Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-09-05
How Much Wheat to Sow on an Acre.

ject tending 10 show that We hav,
practiced sowing wheat too thickly. Hal
4 bushel per acre must seem pretty THU
to those who have usually sown three 0
four times rs much.
A correspondent of the Cincinnati In
Qujrer says:
have been counting grains in the head
of wheat and find that well developed
heads contain forty grains each. Takin!
his fact as u starting point, it is plain tina
if we sow one bushel to the acre, and cacl
grain sown produces single head, Gan,
of course no grain can produce less), The
yield would be forty-Gold, or forty bushe
per acre. Now, the largest average yielC
for the stalk ever grown, was little les
than fifteen and II half bushels, and lht
average yield for fifteen years eleven bush
els. As the practice of most farmers is tC
SOW from five to six pecks per acre, i
would appear from this that we only ge
one head of wheat from every three grains
5own. Every intelligent farmer knows
that single grain of wheat is capable Of
producing II large number of heads, anC
we all expect on rich, well prepared soil
that wheat will stool and produce several
seed stalks from each grain. What be
comes, then. of the surplus, where Il bush.
81 and half of seed is sown, and, as is
often the case, only ten or twelve bushels
rraped? The way wheat is sown, in toe
many instances, large portion of it does
not grow at all, Some of it is not cover
ed deep enough, and perishes for lack Of
moisture. Some more drops into cavities
In the SOIL and is covered too deep, and il
it comes up at all, is feeble and perishes
Much more finds no nourishment in the
prepared soil that it comes in contact
" ill., and according to the Darwinian
theory of the survival Of the iittest,
yields its place to the stronger, and SO
goeS on. l am indebted to Mr.. Henry
Coleman for the following facts, which
we're the results of experiments made in
England. He says: 81 have counted
uinety-fve seed-bearing stems from Il
single grain Of wheat, and farmer nam
cd King, ut Eastbourne, produced over
one hundred perfect ears from single
gain" He says, further, Among the
many proofs l have had of the advantage
of thin sowing is the following: l sent
ont my drill to an eight-acre field, with
seven bushels of wheat to be sown; Tut
owing to an error of the drill man in set
ting the drill, he found when he had sown
mlf the field, that he had not used but Il
little over two pecks to the acre. But NOT
wishing to bring back part of the seed,
and thus let me know of his mistake, he
set his drill for five pecks to the acre. and
,owed the rest Of the field. | did not
know of the error, but noticed during the
winter, that part of the field was very
dim; but at harvest, the thin sown half
proved 10 be the best, aud then the drill
man acknowledged his mistake" In IL
y ork on European agriculture, | find an
account of wheat being planted by dib-
bling single grain in place six by nine
inches apart, using six quarts to the acre,
and II very heavy crop was grown. Mr.,
Coleman adds: After the most careful
and full investigation, l have adopted three
| pecks of seed wheat per acre, us the guam
/ tity which gives me the best crops and !
am convinced that, with soil prepared as
it ought to be, all sown above this quanti-
i ty is not only wasted, but is n positive in
jury" BY examining the statistics of
Ohio, l find that we have grown over two
million acres of wheat in single year,
nd if, with positive advantage 10 the
crop, Il half bushel of seed per acre can
be saved. it would amount to one million
bushels to the farmers OF our State alone.
| doubt whether one farmer in fifty
among our readers has tested this matter SO
as to be able to tell what amount of seed
will give the best result. | am also sure
that the matter is of sufficient importance
for us to spend some time and labor in
testing it, and propose to set apart few
acres OF land to experiment on, and | will
try different amounts of seed per acre. |
should be glad to get up an Enquirer
wheat club, in which we should try some
experiments, and will do so if our readers
will take hold of it. Let us hear from
those who are willing to unite in some ex-
pcriments in the way of thorough culture
and different amounts of seed per acre.
think we should find it both interesting
and profitable.
In addition to the quantity to be sowed
per acre, the Selection of the seed is an i'm
portant item. The Sturtevant brothers
of South birmingham are giving much
attention to this matter in common culture,
and below is what correspondent of the
Rural World says of selecting seed wheat
Although it is admitted that there is no
decline in the fertility of the soil, but, on
the contrary, great improvement on the
past, it is nevertheless acknowledged that
there is great falling off in the produc-
ton per acre of wheat in the principal
grain growing sections This degeneracy
is attributed to the fly, rust, frost, dry
weather and wet, all of which undoubted-
y have their influence, and in certain To-
calities often do great damage. But n
correspondent of the Country Gentleman,
from Cleveland, Tenn, thinks that this de-
teroration is due chiefly to the craeless
selection of seed, and reports The following
results of experiments in that direction:
The result of my experiments with at
least thirty-eight different varieties of
wheat for years, proves beyond doubt
| tH''" S9OO'i hOdlullJB ulhuuilOlblSu oCCtl, Sc
lected and saved as farmers select and save
their seed corn, will not run out or deter
iorate in the least, but grow better. To
illustrate and prove this fact, desire to
give the result Of an experiment made
this season. Last June | picked seven
pounds of the best centre heads of my
wheat, and drilled it eleven inches apart in
rows, at the rate of only forty pounds to
the acre. 1t grew most luxuriantly, and
was entirely too thick for large heads. 1t
attained height of six and one half feet,
and much of it fell down. April goth, it
commenced heading; was reaped June
lllh. and to-day, (June 23d,) it was
lhreshed, making, according to the report
of committee, over sixty-seven bushels
per acre. Now, if any of your readers
can beat this, l hope to hear from them.
The wheat crop in this section is nearly all
cut and in the shock. The grain is the
finest we have had for many years. There
are in this country some most excellent
fields, that on an average, will yield TWEEN.
ty-tive to forty bushels per acre. Our corn
crop is very promising. Fruit scarce.
Another important question is when to
sow, and concerning this matter the Emi-