The Republican journal., 1875-04-29
Farm, Garden and Household,
Shall New England Farmers Raise
Wheat?

is from An old and respected correspond
ent at Brooklyn, n. Y, Henry Poor who,
as most of our readers know, may be
reck0ned as 4 radical and an enthusiast on
this question of raising wheat IN New
England He cites the yield Of this cereal
uu some twenty farms in the State of
Maine. and from bis letter we learn that
from thirty to forty bushels have been
raised per acre on a few fields in that State,
while the average of that reported is from
twenty 10 twenty-five bushels per acre.
-Four towns have raised three hundred
bushels each the past summer, averaging
twenty-one bushels per acre.
MI Poor claims that the first cost of
raising wheat in New England is no great
er than at the West, while here the straw
will pay for the crop. And, furthermore,
that the freight charges and commissions
betWeen the farmer Of the West and the
consumer al the East are to-day, greater
than the value of a bushel of wheat, thus
leaving not ~ en- pittanca for the " est
eru wheat grower TO pay him tor his labor,
interest Oh land, sc.
Now. our readers must know that we
.Ie NOT responsible for all the opinions ex-
pressed by our correspondents, simply be-
cause We publish their communications.
w e publish many letters which accord en-
t.relV with our own views. and others
still which. perhaps. we may not be ready
tu endorse at ALL Ii We claimed intalli-
bi,itv u ildgment. we should probably
publish nothing from our correspondents
CNcept what We fb03f1hf we knew TO be
correct. Lnt making no such claim. we
prefer TO rive the largest freedom to the
opinion. of all who may contribute to our
columns.
The statements quoted above from Mr.
Poor letter seem 10 call for Il little inyes-
jgatiOn lle -ayS 1t costs to ship bushel
vi wheat from tho " est to the East, at the
present time all that it will sell for in our
market Either there is something wrong
about the statement, or our market reports
are faulty Wheat, at the date of these
letters was quoted IN New York City, at
prices raging from Slip for No. 9, 81 20
to : - iOr No, ! spring, and Sl37 for
lcst white winter White wheat is quoted
at Chicago ut 30 ;-Sc to 90 5-Sc for No.
lWinter, we SUppOSc) Old No | corn is
quoted in Chicago at soc per bushe. while
IN New York the highest quotation is only
g7c
Id ~ccm~ a. as that this does not look as
il the whole OF the wheat or corn crop is
absorbed by the trelghts and commissions
Df course, ID the producers and the con-
-umer~ both 1--we a long distances from
railroads, the ease Will be somewhat al |
tered although at the present time rail- |
road facilities are so we'll understood and |
appreciated by grain dealers, and even by
consumers in the country towns of many
parts of New England, that grain is ship |
ped direct from the West to the nearest |
station to the farmers own door, without |
anv Intermediate sale. transfer or rcship- |
memt it is said, ard probably with truth,
that the average Weld OF wheat per acre is
greater here New England than at the
West ut there are other points to be
taken Into consideration by our New Eng |
land tarmers beside the relative yield per
acre at the Feast and the West, before de-
ciding to grow wheat here either for eX-
Jortation or for home consumption. 1t is
sometimes good rule to work by to do |
what other people do nOt.-to raise crops |
that your neighbors do not raise. but it is,
ike nu-t general rules, subject TO excep- |
lions
AT The West, everybody does not grow
wheat, but ia the best wheat growing sec
tiOnS nearly every one grows more or less
nj ID, ana many farmers make it a special
crop. They grow it ON snch a large scale
that they can afford to have the best ma |
chimes tur sowing the seed, the best reap |
er5 ana binders for harvesting, and the |
hest machines Tor threshing and Winnow |
lug the grain. II each farmer does not |
gro W enough to make it practicable to own |
all these machines named, there are others |
near by who are glad to take stock in them, |
and SO all get the benefit of labOr-saving |
tools which gives them a great advantage |
over tine small farmer at the East, OF his
hulY, rough land, even II 1t We're other
wise aS well adapted To wheat AS the prai-
Ae1 OF the West
Two years ago, we received by mail
about an ounce OF very handsome white |
winter wheat from friend Poor, which he
SAID he took from sample he found IN the |
New OrIl market, but without any known |
name attached TO 1t. lie asked us to give |
t tral, winch we were very glad to do, |
although our previous experiments in
wheat culture had proved failures. In the |
letter accompanying the sample. the send
"r claimed, # we remember correctly, that |
wheat should be much more profitable Oh |
our land then the large crops OF rye which |
we Aad been raising, because the wheat
was worth Very much more III market by |
Inc pusheL' Whlle the straw was three |
iourths as valuable per acre as rye straw,
and that more wheat might be expected
Than oi rye on the same number OF acres. |
AT the proper time for sowing, we gave |
the seed good soaking in strong brine, |
and then rolled if in dry ashes to kill any |
smut spores it might contain, and then
9oWcd it ON one corner OF field of winter
rye and seeded all down to grass at the
same time. The result was some very fine
looking plump wheat, nearly as good as
the seed, and nearly free from smutty
stalks but the straw was only about half
the height OF the rye along side, while,
from some cause beside thin seeding, the
wheat was much less than half as thick on
the ground thus giving the Young grass
excellent chance to grow. The two crops
were very much in each others way at
harvesting. We have often heard it said
that wheat was an excellent grain to seed