might have enabled il,m 10 keep
their ground up TO II reasonable state
of fertility. l believe HAT iuur-fiitlis
of the farmers in this vicinity are Ia
boring under Il false impression in
regard to the cause of wheat winter
killing. n large majority Of those !
speak to on the subject. say tina the
present dry weather i, bard Oh the
wheat. Now nv impression j.. that
if the ground is bare of snow, during
this changcable weather. this dryncss
is the greatest protc, ton that the
wheat could possibly have. Wheat
is most always killed by TOO much
water: and it is seldom. fever, killed
by the first freeze, unless il happens
prematurely while the wlIea; is grow
ing rapidly. 1t generally happens
after the ground has been frozen to
a considerable depth. Then, after
partially thawing, the top of the
grouud becomes saturated with
water which cannot pass off on ac-
| count Of the ground being frozen he
meath. The wheat plan. has two sets
of roots; one set starting from the
grain and penetrating downward: the
| other set starts from the top of the
ground and spreads out hear the
surface. Now, those roots that 90
down being frozen fast. and the top of
the ground being tlawcd ont for one,
two, three or four inches. and COM
pletely saturated with wafer, COM
menccs freezing and Immediately fast
ems the plant to the top ofilie ground,
and as it freezes downward the water
expands, pushing the top of the
ground up; and the plant. as we have
seen, being fast at both ends, it breaks
the lower roots off. and from con-
tinued freezing and thawing the roots
near the surface are thrown up so
that they dry out and die. The more
water there is in the ground the more
it expands while freezing, and when
there is very little water in the ground
the expansion is scarcely pcrceptible.
And when the ground is like it is Mt
present, somewhat dusty III top, it is
a great protection; dry earth being n
nonconductor of heat: when the sun
shines ont warm il has very little ef-
feet on the frozen ground beneath,
and the roots of the plant being still
unbroken below, they draw sufficient
moisture to keep the plant alive. The
reason that the wheat on the prairie
is more liable TO freeze ont than that
in the timber Is, that the prairie is
more subject TO extremes of heat and
cold; the wind has II fair sweep, and
there is nothing To intercept the rays
of the sun. And II black soil, such MS
| Wc usually find Oh Lie urairip. alb