The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-04-14
FINANCE AND BUSINESS,
GENERAL MARKET REVIEW.


ZONE ISSTRI5CTION-BETTER TEAM FOREIGN.
A home writer for the w abash Plaindealer
discusses the ways of wheat in way that is
worth the attention OF Indiana farmers.
Many of thesuggestions are of special value
and the entire article is evidently the fruit
of intelligence, aided by experience:
1t is we'll kn0wn fact, OF at least it is a
fact whether well-known or not, that in the
early settlement of this countEg, when the
land was Few and the soil had cot been ex-
hsusted by continual cropping, such thing
as winter killing" or "freezlng out" of
wheat was rarely if ever known, and it is
known that now this "freezing out" is the
greatest trouble the wheat grower has to
contend with. This is not in consequence
of a change of seasons, for then, as
now, we had "open winters" with
little snow to Protect the wheat and
March freeZirgs to destroy it, but
it is ina consequence of the exhaustion of
some particular property Of the soil by con-
tinued tillage, which leaves it in condition
TO be seriously affected by freezing
and thus destroying the wheat plant.
What we now need is a remedy for this,
and ii can be found in the use of clover.
Not by sowing it and then pssturing it to
the ground, or moving it and taking away
the whole crop and blowing under only the
roots; but by plowing under the full grown
crop of clover. Let this be repeated until
the soil is so filled and mixed with the
clover stalks that Il will cease to be
''clammy' under the operation of freezing
and the object will be accomplished
1t is believed, if this course was pursued
continually, our wheat crop would be as
sure and the yield as large as in former
years. The fact is we are asking too much
of our land, and the consequence is we get
too little. a different manner of cultivation
must be adopted on our CLAW soils or the
growing of wheat may as well be abandoned,
and it Is important TO our farmers
that tie growing of wheat as one of
Dnr staple productions should be continued.
Will not some of our farmers make the ex-
pertinent upon the following plan: Take a
ten-acre field Of the most worn land, and
plow under full growth of clover with
ripened seed, sow wheat upon it, and next
spring sow clover again, after taking off the
wheat crop let it remain until the next
year, then pillow under the clover again
when the seed is ripe. By this operation
YOU will turn up the seed you had turned
under before, which will germinste. Sow
wheat again, aud after this there will be no
more trouble, and you may go on raising
wheat on the same 6yid year after year
indefinitely, and your ground becoming
better and better every year The
clover seed you pillow under this year you
will pillow up next year, and continue a
growth OF clover as well as wheat. Never
use this field as a pasture; never let a hoofi
go on it except for The purpose of cultivation,
and never attempt to raise anything but
wheat on this particular field; lei it be con
sidered as the wheat field, and never be used
for any other purpose, and you will soon
become satisfied of the wisdom of the plan.
You will most likely find that you thus pre-
vent freezing oat' and that you
can grow wheat on the same ground
every year and greatly increase the
production per acre. If your ground is thor
oughly underdrained and subsoiled, it will
he all the better, and in many places this
will be absolutely necessary to secure the
desired results. A word about seed wheat
Sow no wheat but such as is grown on sandy
soils, even If you have to go fifty miles to
obtain 1t. Do this every year. Do not think
the wheat of your own raising is good
enough. Wheat grown on clay soils should
never be soYn on clay soils again, IL will
surely deterioraie both in quantity: and
quality. This is not theory, merely, but
has been proven by practice. The writer has
recIion with the same or similar results. I'm
on sandy soil was at least three times as
large as the product from seed grown on
clay, and greatly superior in quality. The
second years product from the seed of the
first years crop was diminished nearly one
half in quantity and was inferior in quality.
The third years crop could hardly be dis
tinguished either in quantity or Equality
from the wheat ordinarily grown on clay
soils; the other instance occurred in this
county, and although the difference was not