Middletown transcript., 1878-09-14
IMPORTANT
TO FARMERS |!
Great atInDTOTGnaltilWlGatC Culture
IMPORTANT

After having thought much and given con-
siderable attention to the culture Of Wheat,
and gathered all the information could BY
experiments of my own and that of others,
and whatever information I could obtain
from Agricultural journals, became fully
convinced that as yet we were losing much in
that old and common method of raising wheat
and that the only true and profitable manner
of raising it is to cultivate it as near as possi-
BILE like other cultivated grain not by hand
power, neither by horsepower half done, but
with some kind of CultivatOr that will do
good work and be a success in attaining that
which it was intended for. At the same time
economize labor by doing as much work in a
day as can be done in an ordinary Wheat
Drill, which have no doubt would be salts
factory to all parties.
To form these conclusions was one thing,
but to get up the right kind Of machine to
work satisfactorily was another. l found
that wheat drilled in the old style would not
admit of cultivation, for the reason that the
rows were too near together, eight sowing
boots generally being allotted to an ordinary
Drill. Then after concluding to close every
alternate spout, or small seed-box, and re-
move every other boot, again found that
would not answer, as the spaces between the
sowing boots would ot be equally divided.
And Just here another very important point
presented itself. One of the principal obiec-
tions against the old style Drill is, that it
sows the Wheat too thick or too close togeth-
er in the small row. For example; an ordi-
nary Drill has eight sowing boots, and out of
a dozen different makes not one will spread
the wheat one inch in the row. Thus it is
easy for any one to understand that in q
whole Drill breadth, the wheat from all the
eight boots. at one inch in the row, stands on
only inches Of ground, sOhile the neU style
Drill has four soiVing boots instead of eight, and
each one is 50 arranged Nth Sp. eader so as to
put the seed regular in the TOtcs inches l5ide
therefore this Drill, 9Th four so1cing boots, and
each sowing Il inches Wide, sOiu deposit the seed
over l6 inches of ground instead of g, consequent
Ia IL is rery eUident that this Drill sous the same
quantity Of seed on an acre only half as thick or
close together in the roi0 as the old style Drill,
thus doing asOay nth the thick sOWing objection !;
and in addition to this, it still leaves 10 2-5
or nearly II inches between he rows for
Spring cultivation, the one great point neces-
sary in the raising of all crops. Itisa ack-
nowledged fact and well known to every pra c.
tical farmer, that it is by cultivation only he
raises his fine crops Of corn, tobacco and po-
tatoes; and if he did not cultivate those crops
they would not produce one-third they do BY
cultVahonI though they are planted soon at-
ter blowing, or in other words, in fresh plow-
ed ground. These are solid facts, and SO ad-
mitted By all therefore, it is but fair to say
that two-thirds of the crops Tor 662 per cent
is due only to having been cultivated. Now,
then, if so large per cent. of the crops, is
due alone to cultivation, why should not cul-
tivation pay fully as large per cent, or even
larger, in the Wheat crop. The principle of
cultivation would answer: Certainly It aviu
pay fully as iVeH. For this reason Wheat
ground is generally plowed in August About
the 18th of September the average farmer is
done seeding then from that time on that
ground is left to produce a crop, such as it |
will be after being exposed to all the beating |
storms, snow and rains of all Winter; and |
when Spring comes, is beaten down as hard |
as though it had not been plowed at all the |
previous August. What is the result; anav-
erage Of IA bushels per acre in the United |
States
From the 18th of September, when wheat
ground is seeded, to the 18th of the following |
Apri is seven months; and as it is a well |
known fact that no plant will thrive or even |
grow at all without the influence Of the at
mosphere and the sun, neither can penetrate /
ground that has been beaten down for seven |
months until it is quite hard, near as well, |
and with anything like as good results as it